Ruin To Redemption?
by ZombieGuy96
Summary: They went back to defeat a mad dictator, they went to ruin while facing a giant cult, now in what appears to be a safe zone in the world of the dead, things take a turn for the worse and Clementine and her group must go on one final journey from the ruins to redemption. While also trying to solve the mystery of her second chance once and for all (Rated M at parts)
1. The Lessons To Learn

**A/N: Quite simply Welcome to the final part of my second chance trilogy, Ruin To Redemption! For my loyal reviewers welcome back! For those have clicked on this story for the first time, yeah best to go back and read No Going Back and Going to Ruin first (along with The Spoils Of War and 2000 Days) either way I'm glad you're reading!**

**When my first ever fic, No Going Back? Was posted on this site shortly after episode 4 release, it was mainly just my way of dreaming up an alternative episode 3 route to avoid to events that occurred in Amid in Ruins. That fic became one of the most popular on this site and the Sequel did even better. I know I've said this before but I can't thank you guys enough and how much your feedback and praise means to me and how far I've come since first writing No Going Back?**

**Also any confusion on Clem's surname, I've officially decided on Marsh, rather than Marshall, (although she said her surname was Marshall in the spoils of war, this might link too closely with Anne Marshall, so I made Clementine's surname different to avoid confusion).**

**Also this chapter some Oc's will be introduced.**

**Cristina King- Oc from Rebloxic **

**Scott and Lizzie- OC's from Aqua Destiny's Embrace**

**Now, I hope your strapped in and ready a final ride on the feels train, so without further ado, Let's get this show on the road!**

* * *

"It's our duty! Here at Wellington high, to ensure the academic education of the young populace like yourselves is a success. In a world so badly damaged and with so many of us suffering loss and grief it is vital as a society and as human beings, that we can install a sense of pride, authority, respect and education to lead your generation out of the dark times and into a new, lighter age!"

There was a polite applause for the headmaster of Wellington high, he was a sturdy man with iron grey hair and even more steely looking eyes. Many of the faces of the sullen youth looked back at him with drooping eyelids, their attentions fixated on the large windows of the hall as they gazed out at the passing clouds. Others eyes were drawn to the celling, or the majestic red curtains that lay by the side of the immoveable form of the headmaster on the school stage.

One girl however was paying the utmost attention to powerful man on stage.

"Kinda interesting isn't it?"

The girl's eyes did not flicker from the stage at the whispered question that sipped into her eardrums.

"Yeah" was her just as quiet reply, the girl's taller friend smiled, getting rather fidgety in her thin, blue plastic chair. Sarah Larson was eager for school to start again, the 18 year old was bursting with joy, thinking about all the things that they had lost that they would regain. From behind her black glasses she analysed the many sullen faces around her, she wondered who would be her friend here?

Clementine Marsh however was more curious than excited. The 14 year old girl weighed up the positives and negatives of such an experience in her mind. One thing that had already rubbed off on her the wrong way was the way the timid teaching assistant, (standing by the doors of the assembly) had politely asked Clementine to remove her cap from her head.

"It, erm it may come off as a sign of disrespect, sweetie" the woman nervously told the 14 year old.

Clementine simply glared at her, as the woman's words dried up like an oasis in the desert, as she gulped, her pale face shining with perspiration. Her southern accent and red hair reminded Clementine vividly of Bonnie. An observant friend she had lost almost two years ago.

Yet, some of these deaths still hit her hard, Clementine's eyes hardened as she scraped her gaze across the polished wooden floor to the assembly, her thoughts on all the friends that had died just to get here. Bonnie, Kenny, Mike and Christa… the weight of those that had died got her down sometimes, because they died under the influence of a cult, its leader a madman who Clementine had previously spared the life of, in the remaining childlike goodness she had in her heart when she was 8.

6 years older, she could say that she changed. Seeing this dream community also starting to go to ruin was something that was also making Clementine feel down.

"Hey Clem… Clem… Clem…"

Sarah's somewhat annoying whispering and persistent poking at Clementine's arm seemed to finally drag Clementine out of her depressing cycle of thoughts, as she finally hissed "What!?" at Sarah a bit too loudly, her singular word causing many heads turn timidly in her direction as the gormless faces of her peers clouded her vision.

Whatever the headmaster was busy lecturing to the student body he seemed to stop momentarily, his grey eyes swept over the sea of scowls and smiles beneath him as he searched for the person who annoyed hiss had swept across the silent hall for a second his eyes found Clementine's. Before Clementine dropped her gaze in defeat and the headmaster carried on speaking as if nothing had happened.

Sarah was sweating slightly as attention dispersed elsewhere, Clementine herself wasn't scared or embarrassed by the second-long incident, however looking into the headmaster's eyes for a few bleak seconds had reminded her of the creepy, flaky grey eyes of the cult leader. Or else the stranger until he revealed his true, poisonous green globes that would etch themselves into Clementine's brain whenever she tried to sleep.

The attention scattered around the stuffy hall, Sarah leaned sideways in her seat, sensing her friend's breath near to ear, Clementine leaned in, so Sarah could tell whatever the hell she had to tell Clementine without the large majority of her peers listening in.

"That one armed boy is still looking at you" Sarah whispered, a sort of giddy excitement in her tone, Clementine groaned and briefly turned around in her seat, to find the one, dark eye of the grim Mexican boy (located a few rows behind her) gazing intently back at her.

"I don't get why you didn't want us to sit next to them, they seem nice" Sarah's opinion fell on death ears, as Clementine merely groaned.

"Yeah, _JJ_ seems nice" Clementine murmured, prolonging the name of the wild haired blonde boy sat beside the pessimistic one armed boy, leaving him out of the Sarah's adjective to describe the pair of them. She had already learnt JJ's name through Sarah's wild gabbling about him.

_"Oh… that boy's called JJ Clem! Yeah his really, really nice! We're both really excited for school and…! Hey Clem I forgot to ask the name of his friend, um, Clem? Clem can we sit by them? Clem where are you going…?" _

Turning back to the front and ignoring Sarah (who shared a quick wave with this JJ guy, in which he returned) Clementine's eyes remained trained on the headmaster but her thoughts were wildly elsewhere. Maybe that was the same for pretty much everyone else, youths being surrounded by nothing but horror and death and now suddenly they were back here, in a normal, calm environment it would take a while to adjust to say the least.

"Did that guy do something to upset you?" Sarah asked, her words subdued and more serious sounding. At 18 years of age she may have still acted childish to a great degree but she was a lot more knowledgeable and mature than most people gave her credit for.

"No, he just thinks Wellington is going to fall and all that" Clementine muttered off the bat, as if his words hadn't bothered her in the slightest, but something about the cocky "We'll see" unnerved Clementine somewhat.

"Oh, well that's a horrible thing to say" Sarah mumbled glancing back at the Mexican boy in some sort of anxiety, JJ seemed so nice as well how could he be friends with someone who told Clementine that? She knew there was a possibility Wellington could fall but Sarah didn't want to have friends who made her feel down. She wanted friends she could laugh with, friends who made her happy, friends who she could make smile and laugh.

"…So now we'll be allocating pupils to your classes, now due to the lack of education you have received. We're starting from the basics with all of you. We feel mixed aged groups will help you integrate and socialise with as many of your peers as possible, but too also help you into a group in which you will be comfortable with while settling in here at Wellington high…"

Clementine's attention only seemed to switch back on at the words "allocating pupils" and she had managed to follow every word since then, Sarah was listening intently from the onset and her back seemed to straighten in excitement now that they were being allocated into groups, her head poked above the ocean of adolescent's around her.

"Oh, oh Clem we might be in the same group…"

"Hopefully" Clementine puffed out, she didn't fancy spending her first day in school surrounded by a group of strangers.

"When your name is called you'll be asked to come to the front of the hall and be led off to your lessons by your assigned teacher. Groups will consist of 30 to 35 of you, with ten colour groups being spread around the school, now Mr Ions would you like to begin…"

Clementine watched in a growing anticipation as a bald man with glasses nervously greeted them all, he gulped from where he was stood by the microphone on stage. Regaining his composure he began to read off the list…

"Green Group. Ryan Allen!"

A boy who can't have been any more than 12 was the first to shakily walk up the aisles between the chairs, he stood next to his just as nervous teacher, before the second name was called out, a girl who had to be about 18…

It went on and on and on, Clementine kept stealing glances at the Mexican boy to see if he had gone yet, to see if he had been allocated to another group, yet he remained seated as seats around him emptied. Other than him, Clementine was nervous about Sarah being moved to a different group, Sarah seemed twitchy as her eyes kept flickering back to her 14 year old best friend, afraid that her name would be called and she would be left alone in the middle of…

"LUIS AGERZ!"

Clementine turned around to see the Mexican boy rise at the call, she made a quick mental note of his name and hoped not to be stuck in the class with him. So far some slim brunette woman by the name of Miss King was bellowing out the names of the Blue Group, with a strange British accent that was difficult for Clementine to understand.

The names went on, it seemed like a fair mix of ages and races in Miss King's class, Clementine hoped as they went down the alphabet from the surname on, that their names would not be called…

"JOHN JEFFERSON!"

The boy called JJ (well Clementine could understand where he got his nickname from now), bounced to his feet and practically sprinted down to the aisle, upon seeing him greet Luis on the stage Clementine realised that the group's were probably being kept together. So she probably would end up with Sarah, she only hoped Sarah's name wouldn't be called out…

"SARAH LARSON!"

Of course it would. Of course this would happen.

Sarah muttered an excited "Ooh" and she leapt up in a similar manner to JJ moments beforehand, taking one last look at Clementine she muttered "I hope you get called out next!" before she ran up to the stage with a large smile plastered on her face. She greeted JJ with a large smile as Clementine sat stiffly in her seat.

L, Her last name started with an M, If she was going to be selected for the blue group then…

"CLEMENTINE MARSH!" Miss King bellowed, bang on cue.

Something about hearing her own full name sounded strange in Clementine's ears, especially her surname Marsh. Her family had always visited the Marsh House in Savannah not only because of the nice desserts but because of the namesake. Her father would always joke that it was "their" house as it bared the same surname as her family.

And that's where the stranger had taken her…

She gnashed her teeth together and putting on a neutral face she strode forwards, her eyes locked on stage although she could feel the crushing glares of hundreds of her peers locked upon her. She knew it must have been her own imagination but everyone seemed too quiet as she stepped onto stage. Was it the way she was moving? Was it her cap? Was it disrespectful like that teaching assistant had said? She hadn't seen anyone else wearing caps…

"Yay! Were in the same group" Sarah buzzed in excitement, as she greeted Clementine on stage. Already feeling his one eyed gaze burning into the back of her cap, Clementine span on her heel to find Luis staring at her once again.

"Nice to meet you Luis" she greeted him with, her words icy.

"It's a pleasure Clementine" he replied.

* * *

The rest of the group were soon assorted, no one else who joined their class of 32 stood out to Clementine other than the named "Terri and Brandon Rogers" who greeted JJ and Luis with smiles and a few words, and they must have also been part of Luis' group.

"Well off to class then you lot! Don't just stand here looking like a gang of baboons honestly…" Miss King ushered them off, waving her arms at them as she led the way towards her classroom. Just as the pair of them started walking, a mess of blonde hair clogged Clementine's vision.

"Hey! So your friends with Sarah! I'm JJ, pleasure to meet you" Clementine had her hand shaken vigorously before she even realised who was addressing her. When her brain finally processed on how suddenly this introduction had occurred, she managed to formulate a reply.

"Yeah, I'm Clementine" her voice sounded somewhat flat and emotionless, as JJ smile began to look a little strained. Never the less he maintained his optimism as he babbled "So met Luis huh? Yeah his part of the group I'm with. Along with Brandon and Terri there!" he used a tanned hand to poke his finger through the air, towards the shy looking siblings.

Clementine's eyes locked with the boy named Brandon, he gave her a brief wave and a small "Hey" before he and his sister kept their gazes down and themselves to themselves. Although she hadn't said a word to her, Clementine caught the Terri girl giving Clementine a quick, analytic glare before her gaze briefly flew to Sarah, before it returned to the floor.

"Erm… they seem like good people" was all Clementine could say to this sparkling new face in front of her.

"Great people, I'd be dead ten times over without em" JJ complimented his group audibly, Brandon and Terri didn't respond, Luis was about to say something before Clementine cut over him.

"That must be cool! Clem saved my life too… like load of times…" Sarah praise of her friend, seemed to embarrass Clementine, as she walked on, covering her eyes with her cap. Who would have thought they'd be a male version of Sarah at this school?

"So where did your group come from Sarah? Did you and Clem know each other before all this?" JJ inquired, Clementine duly noted how she already being called by her affectionate nickname of "Clem" by a mere, overly-friendly stranger.

"Well, we came from a hardware store, we stayed there for a while…"

"Where was it?"

"Hmm… some place south. I think it was like… Texas! No! Wait T… T… the state started with a T alright…"

Clementine smiled lightly at the lighting quick dialogue between the two childish teenagers, at least Sarah could make her smile, almost every other face around her wasn't paying any attention to anything around them at all. Many of them lost in their own little worlds, however not all of them were lost, some of them were aware.

And when the malicious whisper of "Look at those two, they can get out their fucking dolls when we get to class" Clementine was instantly on the defence, stealthily averting her gaze backwards to see a boy with slick black hair had muttered this to a blonde haired girl who looked a lot like Terri. The girl let out a shrill giggle at this which irked Clementine to the core.

They soon reached class, Clementine felt her hands curl into the fists as the black haired boy kept mumbling words (now too quiet) to be overheard by Clementine as the other blonde girl's, shrill giggle was beginning to sound like nails on a chalkboard to Clementine. She wouldn't allow Sarah to be bullied, not on the first day and probably not ever.

She was very protective of the best friend she had gone back for, she and the rest of her remaining group had all risked their lives to rescue Sarah from the clutches of the cult nearly two years ago and in recent weeks she needed Sarah now more than ever. The recent murder she had witnessed of that pregnant woman, she needed that voice of reason and positivity. Luke could tell her it would all be okay, but she needed Sarah to make her laugh.

She needed Sarah to be there, to chat on about pointless topics that would take Clementine's mind off the declining community around her, she needed Sarah to take her to their little place. A small hill near to the back of their house, where a small oak tree was growing, underneath it's leaves had been the first place, Nick, Stephanie, her and Sarah had built a snowman during their first winter here, just as Nick had promised. Since then Clementine and Sarah always hung out there when there was nowhere else to go.

* * *

The hope for some sentiment of the future in the forms of a rigorous education for the youth, was soon unveiled as the biggest joke Clementine had ever encountered, seated on separate desks. Their teacher… Miss Cristina King, (written in big block capitals on the blackboard, in case they forgot). Had begun to speak…

"Hello children! You've been out of the system for some time now! And there's no doubting you have been through some horrible stuff, but for the next planned three years of your education you will be with me and hopefully many others! As I specialise in a few subjects, one of them being maths! Now to get back into the swing of things, we'll start with simple sums…"

Miss King spoke slowly, as if addressing the deaf as she carefully laid out the papers on the table, Clementine had to gawk in disbelief out of everything and she meant everything they could have been taught. 1 plus 1 to 3 plus 3 hardly counted as work she was expecting at all. The sums printed in very childish characters across the a4 paper.

"Now you may…" she suddenly paused there, as an arm shot up in the air..

"Yes" she addressed the raised hand.

"Miss King, I can't write" came the deep Mexican grumble right behind Clementine, of course Luis would sit directly behind her and she could almost predict what was going to happen next.

"Oh, yes…" Miss King muttered blankly, Clementine could almost hear her trying to figure this out in her head. (So much for organisation here) Miss King eventually seemed to smile as she said "Well Mr. Agerz, we have been informed of your disability but unfortunately were too thinly spread as staff to hire you a scribe at the minute, you'll have to rely on your classmates, um… Miss Marsh…"

Clementine was already turning her chair towards Luis, as she announced clearly "Yeah, I'll help him!" Miss King didn't pick up on the obvious annoyance in her voice, as she merely smiled and told Clementine "Oh you're star love" before she went off to speak to another pupil.

"I'm lucky to have lost my left arm and not my right one" Clementine overheard Sarah tell someone.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask what happened to that arm of your's?" Came JJ's reply, as Sarah began (in a hushed tone) to retell the story of how she lost her arm, dramatically presenting her half sized left arm to a clearly impressed JJ.

"Maybe little miss dipshit up there will start handing out big golden stars to those two retards at the front, along with the cripple and the fruit…" Came the black haired boy's snide voice from the back of the classroom.

"What a stupid fucking name" she heard the girl reply, followed by her giggle which was already causing a vein to throb in Clementine's temple.

Luis in front of her sat rigidly in his seat, no doubt he heard these insults, the second Clementine reached over for his pen, and he seemed to come to life.

"Don't you fucking dare write for me" he snapped, no doubt his "male pride" damaged by not only these degrading insults tossed his way, but also the way Miss King treated him as if he were a helpless child with special needs.

"You asked for help" Clementine reminded him, disliking this boy more and more by the second.

"I don't want my ass wiped for me" Luis replied, clearly irritated.

"Oh it's okay, I know you want me to secretly, I'll make sure to feed you as well, must be difficult eating a burger with one hand…" Clementine teasing of Luis was met with a disgruntled "Screw you" before he moodily turned away from her.

She didn't feel too bad that she must have clearly hurt his feelings, the whole burger comment was meant to be some sort of joke. But the pained look on Luis' face told Clementine she had hit a clear nerve, gulping and feeling a twinge of regret she managed to mutter "Sorry, I didn't mean that".

"It's true though, might as well acknowledge it, just like how we should acknowledge this work is fucking pointless" Luis told her, brushing his hand, his A4 sheet glided slowly to the classroom floor. Seizing a chance, Luis turned to Clementine.

"Pick it up" he ordered.

"No" was Clementine's blunt reply.

"I only have one arm, It's clear I can't do anything, I need help" Luis begged, before he put his hand in the air, before Miss King could notice this, Clementine had already scooped the paper up and slammed it on Luis' desk.

"I'm not your damn slave, Sarah copes with this better than you do" Clementine spat at this boy, disliking his somewhat cruel sense of humour. Something about it ticked her off to no end, added to that stupid girl's giggles…

"Yeah, she didn't lose the arm you rely on, to write, to hold a weapon… I'm not saying your friend hasn't been through a lot, but so have I. Nearly everyone here is and most can't cope with it" he referenced the majority of the class, whose glassy eyes reflected the sky outside of the school.

"I do feel sorry for them" Clementine muttered back, her gaze scanning over her daydreaming classmates, the trauma many of them must have experienced had driven them to this, even some children who had been here for a while hadn't yet adapted to Wellington.

"You know, I knew you before Clementine, back during that execution and then a few weeks ago..." Luis suddenly spoke up, gaining Clementine's interest, before she could voice her confusion at his new words, he had already spoken again.

"You're group has been through a lot, I know that. You faced the cult full on didn't you? And yet you beat them, yes the one's that remained gave us grilling about you and the others, the girl in the cap. I knew it was you the minute I saw you, the others still need to catch up but I remembered". Luis words left Clementine's jaw pried open in shock at this news.

"How do I know…?" Clementine began.

"Luke, Nick, Kenny, Sarita, Anne, Josh, Lilly, Kelly…" I know those names and what happened to them, some are alive, and some aren't. How else would I know those names If I didn't come across the cult who survived your rage?" Luis questioned her, now she accept this sudden and shocking news, the next question sprang from Clementine's mind.

"Did…?" she began.

"Yes. Their all dead now, you should thank a woman in my group, Ana for that. But you and your group, you dispatched them. A group like them, that tortured my group, stripped us and put us in cages and I heard the cult was once much bigger, I am very curious to Clementine to as how the actual hell you managed to beat them, what did you do?" Luis questions seemed to bounce of a still reeling Clementine. She knew she couldn't have wiped out the whole cult two years ago, but to hear survivors of the cult discussing her…

"Did, did they mention something about a second chance? Or something like that?" she dared to ask, she didn't want to expose her supposedly insane secret, but Luis seemed to know so much already. The second chance she had been given, which enabled her to save most of her friends and get her here, in Wellington today. Rather than have everyone and herself die in a freezing snowstorm.

Luis' face was quizzical as he replied "No, they didn't mention anything like that, they just told me through intense questioning about your group and how you were the cult's subject of entertainment they fled from their leader, but from what they apparently saw in the distance their camp fell. They suspected you might have done some damage but they were still overly paranoid that we were working with the cult leader and that he was still alive…" Luis finished there a very clear scowl, engraved onto his face.

Clementine breathed a sigh of relief, no doubt Luis wouldn't instantly link Second chance to being sent back in time, it was a crazy secret her group hadn't dare utter in the two years that they had been here.

"What do you mean by second chance? I'm just curious, how did you beat that cult?" Luis inquired, as Clementine stared him dead in the eyes and opened her mouth.

"They took Sarah, we went to get her back…"

She explained everything, the whole plan her group had crafted to get Sarah back, only omitting the second chance part, although leaving that part out left a lot of things unexplained. Clementine simplified the story too "I knew him before, he was a madman who managed to find me again and stalk my group. He wanted to prove his cult were better than my group so I could go with him… fat chance" she spat, speaking about the stranger to… well another complete stranger was weird for her. But she felt like she was unloading some of her bottled up fears onto someone who could understand, someone who had also suffered at the cult's hand.

Luis' face remained in a frozen neutral expression as Clementine carried on with her tale, when she eventually finished. Luis blinked and wiped his facial hair on his chin, before he could speak an exclamation of "Cult? We got caught by a cult once…!" floated over to both Clementine and Luis' ears.

"Looks like they're making the link" Luis commented dryly, his eyes rolling over to Sarah and JJ, as Sarah responded "Really? Did they wear skin suits!?" her words an excited jitter.

"Yeah! You saw them? How?" JJ questions were fired like shots at Sarah, she wasn't keen with bringing up that part of her past, but for some reason she felt at ease speaking about the cult with someone who wasn't Clementine. A problem shared is a problem halved, was a quote Sarah liked to live by and in this case it seemed to help.

"and those two are making the link now too" Luis stated, jabbing a finger behind him. His singular eye didn't have to look back, as Clementine caught the two siblings Brandon and Terri listening in on her and Luis' conversation, the second Clementine caught sight of the pair. They leant back on their desks and pretended to work on the mundane and simple task in front of them.

"I have a question for you Luis" Clementine stated, she wanted to learn something and that something wasn't the useless maths sums below her. Luis seemed to lean back on his chair, posing in a way that made his lost arm and eye more noticeable, he probably suspected Clementine was going to ask about how he attained his horrible wounds.

But Clementine already had a way of surprising him.

"Why do you want to know about me so badly? Why are you so determined to prove yourself to me?" these questions may have not been what Luis was expecting, but he already had his answers lined up.

"For one Clementine, I owe you due to that incident a few weeks ago" his voice was hushed as he explained this, that incident stayed between them and Clementine hadn't told anyone that Luis was there, in that alley two weeks ago when a pregnant woman had the life stabbed out of her. It felt surreal from walkers, to murders and then two weeks later, surrounded by other pupils in school, no walkers or murders.

As of yet.

"Secondly" Luis continued, causing Clementine to break her cycle of thought as she listened to him for an explanation "You're not like the others here, you're a fighter I could see that in you the second I laid eyes on you. When this place falls you'll be an ally I need…"

"Not this again" Clementine snapped cutting through his waffle, however Luis grin grew wider.

"You know what you're doing now is proof that you agree with me, even if you don't know it". Luis words made Clementine what to ask what the hell he was going on about, before she received her answer as a shadow loomed over her.

"Carla dear, you haven't done your work" Miss King nagged from above her, as Clementine felt her face go warm, not only at the mistaken identity but the fact Luis was right in that sense and she hated his smug smirk of victory.

"I'll get on with it, and it's Clementine not Carla" Clementine corrected the dim-witted British woman, as she slapped her hand across her forehead and practically shouted "Terribly sorry Clementine, I'm useless with names y'know?" as Miss King moaned about her mistake, Clementine heard the clear statement from the back of the class…

"Carla, fucking Carla! Better than her previous name, I'll stick to that from now on… but still Carla…" this was followed by a snort and a giggle. Clementine watched as the supposedly stupid Miss King strode up to them, and muttered gently "Now Bob and Margaret how's your work getting on?"

The black haired boy and blonde girl's face sunk in horror as they both protested at the same time "I'm Scott" and the other girl piped up "It's Lizzie" as Miss King muttered "Oh, sorry got you mixed up with someone else…"

But the damage was done, Bob and Margaret would be sticking, Clementine and Luis shared a humorous smile as Miss King walked past Clementine once again, she could have sworn the British woman gave her a wink as she passed. It seemed like Miss King had overheard "Bob's" words as well and maybe she wasn't as idiotic as she made herself out to be. This small act made Clementine suddenly like her new teacher just that little bit more.

"She seems nice" Clementine commented on their teacher to Luis.

"Yeah, but what she is giving us, it's pointless, we didn't come here to learn sums. We came here to learn about each other, that's what we should be learning and because you were too busy talking with me, whether you like it or not you agree with me" Luis huffed sitting high and mighty in his chair as if it were a throne.

"I'm not becoming your ally Luis, why do you think everything is going to fall? Can't you just accept were here to stay? Or do you love walkers that much, that you want to be out there with them?" Clementine demanded an answer from the pessimist seated in front of her.

"I just know, alright? You can't trust any community to last, this eye and this arm are proof of that, more so losing my damn eye…!" Luis was getting annoyed as Clementine decided to venture into his past.

"Why did a "community" scoop your eye out with a spoon?" Clementine grim sense of humour was meant with a cold response.

"No, but when you're best friend did, it makes you a bit wary on who you should trust and how easily things can just… break".

While Clementine processed this information, the last word Luis uttered seemed to make JJ jolt slightly in the seat. His eyes rolled over to Luis for a second before he returned speaking to Sarah as if nothing had happened.

"If you have trust issues, why are you being so open with me? Why are you trying to be my friend?" Clementine inquired.

"Who said I wanted you as a friend?" Luis replied, as the truth dawned on Clementine.

"Your just planning to use us, to gather up an army of people who can be your backup if shit hits the fan. You're only looking out for yourself!" the accusations were met with something of a brief nod by Luis.

"Me and my mother, possibly members of my group, yeah I'm not going to lie, we need backup but you also need us, as much as we need you" Luis explained.

"I'm not an idiot Luis, but I also don't think the community isn't going to fall tomorrow and we shouldn't be stirring up trouble for no reason, don't you ever try to see it from people who actually try to do some good? If you're so Anti-Wellington, why did you even come here? Ask yourself that before you go around gathering allies" Clementine spat, rubbing her forehead as she had began to develop a slight headache near her left temple, rubbing her aching head she looked up to see Luis looked rather stumped and was unable to provide an answer.

And then the bell rang, the class was over.

* * *

For the rest of the day Clementine didn't interact with Luis, but Sarah carried on chatting away to JJ, when school finally did finish, Clementine and Sarah walked on back to their house.

"...and JJ encountered the cult too Clem! I can't wait to tell Nick about it…!" Sarah went on, as if they had been to the same concert or something. As Clementine remained silent Sarah asked "So erm… you and that guy, yeah Luis wasn't it? Did you like… get on better because you spoke a lot in class earlier" Sarah watched her friend, as Clementine managed to give a reply.

"Well we spoke, hopefully I made him think about a few things" Clementine said.

She looked around at Wellington, Luis was right, she was a fighter just not the type he was expecting. She would fight to protect this community at whatever cost, things that went to ruin could be rebuilt and after all the hell she had been through she wanted to live normally once again.

Live for once and not just survive.

That's what she had learnt on her first day at school.


	2. The Wolf Bites

**A/N: V****ery sorry for the long wait, its just life has completely got on top of me these past few weeks, I've barely had a minute to spare but although it might take me longer than expected to update, but I will always promise to finish fics no matter how long that takes.**

**Now, Considering No Going Back and Going to Ruin both started off dramatically or eerily, I was wary the first chapter of this felt like an dragged out chapter that could have easily have been slapped on the end of GTR or 2000 days, without really feeling like it started a new story. Never the less you guys blew me away with the positive feedback last chapter, I'll continue to try and entertain you this chapter while answering some reviewers!**

**Kristal Dynamite- Thanks for the feedback! I loved how you mentioned you could easily envision Luis just through a few of his actions alone, I imagine though we both have a very different mental image of Luis though (I imagine it's just one of those things) either way I'm glad your liking the OC's and how real they feel and how you can relate to them! also you can waffle away every time you review I love longer, detailed reviews and feedback.**

**ffapathy- Loving your points as always, I'm glad you picked up on (and liked) the fact Clementine questioned why Luis was even in Wellington if he was so adamant it was going to fall. In many movies and books you get a character like Luis, the know it all survivor who is always right and who never gets proven wrong or questioned. I want him to be flawed in a realistic way and having Clem question him like that will certainly reveal more to his character and his relationship with Clem shall be interesting to explore, their dialogue was one the best parts to write last chapter.**

**A Writer With Mixed Interests- I appericate an honest review and If I was reading another walking dead fic (or any fic) with this many Oc's involved I know I wouldn't like the Oc's as much as the main characters. For RTR the focus will stay on the main group, with the 2000 days group also taking the limelight at points, other characters introduced in Wellington will be more like secondary characters.**

**Aqua Destiny'sEmbrace- I always make your OC's villainous, I feel bad (Well Anne wasn't bad, just in the wrong group) either way I've got plans for Scott and Lizzie you can certainly say I plan to add many layers to the characters and no one is as one sided as a stereotypical bully. **

**Okay I wish I could answer all of you, but I'll make this note too long if I do. Thank you all for reviewing so far and now, onto chapter 2!**

* * *

Entering their house, Sarah gave a very audible "Hi!" which echoed throughout the hall, as Clementine slung her school bag off from behind Sarah and with an audible clunk it landed on the wooden floor.

They weren't greeted with a reply for the first couple of seconds of their arrival which seemed to bother Sarah slightly. It was their first day returning from school, the excited teenager was expected to be showered in "How was your first day?" and "Did you make any new friends?" in which she would answer gratefully, yet even though Clementine couldn't have made the slamming of the front door anymore obvious no-one came to fuss over them.

"Hello" Sarah called down the narrow hallway towards the living room, Clementine looked up, the seconds of suspicious silence hadn't bothered her in the slightest. The 14 year old was still thinking about the conversation she had with Luis and hoping she had managed to slap some damn positivity in that asshole.

As Clementine pondered on those thoughts, A figure appeared at the end of the hallway.

"You're back baby girls" Rebecca told them as if it were obvious, something about the usual maternal, warm and relaxed tone of her voice was gone. She sounded more anxious than anything else.

"Yeah, we had a great first day" Sarah told the older woman brightly, as if to lighten the encompassing aura of dread Rebecca carried with her.

"That's lovely Sarah, come into the living room and be sure to tell the others all about it" Rebecca said, but her smile seemed strained, the wrinkles developing at the edges of her mouth and underneath her eyes seemed to become more prominent and dark. In a nutshell she looked stressed out.

"Okay" Sarah replied, placing her bag carefully on the railing of the staircase to her left, Rebecca looked at where Clementine's bag lay on the carpeted floor.

"Clem, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't leave stuff lying around" Rebecca scalded the 14 year old who made a show of bending over and picking up her bag before placing it neatly next to Sarah's. Feeling annoyed at Rebecca's mothering of her, Clementine merely snapped at the African American woman, "There, happy now?"

"It's better" Rebecca replied coldly, the pair hadn't grown to hate each other but Clementine was growing up. Rebecca had been a terrible teen herself long ago, mainly because her father had been hard on her and she knew what stage Clementine was going through. Even if the mother of one hadn't grown up surrounded by stumbling corpses, she knew she had to be stricter on Clementine to make sure the teenager didn't lose her way.

"So anyway, I met a new friend…" Sarah began explaining to Rebecca, the mother's dark eyes flickered from Clementine back towards Sarah. Walking back to the living room with Clementine on her trail, Rebecca replied to Sarah "Oh baby girl, that's great news…"

Clementine lingered behind them, wondering what had gotten into Rebecca, something seemed slightly off, she could hear the others in the living room, but their voices seemed subdued, the usual ruckus was gone.

If she hadn't been walking slowly, she wouldn't have noticed AJ and Lilly sitting on the stairs gazing down at her. AJ's quite mumble of "Hello Clem" grabbed her attention as the 14 year old locked eyes on the two infants.

"Was school any good?" Lilly asked instantly, for being only 2 years old her speech was advanced to say the least. Sarah had taught Lilly how to read and speak well and certainly had her father's stubbornness engrained within her tiny being. In fact looking into Lilly's eyes not only did Clementine see the eyes of Kenny himself, but the dark eyes of Lilly herself, the woman Kenny's child was named after.

"It was alright" Clementine replied cryptically, she didn't feel she was too good around the infants. It still freaked her out a bit looking at AJ, now 3 years old, walking and talking. She had known him since he was a squealing baby and his transformation in a drooling toddler was still something Clementine was adjusting too. It felt like days, not years, since she woke up at Howe's.

"Alright? It should be very good Clem, school is good!" Lilly scalded her, emphasising the Good in her sentence to maximum effect. Clementine had to chuckle slightly at the bossy 2 year old, she was Kenny's daughter alright.

"No it isn't, school is baw-ring!" AJ replied to Lilly, placing a childish emphasis on the word Boring in the same way Lilly had tried to say "Good".

"You are a stupid, boy, you'll never get a job!" Lilly shouted, losing her childish temper and blurting out words of insult at random.

"You are a bossy girl! And boys are better than girls…" AJ teased, and sure enough Lilly fell the bait.

"Are not! You stop this!" Lilly exclaimed.

"Are too! I looked it up in a book!" AJ lied.

"No you didn't, you don't read books! I-read-books! You poop on them!" Lilly's wild accusation was met with a short embarrassed silence from AJ, in which he muttered something inaudible back to her.

"Erm, AJ did you?" Clementine found herself asking, strangely intrigued as the mixed race boy dipped his head and mumbled "Only a little bit"

"You are going to be, in so much trouble now. I told you so and he pooped on your favourite book Clem, Kill To A Mockingbird…"

"To Kill A Mockingbird, and it's fine AJ, kids poop just remember to go to the potty next time" Clementine assured the embarrassed 3 year old (who was still potty training) he offered her some sort of thankful smile, yet he didn't speak. Lilly's smug smile seemed to fade off her face seeing how she hadn't gotten AJ in serious trouble.

"Anyway what are you doing here?" Clementine decided to ask, usually the two toddlers would be playing in the living room.

"Erm, drawing and trying to listen in on what's going on in the living room" AJ explained, suddenly speaking confidently again. With a mischievous grin his eyes rolled over to the door in front of Clementine, (Clementine noticed the papers and crayons beneath the toddlers lay somewhat neglected).

"Mum and Dad told me and AJ to go upstairs and that we had to stay there and told us not to leave our room" Lilly explained, even at 2 she understood Nick and Stephanie weren't her real biological parents, but seeing as they looked after her since birth she considered them her parents regardless.

"Why? What was wrong?" Clementine inquired, as Lilly shook her head as if to say "Don't know".

"I think something was wrong with Eddie, he looked really scared or something" AJ explained, as Clementine listened to him, as he carried on "I went to ask him what was wrong and why we had to leave, but then Mum said I had to leave the room and we did, but now…" he grinned again. Clearly willing to go against his mother's orders to try and gain some information on what had happened to the man he saw as a sort of humorous surrogate father.

"Well, I'm going to go and find out what's wrong" Clementine told the tots, proceeding towards the living room.

"Oh! Promise us you'll tell us! Please!" Lilly begged, putting her hands together in some sort of prayer and shaking them back and forth.

"Okay, I promise" Clementine said absently mindly, AJ and Lilly cheered from behind her, Clementine wasn't too sure if she'd abide by that promise, but she was keen to know what the hell was going on.

* * *

She could sense it the minute she entered the living room, Rebecca and Sarah had disappeared into the kitchen. But Clementine saw everyone surrounding Eddie, his large eyes were boring intently into the green carpeted floor, He sat on the largest sofa with Nick, Luke and Stephanie closest to him, she approached the scene.

"… nothing you could have done man…." She overheard Luke saying, before Stephanie poked him in the ribs, Luke paused mid-sentence. He gazed at Stephanie who gestured behind him. Luke span around to find Clementine standing there.

"Clem!" He boomed, his anxious face switching to his mastered "All is fine with the world" face within nanoseconds, he sprang up off the black leather sofa and looked down at the sullen 14 year old, booming "So, come on then how was your first day? We'd all like to know"

"Yeah, how was it Clem?" Stephanie asked, as a sort of thin backup to Luke. Suffice to say Clementine's narrow golden silts of eyes cut right through their bullshit.

"What happened to Eddie?" She asked bluntly. Eddie himself seemed to jolt in seat slightly, as Luke mouth stood agape for a second, Molly (who was leant back on an opposite chair) merely muttered "Might as well just let her now".

"Nah, I don't want…" Luke began helplessly.

"Clem honey, you really don't need to know" came Rebecca's voice, she had come back into the living room (with Sarah on her trail) she sat down opposite Eddie and continued to speak "Eddie had a sort of accident today, it's… it's not the sort of thing he can tell twice…"

At these words however Eddie seemed to spring to life, as he muttered "Rebecca, it's fine, Clem's tough as nails. If you want to know what's up Clem, then I have no problem telling it again" Eddie spoke directly to Clementine who merely nodded.

"What? Tell Clementine what? What's going on?" Sarah asked rapidly, the 18 year old was starting to become slightly confused.

"Eddie" Rebecca told the younger man, she sounded worried for him, trying to tell him in one word "You don't have to say this again" but his hard stare told her, he was going to stubborn and tell the girls it anyway. With a sigh of defeat Rebecca laid back into the folds of the black leather chair she was on as Eddie opened his mouth.

"Well, it all kinda started this morning…"

* * *

That morning, construction on a broken section of the wall around Wellington was well under way. Eddie was dressed in the bright neon green vest and dark trousers commonly associated to the stereotypical image of a builder. Patches of dirt littered his clothes as he wiped down his attire, a large crane above him was transporting massive blocks of wood towards the broken section of the wall.

"We've a got a fucking moat, I don't see why we've got to fix this damn wall" a burly African American man named Tom spat to Eddie. Eddie was sociable in this little group of builders but everyone kept to their own groups in Wellington. The only time he had been out with the builders was when the first bar reopened in Wellington and Eddie knew how that night ended…

He…. He hadn't felt like going out since.

"Well dude, walls are important. Moat's can fail you know?" Eddie told him matter of factly, yet he remembered leaving Howe's and all the walkers that had stumbled over the useless moat…

Tom shot him a glare, before turning back towards the wall and kicking a corroded piece of wood, "It's corroded to fucking shit, and now were just plugging up the hole with more fucking wood" for a moment Tom's eyes lingered on the world outside of the wall and at the still moat before he sighed.

"We need as much protection as we can" A man identical in image to Tom said brightly from next to him. Eddie knew him as Tom's twin brother Tim, he never spoke to them much but the bearded man had a way of picking up names.

"Whatever" Tom snapped storming past his brother angrily, and towards where the awaiting piles of wood were stacked and ready for use.

"Jeez, what's gotten in his vagina" Eddie muttered more to himself than anyone else, yet it seemed like he had been overheard, as a chuckle to his left caught his attention.

"Piece of wood probably, hell If I give a crap! Tom's a sullen git but what can you do?" the blurry form of Ryan, (a loud, crude construction worker) bellowed in response to Eddie's remark. Eddie noticed some poor stick figure of man being dragged along by Ryan.

"Anyway…." Ryan bellowed, practically flinging the man at Eddie before Eddie could say a word "Eddie this is Oscar, our F.N.G, don't fucking kill him with your beard man. The sheer power of it already blew a damn hole in the wall, I don't need damn holes being blown into people. Seen enough blood this morning as it is". He indicated a large bandage on his arm at this point, as Eddie faced the silent Oscar, who stared at Eddie through his glasses.

"I'll try dude, but what the actual fuck happened to the wall this time?" Eddie inquired, Ryan was almost like their head builder. A former military man who was a strong leader and could be relied on for information.

"Fucking rain happened. Mother fucking nature, she's a cunt. I wish we could get more steel or something but that's being used for buildings and shit. Teen brats going back to school today will need those supplies. If you ask me they should learn by helping us build rather than sitting behind a desk learning the damn alphabet…" Ryan was ranting on now, as Eddie lost interest somewhat, yet he found himself merely being almost shoved to the side as someone bounded up to Oscar.

"Ah! Oscar you're here man! See I told you this would be a good choice of job!" Tim told Oscar brightly, who continued to stay silent despite Tim's word. Eddie found this rather odd, Oscar looked somewhat shy but surely he must have said something by now.

"Get him workin', I don't usually take in Stick insects Tim, but because you are more bearable than your asshole of a twin, I'll let him off the hook this time" Ryan growled, before he set off to speak/scream at some other workers who were lacking off. Muttering under his breath "Fucking arm, fucking piece of glass on the pavement…"

"Anyway job's easy today" Came a voice from Eddie's left, he jumped somewhat as he was still busy watching Ryan depart. Yet his interest was suddenly drawn to Tim and Oscar who were right next to him.

"…Just help Eddie here carry the smaller columns of wood towards the hole…" Tim was saying before Eddie found a hand almost in his face.

"Eddie this is Oscar, it's alright man, Eddie won't kill you" Tim muttered to assure Oscar to shake Eddie's hand.

"Be careful the beard might" Eddie replied shaking Oscar's hand, Oscar smiled at him but didn't say a word which continued to bother Eddie somewhat. When their hands no longer connected Oscar went off towards the first piece of wood, leaving Eddie alone with Tim.

"You know, I think he'll be alright here" Tim told Eddie, who didn't really ask to converse with the light hearted man, yet it would be rude not to reply.

"Um, yeah. Kinda quiet though, isn't he?" Eddie said.

"Yeah, poor guy. Having your tongue ripped out does that too you" Tim replied, almost as if Eddie should have already known this information. Digesting this information with a surprised gulp, Eddie kept his cool and muttered "Yeah, horrible business…"

"Yet there's a lot to look forward too, kids going back to school and all, got 4 ourselves at my place. Well… I haven't got four… I mean… they're like…4 kids…" Tim trailed off awkwardly.

"Yeah, we got two girls at our place starting again today and two little one's too" Eddie explained to a listening Tim.

"Oh, any of the little one's your's?" Tim inquired.

"No, I'd be a fucking mess with kids" Eddie admitted sheepishly, yet thinking about it he hadn't done such a bad job with AJ.

"Found a nice woman around these parts yet? I heard Ryan over there is humping everything with a pulse…" Tim's eyes flickered towards the burly man who was barking orders at some lacking builders.

"No, I erm tried a couple of times though…." Eddie muttered scratching the back of his head.

"Oh yeah you did! I remember now you were in Wellington weekly all those months back, when you tried to get it on with that old woman with HIV and then…" he paused there suddenly remembering how this ended. Eddie seemed to go stiff as his dark eyes remained nestled in the dirt below him.

"Oh erm, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that…" Tim muttered, but his light tone of voice was seriously starting to piss Eddie off.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have" Eddie snarled, which was very out of character for the laid back man, as Tim felt his heart rate accelerate and his face burn with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too…" Tim tried apologising.

"It isn't a fucking joke dude, loads of people seemed to think it was, just like you. It fucking wasn't, alright!?" He snapped harshly at a flinching Tim.

"Okay, I get it, I get it man, just…. Just calm down" Tim said, patting thin air in front of him with his large caramel coloured hands. Acting as if Eddie was charging at him, when Eddie remained staring at the soles of his feet and hadn't moved an inch. But the thing that bothered Eddie was that Tim certainly didn't "get it" he didn't think anyone would.

"Have you got a woman, may I ask?" the same harsh tone remained in Eddie's tone, as he finally turned to face Tim. Tim was a large man, but his body language was that of a shy schoolboy. As he dug the sole of his black boot inches into the sludge like dirt around him. He didn't reply, but Eddie knew the answer.

"You do, don't you? I bet you go home and fuck her every night. I bet life is fucking fantastic for you. And you assume it's like that for everyone else, that everyone is fucking dandy and happy?" Eddie accusations finally seemed to draw some sort of anger in Tim.

"I have a woman, alright? Yeah I fuck her every night, why you gotta be so snappy about it man, I just trying to be damn positive" he paused there before continuing "Oh and I heard what you said about Tom. His my twin I didn't appreciate that. You know I sometimes wonder what's gotten your vagina" and with that Tim turned on his heels and left Eddie shooting daggers into the back of his shaved head.

Eddie felt like throttling him for a second, but he breathed deeply and his hands uncurled as he let his anger go with a deep sigh. Not wanting to fight over something so petty.

He soon noticed Oscar next to him, and knew that work had to be done.

* * *

Eddie soon learned he preferred Oscar's company over anyone else's, sure having the back of a splinter infested column of light brown wood digging into your shoulder wasn't ideal for Eddie's working life. But he didn't need some guy boasting about his conquests or anymore cynical assholes or Tim's around. He could carry the heavy thing into the corroded hole in the wall and set it down, and Oscar's silence only made that easier for him.

"Most peace I've ever had" Eddie announced to a listening Oscar after he set the third column of wood down, he wiped down the splinters that had nestled themselves into the rubber of his thick gloves as Oscar merely shot him another friendly smile.

Eddie was working on, the sun was out briefly lighting the grass and mud in the shadow of the large walls of Wellington, it was somewhat warm and considering it was later on into the year, it was a fairly nice day. Eddie didn't notice anything odd as he worked on.

Except for him.

Briefly he caught glimpses of a man, wearing a fedora hat and a trench coat gazing at where they continued to labour away. Eddie couldn't see the man's face and merely assumed he was an inspector or something like that, it was only after the fourth time Eddie saw him, his head pointed directly towards him. Before the man walked off once again that Eddie openly asked "Who is that guy in the hat, who's watching us?"

No one heard him other than Oscar, who merely shrugged his shoulders, the man was soon lost from Eddie's thoughts as Oscar picked up a stick and wrote a message in the dirt that clearly read

_"Don't know who that guy is, but maybe you can kill him with your beard"_

Eddie had to laugh at this, it was (in a way) the first words Oscar had said to him and other than gestures it was nice to know what this man was thinking.

"Maybe you can use your glasses to help me dude" Eddie told him, Oscar seemed to laugh but no sound escaped his lips. In better company Eddie let the mysterious man drift from his thoughts.

Until it happened.

Eddie was just thinking of how to tell Oscar, how he knew Tim and Tom. If they were in the same group by some means and if Tom was always an ass and who Tim's "woman" really was. But an agonized bellow from his left quickly gained his attention, he whipped around to see a walker digging its teeth into Ryan's throat, as blood spurted from the burly man's neck.

For a second time stood still.

Blood.

Walker.

In Wellington.

Ryan.

Bleeding.

Screaming.

These words connected in Eddie's mind, when they all came together he came to his senses as his heart leapt in his mouth and he dropped the wooden column he was holding and sprinted towards the scene, too little and far too late.

The walker would bitten down on some vital arteries had Tom himself not come in at the last second and pried the walker from Ryan's neck. The burly African American man flung the walker to the ground as if it were a rag doll and with a steely boot, he crushed it's skull as if it were egg.

"Why, the fuck didn't you a fucking THING!?" Tom roared at the figure of Tim, Tim was shaking and sobbing on the spot, a screwdriver in his hands yet for some reason he seemed incapable of moving or doing anything, as he weakly spluttered "I… I saw it coming and fuck… Tom I don't where the hell came from! It was just there! And I… I…!"

"DON'T GIVE ME FUCKING EXCUSES TIM! GET SOME BANDAGES OR SOMETHING!" Tom roared, although many other builders around Tom seemed to spring to life at this bellowed command. Tom's shocked twin merely fell to his knees on the spot, shaking all over as he watched blood pour from Ryan neck, paralyzed in fear and unable to do a damn thing.

"COME ON MAN!" Tom yelled, like his twin he also fell to his knees, but carefully rested Ryan's neck on his large thighs. Ryan's green eyes were locked on the overcast sky above him, seeming bulging out of his head as he gasped for oxygen, Eddie was hypnotized by the site of this large powerful man now just on the ground, withering away like a dying fish.

In Eddie's shocked state he suddenly realised Oscar, the mute man swept past Eddie with some make-shift bandages cradled in his skinny arms. Seeing these bandages in Oscar's spindly fingers made Eddie crash back down to earth and curse to himself in anger and guilt, he had stood there and done nothing. He was as useless as Tim was, but Eddie could get away with it because he was still quite a few feet away from Ryan's twitching form, whereas Tim was mere centimetres from the centre scene.

"Don't die on me you fucking bastard" Tom growled, using the bandages Oscar (and a few others) had threw/dropped to him. Although it was well known Tom and Ryan didn't get on as both were alpha male types who clashed a lot over the tiniest things, it seemed however in a life or death situation like this one, Tom was willing to push aside a futile rivalry in order to save a life.

"Move!" came a new voice, Eddie's eyes were locked on Tom's form, as Ryan's blood leaked onto his dust coated denim jeans. Ryan himself was getting paler by the second, his thin black t-shirt seemed to cling to him ever tighter as more sweat and blood drenched the burly man's clothes. Eddie felt like he was watching the thing through tunnel vision, Ryan and Tom were in extreme focus, while everything in the bearded man's peripheral vision was blurred out.

But this new voice was followed by a new man, who crashed onto the scene instantly, practically pushing a frantic Tom away from Ryan. Before Tom could even scream or fight back, the man had already told him a powerful tone that everyone in the vicinity overheard "Stay back! I'm a medic here!" before anyone could doubt his claim he had seemingly made an assortment of medical gear appear out of thin air.

"Who, who are you?" were the only words Tom could ask, his voice a nervous jitter, as even the hardest of men were affected by situations like this.

The mysterious man didn't reply, Eddie noticed that it was the same mysterious man who had been watching them earlier, still draped in his fedora hat and trench coat, his clothing hadn't changed and Eddie had rightfully wanted to know himself who the hell this guy was. He didn't look like a medic or a doctor at all.

"Hey, I asked you something!" Tom yelled in a wild sort of frustration.

"No time!" The man snapped, as he bent down and focused on Ryan's neck wound, Eddie squinted to try and get a clear view of this man's face, but his fedora hat (which seemingly remained glued to his head) concealed his facial features. Making it impossible for Eddie to identify him.

All Eddie saw were how fast the man's hand's moved, it was unlike anything Eddie had ever seen before. The mysterious man's hands were blurs of white that flew back from the wound towards a bandage or other supplies in milliseconds, everyone was transfixed watching this man try and save Ryan's life, not even a hot headed Tom could fathom a word, and Tim was still sobbing into the muddy dirt, Eddie had to feel sorry for the guy, if Ryan died it was on Tim's head and Eddie had been in that position before.

Yes, Tim had annoyed Eddie earlier, but Eddie didn't want…

"His stabilised" the man in the fedora hat said unexpectedly, Eddie's train of thought broke instantly, as he looked up in complete disbelief, bandages had been securely equipped to the side of Ryan's neck. The blood flow had stopped, the military man was pale but still alive. His chest moving up and down slightly.

From what Eddie could see, the mysterious man looked pleased with himself he bent closer to Tom, Eddie could just about make out the man's infectious white toothed smile from this distance and the beads of sweat that rolled down his chin and past a few protruding strands of his short facial hair. The man that had come out of nowhere and had worked so tirelessly to save Ryan's life.

It all seemed too good to be true.

"His stabilised, but his fucking bitten! We need to put him out of his misery!" a colleague of Eddie's finally bellowed, breaking the impressed silence and closing mouths that gawked open in amazement at this man's skills. Eddie mentally slapped himself for forgetting this vital detail even if the bleeding could have been stopped, Ryan was bitten and bitten on the neck there was no chance of amputation here.

Ryan was already dead.

"DON'T!" was what the mysterious man bellowed at an approaching construction worker anyhow, despite the fact Ryan was bitten and likely going to turn very shortly, the man kept his arm outstretched as if too ward of any threats to Ryan's life.

"His fucking bitten you damn idiot, I appreciate what you've done, but looking at it, you just wasted supplies on a dead man walking" Tom told the man, tugging the sharp screwdriver from his twin's numb fingers, as he dangled the point of the metal tool dangerously over Ryan's head.

"Just wait!" the man hissed up at Tom, the African American man froze in place, wondering what on earth to make of this. No one moved, there was no question to ask, other than one surly voice that audibly inquired "Where'd the walker come from?"

"Must have snuck through the hole" was the obvious answer, its owner was an experienced veteran in construction and at Wellington they had the occasional causality from one off walkers that somehow got past the moat and broken sections of the wall. Too many this simple explanation was an answer to their inquiries.

But this wasn't the case for Eddie.

Eddie himself turned back to the man, that held Ryan's figure in his arms. Although he couldn't see the man's eyes, Eddie could see his somewhat insane smile as he looked down at Ryan and Eddie could imagine just as demented eyes prying down upon the dying man. Ryan was getting paler, had he stopped breathing? Eddie suddenly couldn't tell, he took one step through the sludge to get a better look.

"AAAHHH!"

Ryan's walker shot up to life, missing the surprised man in the fedora hat's neck by mere millimetres. In what had to have been genuine surprise the mystery man leapt back in shock, his hands sinking into the mud as the walker moaned to the sky…

SPLAT!

Tom had acted instantly, shoving the sharp screwdriver through Ryan's skull, tiny chips of skull and flesh bombarded the soft brown layer of mud below Ryan, before the man/walker himself fell onto the muddy earth in the shadow of the wall, in a messy, bloody heap.

Eddie gulped in dread, Ryan was a nice guy too. Crude, loud and annoying at times, but a nice, friendly man and Eddie could already feel that sinking feeling in his gut, another friend, just gone like "that". Ryan's sudden death brought back memories of Wyatt's death…

Eddie clenched his eyes shut, thinking about his best friend since childhood's untimely and shocking demise on the frozen lake. Some nights Wyatt's death would haunt him yet for some reason he never felt like talking about it with others in full detail. Eddie himself simply felt empty at certain times without Wyatt's presence and banter in his life and that empty feeling… it would made worse now that Ryan was also gone.

"I told you" Tom muttered darkly, pulling out his screwdriver from Ryan's skull which made a sickening squelch. However many men present had since grown used to such sounds, sights and smells, hence it didn't cause that much discomfort amongst them.

"I told you, saving him was a waste of supplies" Tom almost repeated duly, (yet Eddie noticed he had asked for bandages and tried to save Ryan, just like the mysterious man had, Tom could be hypocritical sometimes and didn't think too straight. Maybe that was the one thing he shared in common with his twin). Tom turned just in time to see the man sweeping his medical supplies and practically storm away from the scene in an instant.

"Hey! Where the fuck are you going!?" a man yelled over to him.

He didn't reply, the man began to run and he ran just as fast as he could move his hands, within seconds he was simply gone once again. Before he left Eddie swore he heard the mysterious man swearing to himself, he sounded frustrated rather than shocked or grief stricken. The silence in the wake of this man's departure certainly was heavy, everyone stood in place as if they were statues, ensure of what to do now.

"What the actual hell just happened?" Eddie found himself asking Oscar, breaking the silence encompassing them.

Oscar shook his head, all anyone knew is that a walker had appeared and killed Ryan, someone tried to help and failed and now their looked up to "leader" was dead.

* * *

"… and that's it. I just felt bad because… because If only I was closer, I could...I could have done something to help..." Eddie finished his tale with these words of regret, Clementine and Sarah clinging onto every word, as Sarah gasped and muttered "Oh, that's really, really horrible" as Eddie nodded to show, indeed that it was really really horrible.

"But like you said man, you can't blame yourself for that, you couldn't have done anything" Luke reassured a still anxious looking Eddie. The bearded man nodded once again, as he tried to lighten the mood with a weak "Well, you know what, after that incident me and the guys are allowed a few days off work to recover. A construction team east of Wellington are being drafted in to help tomorrow with the wall…"

"And guess who has to patrol around them, to make sure no more walkers sneak through that hole" Nick spoke up, he looked irksome no doubt because of the extra hours he now had.

"Well if Eddie's theory is true, it's not just the hole you'll need to keep an eye on" Molly added cryptically, a dark smile on her face. Knowing full well she had planted a seed in the minds of Sarah and Clementine and the two girls would want to know more. Luke shot Molly a glare, which she returned with a cool smile.

"Dammit Molly! We agreed not to mention this in front of the kids!" Luke snapped at the laid back blonde woman, who merely grinned at the commotion she was causing.

"It's a bunch of nonsense anyway Sarah, Eddie's theories are probably nothing" Nick told the bespectacled Hispanic girl.

"_Probably,_ nothing?" Clementine curtly cut in, putting a large amount of stress on the word choice of "probably".

"and were not kids anymore, I'm 18! I'm a grown up like you guys now. I mean Clem might still be a kid…"

"Sarah!" Clem snapped.

"Sorry" she squeaked back, yet she was unable to resist the opportunity to remind Clementine she was older and taller and henceforth more grown up, than the 14 year old African American girl.

"Well you're gonna here my theories anyway, might as well tell you girls, but just because I say this, doesn't mean it's true, you understand?" Eddie eyed Sarah and Clementine who nodded to show they understood.

"Okay, well the walker that got in… police came afterwards. The body wasn't of anyone identifiable in Wellington so it was from the outside…"

"Yeah, Sergeant Moore had us looking for info for hours…" Nick interjected sourly, Eddie's (and everybody else's) curt looks of disapproval however soon shut him up as he allowed Eddie to carry on reciting his theories.

"But, what if the walker was somehow smuggled in from the outside? I know it sounds fucking nuts, but I watched that damn hole all day! I know nothing could have snuck through, at least not without help and that guy… he appeared out of nowhere and left without a trace and that guy was fucking gorked as shit, he actually thought he could save Ryan, well he might have been good at patching up wounds, but that guy wasn't a doctor" he paused there for breath before continuing.

"and the police launched a search for the man, he hasn't shown himself and it's hard to describe someone who covered his face. So really that man could be anyone in Wellington, I don't know why but I think that man lied, he was on the scene waaaay to quickly after Ryan got bit, it's like he wanted Ryan to turn… I think he killed Ryan on purpose, I think…" Eddie paused there before diving into his big conclusion.

"I think, I saw the Wellington wolf today"

A ringing silence encompassed the room after these words, Clementine felt her heart beat faster, it seemed the Wellington weekly had done a good job of planting seeds of fear into her, as the constant reports and the infamy of the mere two words "Wellington Wolf" carried enough weight to make even her slightly nervous.

"Yeah, that's where I think the theory's bullshit" Nick intervened, casing his opinion as he spoke on "I mean, why the fuck would the Wellington Wolf try to save someone? Why would he risk being seen in broad daylight? What the actual hell would he smuggle a walker into Wellington if that's even possible? His motives make no sense and because of that there's simply no logical reason for him to have done it" Nick sensible words, seemed to make Clementine relax more, Eddie's bold statement was (like he said) a theory. Even he admitted it.

But deep down, Eddie knew… he just knew that the mysterious man was responsible for that walker getting into Wellington and Ryan's untimely end.

The only thing Eddie wondered, was Why?

Why had the Wellington Wolf done this?

* * *

"FUCKING DARKY SCUM…!"

"SIT YOUR RACIST ASS DOWN BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU…!"

"BOY! I AIN'T SITTIN' UNTIL YOU DEAL WITH YOUR HELPLESS EXCUSE OF A BROTHER!"

"THAT'S STRANGE I THOUGHT YOU LIKED HIM BETTER THAN ME!"

"A DARKY IS STILL A DARKY, YOU'RE ALL THE SAME, YOU SORT THAT USELESS BOY OUT BEFORE I DO! GOING OUT FOR A WALK MY ASS! HE NEEDS TO FACE UP TO WHAT HE DID AND WHY THAT BOY AT YOUR WORKPLACE DIED TODAY… ALL BECAUSE OF HIM!"

"IT AIN'T ALL BECAUSE OF TIM, OKAY…!"

The argument that exploded outwards from the kitchen barely bothered the lousing forms of the rest of the group who lay sprawled on the cosy cream sofa's in the living area.

"Do you think when granddaddy calms down, he'll want to hear about my first day?" JJ curiously asked Ana. The African American woman's eyes were locked on the screen in front of her, the film Ice Age that was playing on the DVD player did little to arouse her interest, so she turned to JJ to answer his question.

"As long as you've joined the KKK society, he'll love to hear all about it" Ana replied dryly.

"The KKK's really racist though, I ain't like that" JJ told her, failing to pick up on the obvious sarcasm, he seemed in a quite childish mood tonight, sat cross legged in front of the tv screen and lapping up the images with his wide brown eyes, while shaking his toes in a childish excitement at the cartoon mammals on the screen.

"Well don't worry JJ, Wilbert is going to fucking hate me" Luis reassured his messy blonde haired friend. Luis thoughts on Clementine, his thinking process was still jammed somewhat after the verbal lashing he gave her earlier that day, it had stopped and made him actually think.

He seemed to be sinking down into his seat, rather than constantly look around for danger at every corner, he felt himself become less tense as these girl's defiant words seemed to have an effect on him that he didn't see possible. He was so certain he had hardened to the world, he was convinced of it, but to have his ideology doubted by a 14 year old girl he barely knew…

Well, Luis knew there was something special about her, some sort of fight behind her yellow eyes.

"I just hope they resolve their issues" Maria noted worriedly, finishing off the last plate of her dinner as she kept gazing back into the kitchen, before she continued "What Tim did today, he simply panicked. He sounded so guilty earlier before he went out for his walk. I do hope his back soon because it's getting quite late. Tom, Tom is too hard on him…"

"Tom's just doing what needs to be done, Tim's a nice guy Maria, but he needs some sense slapped into him" Ana said.

"In here, In Wellington, we should be safe, there should be no need to raise our guard" Maria lectured shooting daggers at Ana, their differing opinions sometimes led to conflict. Luis however listened on, even after he heard about the walker incident by the wall, he still remained relaxed somewhat, that was a one off. He should have been freaking out over it and raising his guard immensely but…

"Walker breaks into Wellington and you haven't said a word all day" Brandon told him, as if the black haired boy could read his thoughts. Brandon was looking at him in a similar way to his sister which surprised Luis somewhat. Yet nobody could master Terri's analytical look, in fact the blonde girl was silent now. Her knees drawn up to her chest, in her light pink pyjamas she sat huddled at her brothers side, her eyes trained on the disagreements between Ana and Maria.

"I'm just tired that's all, first day at school and all, I don't want to raise a fuss when we already have enough drama as it is" Luis gestured back towards the kitchen. Brandon seemed to accept this information as he smiled and muttered "Yeah, mad first day back. I'm glad me and Terri stayed quiet most of the day".

"Hard to adjust?" Luis asked.

"You could say that" Brandon replied.

However before the two teenagers could converse further a fuming Wilbert suddenly dropped himself into the space between them, huffing angrily and rubbing his chest, murmuring curse words under his breath, the room went quiet and Luis heard Tom himself storming up the stairs of the house and towards his room no doubt.

"You really shouldn't strain yourself at your age" Maria told him.

"I can strain myself all I…" Wilbert sentence seemed to trail off, the usual aggression in his voice faded as JJ stood up and approached his grandfather.

"Boy! I… erm… how was your first day then?" Wilbert began in a much more relaxed grandfather grumble, almost completely forgetting about the argument that had occurred moments before. Only upon seeing JJ did Wilbert seem to suddenly brighten up and regain his senses. JJ smiled and dive-bombed into his long winded tale about school.

"I worry about that old man, I don't know if…" Maria began.

Thump

The faint thump of the front door cut off Maria's sentence, as Ana whipped around muttering to herself "Who the hell would visit at this time of night…?"

Thump

"I'll get it!" JJ buzzed in excitement he flew towards the door and past where Oscar was sitting reading the latest Wellington Weekly, whoever was knocking on the door at this time… Maria thought it was probably just Tim returning from his walk.

JJ opened the door.

It wasn't Tim.

The walker had somehow stumbled right up to their house and had banged it's head two times against the door, hence creating the knocking sound. JJ had no time to react, he simply screamed in terror as the walker bared down on him, teeth bared.

No one had any time to register what the hell had happened, only Oscar was close enough to fly out of his chair upon seeing the walker about to chew away on JJ's neck. The mute man shoved JJ so hard that the blonde boy crashed into the stairwell and fell violently to the floor, but JJ was saved. Oscar had moved him out of harm's way.

Instead Oscar found the walker's teeth inches in his own collarbone, he had been bitten in the shoulder.

"OH DEAR GOD!" Maria exclaimed upon seeing this horrible sight.

Wilbert had no time to gain his breath, JJ was still woozy on the floor next to the stairs, Ana reacted the fastest, leaping over the sofa she grabbed where she kept her treasured curved sword and merely a second later she had sliced through the walker's head, showering the front hallway with a fresh crimson spray of seemingly wet paint.

The walker crumpled to the ground, but the damage was done, Oscar was bitten on the shoulder there was no way to amputate this.

"Where the fuck did it come from!?" Brandon yelled running over to the door and inspecting the bloody cadaver of the male walker that lay as dead as dodo on the wooden floor.

Terri ran after him, only she noticed the fleeting figure that disappeared into the woods, yet she kept silent as she had to process everything that had just happened.

Ana looked pale as she faced Oscar, his eyes were wide.

"Oscar just calm down… we'll…. We'll do something about this" Ana tried to reassure him, but Oscar knew nothing could be done. Ana could see that in his wide horrified black coloured iris' he knew he was a dead man walking. Ana's own sword shook in her fingers, Oscar her friend… her friend before this group she couldn't fathom the thought of losing him.

"Oscar"

A deadly voice rang across the hallway. Luis' single eye was trained on the pale man, a kitchen knife held tightly in Luis' one hand. Wilbert and Maria yelled at the exact same time "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" but they all knew what he was doing.

Luis had let his guard down, a big mistake.

"I'm sorry man, but… but this has to be done" Luis said, he was surprised to find his own voice was quivering, the knife suddenly felt so heavy in his fingers.

But Oscar didn't stay to die, instead in sheer panic he fled up the stairs, jumping over a still dazed JJ and bounding up the stairs. Passing a curious Tom who asked him "What the hell's going on down there, I heard shouting!?" Luis ran after Oscar, knife locked in his grip, Tom must have thought he looked like a madman, but before Luis could reach Oscar, the mute man had already locked (and barricaded) himself in the bathroom.

Tom was soon brought up to date with all that happened, the group stood outside the bathroom, no coaxing words, or any forceful attempts by Luis to enter the bathroom could get Oscar out.

"GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!" Luis roared in frustration, kicking the door in a fury, angry at everything at the minute.

But most angry at himself.


	3. The Cure To Insomnia

**A/N: Thank you for your kind reviews and without further ado onto answering to you guys!**

**Chameishida- Thanks for your kind words and of course your doodle of Luis, it's almost exactly how I picture him in the fic, only in my mind I either see him with short spiky hair or really wavy hair (you drew him amazingly though, so who I am to complain?) and once again thank you for continued support and artwork towards this fic/series.**

**Ffapathy- I was worried last chapter about how talkative AJ and Lilly seemed considering their only 3 and 2, it was hard to write them as they're not babies anymore but not really kids, never the less I'm glad they were received well and your theory… you actually made some pretty decent points about the blood and the cult… you may be right you may be wrong only time will tell.**

**The Rose of Hedylogos- I love how last chapter got so many long reviews and theories, reading them certainly made my day and your own theory was very interesting to read indeed. The story has already been planned out to a point where I know what's going to happen and why but your theories show how invested you are in the story and it really brightens my day and inspires me to keep on writing**

**Kristal Dynamite- Loved how you discussed all the points in this chapter, sorry about Oscar as I think I remember you saying you loved his character in 2000 days but this is the walking dead and anything can happen. Also answering your question I did write original material on a different website before I started fanfiction, but what I wrote was very dark and wasn't very well received and I was eventually banned from the site. Due to the failure of my original work I thought a similar fate awaited me on here, especially considering how dark I planned No Going Back to be, so the overwhelming positive feedback was a complete surprise to me and has helped me to carry on writing **

**Zombieslayer995- Thanks for your review and you have a very unique theory from other reviewers I've heard so far, so I really appreciate your feedback and thoughts on the fic. **

**ParadisalBitterness- Loved reading through your list of suspects and you theories and chances of who is the "wolf" it's like a who-dunnit. **

**Newsupergodzilla Josh- Thank you for the Oscar, although I don't know if the reference to the Oscar was not only referring to the award itself but the character, either way I'm grateful for your reviews so thank you!**

**And finally ****aldo. hernandez. 581****\- gracias por tu opinión clase !, agradable ver un crítico mexicano (Luis sería feliz) saludos de Inglaterra ! He utilizado Google translate para todo esto.**

**Okay thanks to everyone else as well, and also this chapter more oc's come into the mix, the rose of Hedylogos you'll find your character Stacy has been altered slightly, but I hope you enjoy! **

**Stacy, Trevor and Violet Moore-** **The Rose of Hedylogos and ****santiago. poncini 20**

* * *

"... black fedora hat... dark brown trench coat..."

The redhead woman sighed and with an audible groan she pulled herself closer to Tim's sweaty form, the African american man's words died on his tongue at this gesture. He didn't know whether the attractive woman was pleased or annoyed with what he had said.

"We've been through this" the woman purred seductively, the words emitting from her soft, full lips made Tim's mouth go dry, he gulped audibly as goosebumps spread all over his bare skin, the faint strips of moonlight that illuminated the back of the car the pair were currently squashed into, made the redhead woman look almost angelic as gazing upon her naked form, Tim felt himself going stiff down south.

"You see..." the woman said, placing a long fingernail on Tim's bare chest, she slowly trailed her finger down's Tim's rigid form, as he felt himself breathe ever deeper, he felt his eyes clench shut as the woman spoke on.

"Clothing... simply describing clothing Tim, my stud in shining armour, isn't enough..."

Tim couldn't control his impulses anymore, he shot up like a bullet and went to wrap his large arms around her gorgeous form, but with just as much surprising strength, the redhead woman easily slapped his invasive hands away and pinned him back down in the position he started in.

"Tut, tut, that's not how this works Tim, you'd become a rapist if you carry on like that, you don't have my... consent" the woman teased, shaking her head, as her green eyes remained locked on Tim's hungry globes, she had this man exactly where she wanted him.

"How do I get your consent?" he begged, his shining in sweat face, scrunched up in some sort of desperation.

"Tell me, tell me exactly how tall he was, tell me whether he was built up or skinny, tell me if he had any facial hair, what colour it was, whether he was black, white or Asian, you were right by the guy as he tried to save Ryan, you must have picked up these details..." she smiled again, before muttering "You see, I wanted to know... what he looked like in the flesh..." Tim eyes brightened at this, knowing he'd get what he wanted if he just told her this information.

"He was... built up guy, had to 6, 4, he had facial hair, kinda light coloured though, so he was probably blonde, he was white and... and I didn't see his eyes, or even his nose, but I remember his smile. When he looked down at Ryan, he had that...that freaky smile. Really white teeth, all straight and not crooked..."

"How old do you think he was?" The woman cut in.

"Judging by how fast he moved his hands and how fast he ran off, I assume he had to be athletic and strong, from what I saw of his face he had to be quite young, I'm betting he was in his mid 20's or early 30's at the oldest". Tim felt drained after explaining all of this, as the woman in question grinned to herself more than she did at him.

"Well, come on then we had an agreement here Stacy" Tim muttered in haste, he had given his share of the deal, now it was her turn.

"Why yes, of course, how could I forget" Stacy mused, she planted her body against Tim's own, an hour or two later, the windows too Stacy's car were steamed up and for anybody observing from the outside they would see the car swaying for a short while. Yet no one would see them, as Stacy had parked her car in the woods of Wellington, somewhere nobody dared venture. Not at this time of night and with the Wellington Wolf making a fresh kill everybody would be bundled up in their houses no doubt.

"That... that was great" Tim muttered, stroking Stacy's crimson hairs, his last thoughts being that of the Wellington Wolf at the moment, whereas in Stacy's mind it was all she could think about.

"It was" Stacy mumbled, echoing Tim's words with no real meaning behind them. Soon enough Tim got up and proceeded to squeeze back into his clothes, Stacy felt like it was mandatory to say something to keep her in his good books, it was without a shadow of a doubt the sex she gave him kept him coming back, but she felt like she had to say more, connect to him on an emotional level as well as a physical one.

"Tim, it really wasn't your fault about what happened to Ryan" she told him, Tim smiled back at her.

"I just... I wish I could have done something, hell anything! I..." Tim sighed in defeat there and buried his head in his hands, he sighed deeply as Stacy planted her pale hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, just think when this is over and we get this fucker... this Wellington Wolf, just remember it's thanks to you I could get the information I needed to catch him. I promised you, you and your group would benefit from this favour, we'd give you the house you needed, the money. Things are going to shit here in Wellington Tim, you know that and I know that. Not everyone can be saved". this grim fact was met with a curt nod from the African american twin.

"I know, I appericate it Stacy, I mean fuck... you're editor of the Wellington weekly and your brother's the chief of the whole police force here, you guys have power and I can't thank you enough for agreeing to help my group..." Tim was breathless in appreciation as he spoke, a fact Stacy Moore clearly picked up on.

"No problem" she lied.

* * *

Tim really didn't know what was waiting for him, he strolled through the woods towards his house he honestly believed everything would be okay, that everyone would be asleep as he entered the house, he had been out late after all.

In the house however, no one slept.

"Oscar please, you must come out try and let us help in any way possible, you don't want to spend your final hours locked in that bathroom" Maria called out, rubbing the black bags under her eyes and trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over her eyelids at her ally's sudden, unavoidable demise.

"It ain't workin' if he wants to die in a fucking bathroom, let him die in there. Hell it will be less mess on the carpet for us..." Wilbert grumbled angrily.

"Wilbert!" Maria snapped, appalled at his words.

"It's true though, we have enough mess with that body downstairs, someone just phone the damn police already so they can come here and clear this place out..."

"Not until Oscar is at peace" Ana didn't even look at Wilbert, but her words were as cold as ice, and froze the tongue of the hot headed elderly man. Wilbert's watery blue orbs seemed to harden at Ana's words but he held his tongue. With silence now encompassing all of them, Ana could now focus her dark eyes on the door in front of her. She inspected every crack and smudge of dirt on the wooden door. Expecting some sort of change, expecting a click and waiting for it to open, she strained her eyes awaiting the first groans of a walker to smash into her eardrums. Those noises would make her gut sink, yet with every fibre of her being she was trying to prepare for it.

She hated walkers, she despised them so much, but when the time came, would she be able to slice Oscar up, just as easily as she had done with the walker still lying downstairs? Just as she did with so many walkers in the past? She had been with travelling with Oscar for so long now, losing him would break her again, just like it had done when she lost Trent... her ringed fingers tightened on the hilt of her curved sword, realising now that everyone she loved or cared about, walkers would always take them away in the end.

and now she hated them worse than ever.

"I can't wait anymore, I'm breaking in" Ana muttered at long last, she gazed at the sword in her hands, as all eyes averted to her.

"How? Luis has been trying for ages and there's been no luck" Brandon asked of her, he sat slumped on the ground, next to Terri who seemed to be dozing on her brother's shoulder. Luis himself simply stood by the door, the knife he previously held, still in his fingers, yet all the energy in him he seemed zapped away, now he shoulder simply ached because he'd spent ages trying to use it to bring the door down.

"I'll find a way, but I want to do this alone. you can guys can leave, go back to your rooms" was Ana's reply to Brandon before she breathed to herself (yet everyone heard this anyway) "I... need to do this". Upon hearing these words, Maria placed a comforting hand of Ana's shoulder, encouraging her with a "I'm so sorry Ana, of course we'll give you your space" and with that the kindly mother proceeded back to her room, not daring to look back.

Luis departed soon afterwards, he couldn't think of a word to say so he kept his head down and made his way back towards his own room. Upon reaching it, he looked around at the dark room, without thinking he dropped the knife that was still in his fingers and proceeded to punch the nearby wall as hard as he could.

He panted heavily, the skin around his knuckles broke instantly, leaving blood raining down his fist and the creamy coloured wall itself, ignoring the stinging pain, Luis simply let his form collapse on his single bed. Still fully clothed, he knew he wouldn't be sleeping at all tonight, he stayed awake cursing himself repeatedly for letting his guard down and failing.

Wilbert was next to depart, not muttering a word other than a bark of "C'mon boy!" towards JJ. Although Wilbert didn't seem to bothered by events his grandson certainly was, JJ still felt dazed hitting his head earlier against the railing, he still felt woozy, as if none of this had happened. Upon his grandfather's call he did indeed rise from where he was stood.

"Hey, you okay man?" Brandon asked, he knew Luis had gone quiet, but JJ hadn't said a word. JJ could still see that walker in his vision raining down on him and he was helpless to do anything about it and now Oscar was dead because of him. JJ went up to the door and patted it, ignoring Brandon's question he simply mumbled "Thanks Oscar, and Goodbye" before he followed his grandfather back into their shared room. Tossing and turning in his single bed (Wilbert's snoring told JJ, that his grandfather had no trouble sleeping) JJ found him... restless.

"Looks like were going to need some help, we don't want that happening again, do we?" TT muttered to himself, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

Back out in the corridor, Tom heard the front door open and close and exclamation "What the fuck!?" told the leader of the group, that his twin brother had returned from wherever the hell he had been and had seen the corpse laid spread-eagled on the floor.

"I'll explain it too him, I'll make sure he doesn't disturb you Ana" Tom words were met with a smile by Ana.

"Thank you" was her response, soon Tom was gone and Terri and Brandon soon left the scene. Leaving Ana alone, she called out to the door "Oscar it's just you and me now, please open the door" for some strange reason she was expecting the door to click open. So it felt surreal, yet unexpected when there was a clunking sound followed by a sharp click and door inched open a few centimetres. Ana strode into the bathroom, Oscar closed the door behind her and locked it, with another sharp click.

"I'll give you all the time you need" Ana said clearly, she gazed at Oscar, he had used bandages to stop the bleeding from his bite would but that made no difference, he was still a dead man walking. Oscar looked stressed out his usual piercings were no where to be seen, and his glasses lay on the counter, yet it was only then Ana realised Oscar was holding up a piece of paper for her to read, as a single tear rolled down his cheek, Ana read what was written on the paper.

They were only two words there.

_"I can't" _

* * *

"Clem?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll ever get married to nice guys in the future?"

Clementine rose up in her bed, pulling the duvet off her small form, as she turned towards where Sarah's bed was inches from her own in the dark, she could have turned on her bedroom lamp but she preferred to save the electricity, especially now as bills in Wellington seemed to be rising all the time.

"I don't know Sarah" she mumbled, she barely even gave a second thought to boys, although she knew Sarah must have been much more hyped on the topic, as she was 18 and not 14. Her first day of school had done little to make her swoon over the thought of receiving a "boyfriend" or a "knight in shining armour"although Sarah's interaction with JJ may have given her a more positive perspective on things.

"Well I do, I want Nick and Stephanie to get married too, we need something good to happen, Eddie will need cheering up after today..." Sarah mused going off on one, her eyes boring into the blackness above her, as Clementine chuckled "Nick and Stephanie getting married will only make him more depressed, because he doesn't have a girlfriend yet" yet Clementine's cynical thought was clearly lost on optimistic Sarah.

"Maybe it will give him hope" she suggested.

Clementine snorted, she didn't mean to horrible to Sarah's suggestion it was just trying to imagine Eddie getting married, dressed up in a tuxuedo or a suit, it was weird enough imaging Nick in a suit getting married to Stephanie. Nick, who she had first seen in a cap and baggy clothes and Eddie who usually dressed in beanie hats and dirty vests, the two of them weren't the sort of men she could envision in suits at all.

"It's just weird to think about Sarah, the group getting married and growing old and having kids and all that, it doesn't feel real" Clementine admitted to her best friend.

"Were in a safe area now Clementine, it's what expected to happen. People can finally relax and move on with their lives, don't you want the group to be happy?" she inquired of the 14 year old, Clementine found herself about to reply with "Are we really in a safe area? After what happened today?" yet despite the incident she couldn't go back on her words. She had certainly made Luis doubt himself and she wasn't to go back on her lecture to him, she wasn't going to sound as depressing and as cynical as he was.

Why had she gone back in the first place? She saved Sarah from her original fate in that trailer and then she went back the second time to save her from the clutches from the cult. Sarah was worth saving, that piece of optimism that shined inside of Clementine. She knew what that was like to lose that optimism, to lose Sarah, it destroyed her will to live. In a way without Sarah there, in the original timeline that's when things started going downhill, as naive as she sometimes seemed the group needed Sarah more than they needed anyone else.

So instead of replying cynically, Clementine sighed and muttered "Of course I want the group to be happy, it's just hard to adjust" and that was her honest answer, she didn't want to face walkers again, she was still adjusting to Wellington even after two years the thoughts of normal life were alien to her.

"I hope they get married soon, it will be like a family, maybe then Luke and Molly can get married too and Eddie... maybe he can like the funny old uncle or something and Rebecca can be the nan of the house, and AJ and Lilly the annoying little cousins and we can be like the teenage sisters..."

"That sounds like a plan" Clementine found herself smiling as she said it.

They continued to laugh, joke and talk about the future, before Clementine finally sighed and muttered "You know, JJ's group?"

"Yeah?" Sarah inquired, wondering where Clementine was going with this.

"We never told the guys downstairs that they encountered the cult as well, we'll have to tell them tomorrow or something" Clementine uttered only just remembering this detail, as Sarah white toothed smile lit up the pitch black room, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that, mainly because of what happened to Eddie and then dinner, then we went to bed and then all that commotion about AJ pooping on the book..."

"He could have least pooped on Luke's Charles Dickines collection" Clementine mumbled, remembering when Luke first expressed his interest in Charles Dickines books, back on that cabin in the mountains, where they first met Anne and Marisol. Since he arrived in Wellington, Luke's collection of books had been growing, especially regarding Charles Dickine's novels. Clementine wondered if Luke had taken a leaf out of Sarah's book (no pun intended), she found Luke's books painfully dull hence her wish to see AJ poop on them.

"Yeah, I never knew Rebecca could shout so loud, poor AJ, but then again that was my favourite book" Sarah muttered sadly.

"We'll get another one" Clementine reassured her.

"But things are getting more expensive, we can't afford much anymore" Sarah told her, before she smiled "Well you can leave Wellington High when you're 19 anyway, it's December 3rd today, when it gets to March I'll be free to get a job as well and earn some money"

"Thought about which job you want though?" Clementine asked of her.

"I don't know... but it's exciting isn't it! Growing up! Getting jobs and maybe getting a boyfriend, I mean, can you like keep this secret Clementine, but I... I think JJ is really nice..."

"You've only known him a day Sarah" Clementine cut in, as Sarah waved the air in some sort of defence as she muttered hastily "I know, I know, but I think his really like... you know... a nice person and I was wondering in the future, maybe we could..."

"Just, Sarah. Remember what happened last time" Clementine warned her, she didn't want to sound pessimistic, but Clementine kept thinking of the last time Sarah had a boyfriend. Arvo had certainly treated Sarah well, oh yes, he left her when she needed him the most and left her to be... she still remembered seeing Sarah like that and she had been wary of Sarah making the same mistake since they had arrived at Wellington.

Sarah seemed to go quiet, Clementine couldn't see her face, but she could tell she had now forced Sarah to think about darker times and that's not what she wanted, gulping down a stone of guilt in her throat, Clementine mumbled "Sarah, I'm sorry I didn't mean to phrase it like that, I just want you to be careful..."

"I know, but I'm old enough to look after myself now Clem" Sarah said her tone subdued somewhat, she yawned soon after this and announced "Well I'm tired, let's speak more tomorrow, we can visit Gertrude (a kind old lady who lived next door to them), or go to the hill and maybe bring JJ along too after school". Sarah sounded excited thinking about the future and as Clementine lay her head back down on the pillow again, she realised something.

She had spent far too long thinking about the past, she had gone back to change it.

and now, it was time to think like Sarah and start hoping for the future.

* * *

In the room opposite to Clementine and Sarah, Nick and Stephanie lay in their double bed, Stephanie overheard the two girl's talking in the opposite room and couldn't help but smile openly, Sarah's positive words circulating inside the young raven haired woman's head. Filling her with a strong sense of hope for the future, a sort of excitement that hadn't flooded the young woman's being in 5 years.

She remembered the excitement when she was with her band-mates, preparing their big plans in music as they all riled themselves up for the adventure that awaited them at University. Now here Stephanie was five years later, in bed with a man she loved, with an adopted daughter and a secure home. If the apocalypse hadn't come between her pre-university stage and where she was now. She could almost say her life progress had gone just as she had ideally pictured it when she was 18. (Excluding being a famous musician).

As she lay there, facing Nick's broad back it also occurred to her that in these walls (despite recent threats) that her and Nick's daughter Lilly would be able to grow up safe and secure and hopefully into a young woman that Stephanie and Nick could be proud of. Yet despite Nick and Stephanie being her adopted parents and Kenny and Sarita being Lilly's biological parents, Stephanie herself saw Lilly as the late Lilly Caul's daughter.

Lilly, the woman who guided Stephanie through those awful months at Howe's and then out on the road... if Lilly wasn't there Stephanie would have left the group in those dark times. Right now she'd probably be a rotting corpse on the side of a county road, or a walker trudging slowly through the north Californian pine forests. But she was alive because of Lilly, she was here, in this bed, with a beating heart, with blood flowing through her veins because of Lilly.

Stephanie had failed to protect so much... but she had to protect the younger Lilly. As her adopted daughter with her long dark hair and brown eyes looked like a spitting image of the late ex-military woman. Even her temper to her sudden care... even Nick saw it. Although the others saw it as a mix of Kenny's temper and Sarita's maternal nature, Lilly's adopted parents saw much more Lilly's characteristics in the child named after her. It was strange however as Lilly hadn't even lived long enough to meet the child Stephanie saw as her daughter, all she knew is that she wanted to protect Lilly.

Just like Lilly had protected her.

With these positive thoughts flowing through her mind, Stephanie found her small arms wrapping themselves around Nick's bare torso as she pulled herself closer to him and started kissing the back of his neck. A giddy burst causing this reaction... also it had been a while since her and Nick had been intimate. He was always busy working and even when they found the time Nick was always "too tired" or "not in the mood" which was strange when they first arrived here they were intimate quite a lot of time. Stephanie missed those times.

To her bitter disappointment, Nick pulled Stephanie's arms away as he mumbled into his pillow "Sorry Stef, I really am too tired" leaving her to frustrated as she faced his back once again, her arms falling limply at her sides.

"Oh...okay" she sighed in defeat.

She couldn't really blame Nick, he was busy most of the time, with the growing crime in Wellington and the stress of his job was taking a toll on him. Ever since being shot in the shoulder all those months back, he had been committed to fulfilling the course of justice, whereas Stephanie got bored of her job more and more now. Hardly anyone could be seen arriving to Wellington these days, the problems were inside of Wellington and not outside of it.

Just as Stephanie thought about this, the phone in their room sharply rang, jolting Nick from his sleeping position, as the raven haired man shot up like a bullet and swiped up the land-line. Every police officer in Wellington had a landline located in their rooms, so if somebody needed to get into contact with the police they could do so instantly. Rebuilding phone lines had not given people access to mobile phones... but landlines were an effective way to get in touch if there was a problem.

"Hello" Nick called out to the other end of the landline.

To Stephanie it sounded like nothing but static that answered his greeting, but Nick nodded at whoever was speaking, his face (even in the darkness) growing more serious by the second, juggling the landline in one hand, and using his other hand to squeeze himself into his police uniform, he muttered darkly "Fuck? Another one, yeah. Yeah... yeah you'll come pick me up here? Yeah... okay then thanks Trevor" and with this he put the phone down.

"What happened?" Stephanie felt inclined to ask.

"Another fucking walker attack, right outside a house this time. Sergeant Moore just got the details, his coming to pick me up right now, it sounds serious" Nick responded, his voice breathless as he ruffled through his pockets to ensure he had everything on him.

"Fuck... another attack? Was anyone hurt?" Stephanie asked, her eyes as wide as saucepans.

"I don't know, that's what I'm going to find out. Is should be back by morning, tell the others were I've gone will you?" Nick requested of her.

"Sure" Stephanie replied, Nick swept down and planted a kiss on her cheek, muttering the mandatory "Bye, love you" before he swept out of the door and back towards his work.

Stephanie lay back on her pillow, her hands trailing over the empty spot in the double bed next to her, as she rubbed the spot on her cheek where Nick had kissed her.

Was it horrible to say, she didn't care about what was going down at that house? In all honesty she just wanted Nick all to herself, just for tonight as she was beginning to miss him. The woman that always wanted to leave... was now trying to stop the man she loved from always leaving.

Now, she knew what it was like to be Nick's position.

* * *

"I can't sleep"

Neither could Brandon Rogers, so when he heard his sister's statement he looked up at her with drooping eyelids yet he could relate to her situation instantly, because what had happened today, just downstairs kept replaying in his mind and he was helpless to stop it.

"Come here then" Brandon grumbled in response, allowing his sister to squeeze into his single bed next to him. They slept in the same room but on rare occasions when Terri had a bad nightmare she would request to sleep by her brother and he would never decline.

"So, what was this nightmare about the time you fell off your bike when you were 7?" Brandon inquired humorously, raising a bushy black eyebrow.

"Of ALL the things that have happened to me, you think that is enough to give me a nightmare?" she responded, unable to stop the smile spreading on her petite face.

"Well... possibly. You screamed pretty damn loud Terri..."

Terri giggled uncontrollably at this, shuffling herself closer to her older brother as she did so. However when she eventually stopped laughing, she coughed before her tone became much more serious, as she found herself mumbling "I know the group already suspects this... but earlier when the walker attacked. I swore I someone flee the scene"

"Shit, did you get a good look at the guy?" Brandon asked right off the bat.

"No. He was too far away heading in the opposite direction of the house, I was going to tell the others, but like I said they probably already suspect it and because I couldn't even see the guy clearly I doubt it will be much help. Besides I can tell the police when they arrive tomorrow" Terri explained to her brother, who nodded at her words.

"Still, you should tell people about this Terri. No matter how small these details are they could help us catch whoever this fucker is" Brandon lectured her.

"I didn't want to cause a scene, Luis was already chasing Oscar with that knife, I didn't want him running down the street after someone potentially dangerous"" Terri continued to explain, Brandon couldn't find anything to say, other than "He scared me a bit, how he acted today. But JJ... God the guy hasn't a said a word since it's happened..."

"Yet at school today they coped just fine. Whereas we just sunk into the background a bit. But I don't want to make any new attachments until I know they're here to stay, I... I can't go through the hell of losing people I care about" Terri finished there as Brandon pulled her closer to him.

"Yeah, I agree with your point there sis, everyone seems so spaced out and those that aren't are madmen in the making. It's... hard to fit in after everything" Terri nodded to show she supported this viewpoint, before Brandon sighed and uttered "Well, here we are talking away, when you've just had a really shitty nightmare I assume..." these words seemed to get back to the original point of why Terri felt the need to seek her brother's physical comfort.

"Yeah, I was coming to that. That guy I saw running off, I had a nightmare about him, I saw his figure but Brandon... he... he had Dad's face"

Brandon didn't know what to say, as his sister carried on.

"And... he was laughing at me, laughing at me and then... then I dreamed myself in the bathroom and it wasn't Oscar who got bit, it was you, I saw Dad... butchering you in that bathroom I tried to stop it, but... but I was useless. Then I woke up and you weren't there and I panicked and thought it had all happened, I...!"

Brandon didn't say a word but when he pulled his sister right up to his bare chest, the tight embrace was enough to bring an end to her panicked babble, as she simply fell silent.

"Feel this, I am here Sis, dad's dead. His been dead for years now, I'm not dead and I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon, okay? I promise that" Brandon muttered to reassure her and calm her down. Even though he had learnt his little sister was quite the fighter they were still periods when the girl before the apocalypse, the anxious, scared Terri would come to the fore and tonight was one of those nights.

"I promise that as well" Terri croaked, nearly on the verge of tears, as she looked up at her older brother.

It was only then that it seemed to hit Brandon, his sister was dressed in only a thin white vest and grey underwear, whereas he only had on his black boxer shorts. Usually Brandon would put some more clothes on when Terri came to sleep next to him, she said she liked that, made him feel like "a big cuddly bear" but considering all that happened tonight Brandon hadn't gone to fetch his clothes and Terri hadn't complained about his near nakedness.

How they had gone from a sibling hug of comfort, into a tangled mess of sweaty interlinked limbs, Brandon didn't know. All he knew is that the most forbidden and dirty thoughts ran through his mind and in those moments he actually found his head inching towards his sisters...

KNOCK

The loud knock caused the siblings to break apart, as somebody now seemed to be hammering on their door.

"Coming!" Brandon yelled to whoever was at the door, as Terri stated "It must be Oscar, his either turned or Ana has..." she gulped down the thought, as Brandon gulped in discomfort himself. Steeling himself to head towards the door, his mind also still heavily on what had just happened, did Terri feel the same? Or did she just brush it off? He didn't know and he didn't feel like speaking to her or anyone on what had just happened, he felt dirty and disturbed with himself, thank God whoever had knocked had knocked on their door just then.

"Yes" Brandon said, opening the bedroom door to be met with Ana's anxious face, Brandon was about to offer his condolences, however Ana simply gestured to her left.

Brandon's mouth fell open in shock.

* * *

"Second attack in the space of hours, tell you what Duran, we got a fucking wolf to fry for dinner..." Sergeant Trevor Moore was actually the Chief of the police force across Wellington. But he much preferred the title of "Sergeant" he was formerly in the military and he hated the title of "Chief" as it "sounded so fucking pompous" in his own charming words. He stood at a solid 6, 1 with bright red hair and green eyes, he certainly knew how to fill an empty space. His own flaw being his very hot head in many occasions but regardless of his anger issues he knew how to lead the police force with a force that no one else could match.

"Yeah, once we catch this sadistic fuck it will certainly save us a lot of hassle" Nick spat, agreeing with his boss on the matter as he peered out of the windscreen and down the streets of Wellington.

"Next left..." Trevor muttered under his breath, turning his police car to the left and down a narrow street. Down this street Nick instantly spotted the house where the incident had occurred, as a few police cars and black vans were present at the scene. Curious neighbours flocked around the house at the end of the street as a number of officers held them back. Trevor put his foot down on the pedal as his police car screeched to a halt.

Stepping out of his vehicle, Trevor quickly observed the scene before he stormed towards the scene of the crime, Nick quickly exited the car and pursued after the hot headed stocky man.

"Chief of police, coming through" Trevor announced, distaste on his tongue at using his hated title, his mere presence alone however was enough to send the curious neighbours scattering out of his way, whereas Nick trailed in his boss' shadow, trying hard to look as intimidating as he could as he silently followed his boss. Steeping across the fresh blades of recently cut green grass, Trevor stopped suddenly, if Nick wasn't paying close attention he probably would have bumped into Trevor's back. But too his relief he stopped himself at the last possible second.

"What we got?" Trevor barked at a forensic, who was zipping up the body of the walker in a black bag.

The forensic didn't even look at the chief of police, yet when he spoke he gave the pair of them the information they needed.

"The Walker wasn't identifiable with any in Wellington's archives, so like the previous walker it was smuggled into Wellington. The walker in question was an adult male, who most likely turned recently owing to the fact that upon dismemberment the walker splattered red blood onto the walls and floors. Showing that walker was still in somewhat a fresh state with blood still flowing through his veins. Many walkers have been decaying for years and lack fresh blood, henceforth from this we've come to the conclusion this particular walker was stronger than the average walker found nowadays. We believe whoever smuggled this walker into Wellington, did it with the deliberate intent of maiming or killing said residents of this house, maximising the possibility of causalities with a stronger walker". He finished there leaving an impressed silence in his wake.

"Did you find the same results with the walker by the wall?" Nick decided to inquire.

"Yes. The walker found at the wall was also above average strength of normal walkers nowadays, which would explain how it managed too bite and ultimately kill a Mr. Ryan Turner, who was described to be of a peak physical strength. Whoever has been smuggling walkers into Wellington is believed to be said Wellington wolf and whoever the suspect is, is suspected to be a strong male in his early to mid 20's as it would take someone of great strength to smuggle two, strong walkers into Wellington alone". The forensic explained in further detail through his face mask as Nick nodded at this helpful information.

However the forensic wasn't done, from where he was collecting blood samples from off the blades of grass, he stood up and now turned to face both Nick and Trevor.

"Relating these two incidents and the physical impossibility of the said wolf, no matter how strong, to smuggle two strong walkers alone and undetected through Wellington. We believe there is more than one person involved in events, or that the said Wolf has allies amongst us. That being said the attack earlier at the construction site, three of the residents of this house worked at the site, many officers here feel as if one of the men here. Tim, is lying about events. He stated the attack was recent but the blood has dried considerably, indicating the call that Tim made to the police and authorities 5 to 6 hours after the incident occurred. For what reasons we don't know, as no one was hurt in the incident and what makes matters more suspicious is that Tim was supposedly taking a walk while the incident occurred..."

"Well, that's why were here, to find out the damn truth" Trevor replied cutting the forensic short as he gazed at the house once again, determination in his leaf green eyes.

* * *

Tim hated himself sometimes.

When Ana came downstairs he automatically assumed the worst and picked up the landline before Tim or Ana could stop him, he had already called down the line, in a frantic voice (just as he had rehearsed) "Hello! Police! I need the police, there's been an attack on our house...!" he didn't understand the situation, so when the police officer at the other end of the line asked if anyone had been hurt, he was about to say "Yes, someone has been bitten..." he suddenly found the phone yanked out of his hand.

He looked up at Ana, she mouthed "No" at him, a bewildered Tim could only stare at her in disbelief.

"Hello? Hello sir are you still there?" the police officer on the other end of the line was saying, Ana handed back the phone to Tim, who nervously looked over at Ana who shook her head, With a loud gulp the anxious African american man gave his shaky answer.

"No, no one has been hurt, but we managed to kill the walker"

The police officer responded that they would be there quickly, it was only when Tim put the phone down that he had the situation explained to him by Ana, in which he mentally slapped himself for his stupidity, his twin brother (as per always) berated him on it. But there was nothing that could be done, the police were on their way, Ana Tim and Tom got around to everybody,banging on doors and letting the group know what had really happened and why (when the police arrived) they would all be sticking to the same story).

However the police arrived faster than anyone could have expected, there was a damming knock on the front door and Tom answered as two officers strolled into the hallway, they demanded everyone gather in the living room for questioning and that more officers would be on the way. The only person the group hadn't gotten around to telling was Luis, who still lay asleep in his bed, Maria had just gotten up herself and after digesting the information she had been given, she was about to wake up her son and tell him what had happened.

But now, there wasn't time. The police were demanding she come downstairs at once.

"Okay, but my son is sleeping, he will be downstairs shortly" Maria explained.

Although they hadn't allowed the others to go back upstairs the police force allowed Luis time to sleep, Maria excuses of "Well he may need someone to check up on him" or "He won't want to wake up to find the police downstairs with no explanation" didn't seem valid to the police at all.

Tim wasn't himself at all throughout the questioning, he kept on stuttering and going over his words.

"You say you were out walking?"

"Y-yes, in the w-woods, had to clear my head you know, after what happened b-by the wall, I j-just needed air..."

"In the middle of the night, just as a walker attacks the people in your house?" Trevor cut in, cutting the babbling man short.

"Yes. I know it sounds strange but that's h-honestly w-what h-happened!" Tim lied, Trevor Moore had an amazing bullshit detector and judging by the way Tim wasn't looking at him as he said it, he knew this man was lying through his teeth.

The uncomfortable scratching sounds of pen on paper weren't any help to Tim at all, Stacy Moore was sitting there, cross legged, as she recorded Tim's dishonest words. She for a fact, knew that he was lying and that he was with her last night. Yet the redhead editor of the Wellington Weekly remained silent her mere presence in this building only allowed because she was Trevor's twin sister, in fact the Moore triplets were quite well known around Wellington, Trevor, Stacy and their other sister, Violet or something like that who worked as a teacher at the school for the youngest inhabitation's of Wellington.

Would Stacy tell her brother the truth? Tim always remembered her saying this little "deal" they had going on was between them alone and no one else knew, but if someone suspected him of being the Wellington Wolf would she protect him as she had previously promised? Tim didn't know... he was nervous enough as it was, because when Luis came down the stairs their cover story would be blown, it was on thin enough ice already.

"and you say..." Tim began before the clear stomping of heavy footsteps stopped him mid-sentence.

Tim didn't move a muscle, everyone else went as stiff as statue's knowing full well Luis' didn't know the full story.

Luis himself rubbed his eyelids he could faintly hear the police from downstairs and suspected them to be questioning the group about all that had happened last night. With a miserable sigh the 18 year old descended the stairwell, with a heavy heart wanting to get this all out of the way.

"Good morning Mr. Agerz" he was greeted with as he opened the door, he expected that formal greeting from a police officer.

He expected to find his group all gathered around the sofa's, no doubt in the middle of being questioned.

However what he didn't expect was to see Oscar. Sitting there alive and well, where his bite mark was previously was covered by his thin black t-shirt, he looked untouched even though Luis had seen it (with his own eye) Oscar be violently bitten by that walker.

"O-oscar!" he exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at the muted man, Oscar seemed to go paler than he already was.

"YOU... YOU... HOW? YOU WERE BI...!"

"LUIS, LOVELY WEATHER TODAY, HUH?" Tim interjected as a poor choice of words to cover up what Luis was about to say, however it seemingly already failed. It was as clear as day to everyone what Luis was about to say.

"Yes, lovely day considering no one was hurt last night, we should be thankful for this lovely weather" Maria quickly scooped in, regardless of their position of practically being unveiled as bare faced liars. Luis mother gave her son a hard "stare" in which Luis seemed to glance around at everyone, in those few seconds he seemed to pick up on the fact he had to "play along".

"Oh yeah... I just had a bad nightmare that was all" Luis stated, seating himself next to his mother, hoping this excuse would somehow clear the air, yet Luis doubted that immensely.

"Anything... you like to add Sergeant?" Nick asked of his boss carefully, he was seated next to Stacy absorbing the conversation like a sponge in the water, even though Nick wasn't the brightest spark, even he knew what the police were being told was a pile of bullshit.

"Yes, I have several questions to ask and I want you folk to answer them all honestly" Trevor snarled, before he dove straight into the set of questions ready in the back of his mind.

"Why were you really out walking Tim?"

"Like I said to clear my head!"

"The blood on the stairs has dried considerably, why did you delay the call for 6 or 7 hours?"

"We didn't, we phoned you as soon as it happened"

"Okay then, if it didn't happen why was Mr. Agerz asleep? Right after the midst of an attack?"

"He erm... he gets nervous about walkers, I told him to get back to his room, to try and sleep and calm himself down"

"Yeah, I erm panicked and erm... hit a few things" Luis added quickly, showing the chief of police his still scabbed over fist, the one he used to punch the wall last night.

Nick couldn't help but interject at this point, as he sarcastically took a good look at Luis, the missing arm and eye, the hardened look in his single eye and how built up he was, before he asked "So, a guy like you? Gets scared of walkers that easily?"

"Yes" Luis found himself lying, yet he glared at Nick for making this harder than it already was for him.

"and finally, was Oscar there bitten? Well, you were about to say it Mr. Agerz" at this point the group froze as all eyes found Luis, Oscar vigorously shook his head to show that he was not bitten and Luis' meek response of "I just had a nightmare, alright?" didn't seem to convince anyone that this was the truth.

* * *

"They are as good as lying" Nick argued towards Trevor, he, Stacy and the chief of police were out in the front yard, taking a short break as Trevor smoked a single cigarette.

"Yeah but until we have evidence we can't do shit Nick" Trevor's voice was calmer than it was previously, no doubt the cigarette he was smoking certainly helped to calm his frayed nerves. He turned towards his sister who seemed to share a knowing smile with him.

"Well if it's evidence you want, I guarantee I can get it for you" she stated.

"But what about that Oscar guy? was he really bitten? and if he didn't turn, then... then you know what were looking at here, right?" Nick asked of the siblings in front of him.

"I'm aware of that, but until we have concrete evidence we can't tell anybody and I mean anybody, you understand me Nick, tell anyone I will set out a warrant for you arrest and just because you're my sister..." he continued, turning around to face Stacy "...doesn't mean I'll let you get away with it, if even a word about an Immune survivor reaches the papers" Stacy nodded to show she understood.

"I know that, like we said Trevor we need to catch this guy. We need to ensure that Violet can live peacefully here" both siblings had made a vow to protect their more innocent minded sister.

"Well, we may not be any closer to finding out who this guy really is, but at least now we know what he wants" Trevor stated.

He gazed back at the house, as did Nick and Stacy.

The wolf, (they all agreed) was looking for a cure.


	4. The Culling Of The Common Folk

**A/N: Hi, back again but not too happy lately, the elections here in the UK gave us the worst possible result and in a way the growing political nature of this story will sort of reflect my anger to the political system in the UK today and what I feel now.**

**Okay random political rant over, onto answering your reviews!**

**Chameishida- Yep, last chapter was a bit more of a break chapter considering and not as much happened as events and yep this story will be more political like NGB, but so far I've got a million plans in my head about where this story is going, each one has a conclusion. So in a way this story is already planned out I'm just debating which route it's going to take.**

**eggomypeggo- Glad to see you back, and I got nostalgic in a strange way when you mentioned killing me to gain my awesomeness, because it feels so long ago now since I wrote NGB. But I appericate your reviews, hopefully I'll see more from you.**

**ffapathy- Thank you! The Tom, Stacy relationship is something I will explain in more detail this chapter, not directly but in a way you can understand why it's happened. Also yes Ana and Oscar have a strong bond and speaking of bonds... the Brandon/Terri one is something that will reveal more of a depth to both characters. Relationships like this one and the Nick-Stef one will have effects on what happens in the future, in my stories there are quite a lot of relationships that go on (and I mention in my profile I like stories without romance, I've turned hyprocritcal) and Oscar being immune? Yep, that revelation Is going to set the fic in motion, In No going back it was defeat Carver, in Going to ruin it was get to Wellington, the goal of the story in RTR so far is a mystery but I have plans for it and the immunity thing may be a factor... I'll say no more...**

**santiago . poncini 20- Yep I thought the redheaded triplets would be a nice touch, I'm glad you like them! **

**TWDRUNNER- Gracias, me alegro de que estan disfrutando de la historia hasta ahora!**

**The Rose of Hedylogos- Thanks for your OC, needless to say I'm planning on making her somewhat ruthless but with a caring side, also interesting theory about the cult (I like it that this fic makes people think and theorize).**

**Kristal- Dynamite- Once again thank you...and I love that every chapter to you seems different because I try hard not to make the story predictable because if it is then people will generally start to lose interest so I have to put a lot of thought behind what I write and I'm glad to see it pays off. and fanfiction king? Why, thank you! Published books of mine would be a massive achievement (if I get to that stage someday)**

**Paradsial bitterness- Luke can be... the older brother.**

** and finally AquaDestinysEmbrace (thanks for using Perry as your OC in your fic btw) and newsupergodzilla josh thank you for your kind words too, now onto the next chapter!**

**Also two new OC's this chapter**

**Gertrude- not directly an OC submitted to me, but a great sort of suggestion towards Gertrude's type of character from Chameishida **

**Father Jordan- Santiago . ponicini 20 **

* * *

"Well, now what?"

The group of ten were gathered in the living room, Ana was the one with the motivation to snap the question at the other nine inhibitions of the room. She only dared utter this however after every last trace of the police and neighbours had faded from their house. Leaving in their wake and uncomfortable silence, that pretty much solidified their guilt and overwhelming sense of confusion at this time.

Everyone's throats were dry from the endless talking they had done all morning, reassuring neighbours and police that nobody was hurt, despite the doubts cast against them. The burning ache of the lies that lingered on their tonsils was something that wasn't going to cure itself soon, in fact Tim felt it worse than ever. He felt physically sick as he held his head in his hands. Watching beads of salty sweat drip onto the carpeted floor below him. He tried to make out the dizzying patterns of the plain carpet that appeared in his vision, as a way of controlling his breathing and heart rate.

"I don't know, the police clearly thought we were lying" Maria finally said after the silence became far too heavy, in a way that the Mexican woman felt as if the weight of the situation they were in, was physically going to break and snap their brittle bones.

"But they don't have any evidence, that's why they couldn't take us in, if we stick to that we should be okay" Tom's powerful voice boomed across the room, Tom always had a way of making people feel better when they were in dire situations like this one. So Tim (even though he knew he was the worse end of the stick with his brother) managed to feel a little less nauseous at his twin's words.

"Evidence? They won't need evidence, you've seen how shitty things are getting around here, how corrupt the police really are. They'll drag us to prison soon, without a doubt" Luis spat, his early pre convinced sense of nativity and innocence dying completely after this wake up call of an incident.

"We should have told the police, we really should have done" Tim finally spoke up, his words may as well have been the equivalent to vomit pouring out of his mouth, because he felt so awful about what he had done.

"Yeah, if we had it _your_ way. The whole police would know and the damn Wolf would know as well" Tom growled, the sort of criticism Tim was long expecting.

"I don't even see why were keepin' it a fucking secret" Wilbert grumbled, entering the foray at a later time than per expected, Tim was strangely appreciative of the racist old man's support, as Wilbert ranted on "This freak" he jabbed a bony old finger at a silent Oscar at this point "Is immune! Immune from that... that virus thing! How many people do you know who are immune!? Huh? We give him to the police and the doctors and they could make a cure! We wouldn't have to fear the fucking walkers anymore, so what If they have to slice him mute mophead!? He doesn't talk to us, wouldn't be that much of a loss..."

"You really, really want my friend dead don't you?" Ana interjected sharply, her eyes narrowing in a familiar distaste for the bearded old man.

"It would be best for all of us" was Wilbert's grim response.

"Charming and you know Wilbert you can't really go around calling Oscar a mophead, when your hair is almost down to your waist" came a stinging insult from Brandon, who stood quite a distance apart from his sister today. The 18 year old trying hard not to linger on the weird moment he had last night that bothered him so much, but trying to appear as if he was having the same troubles as everyone else.

"I didn't ask for you opinion, boy" Wilbert snarled, emphasising the boy as if to objectify the burly 18 year old, to a squealing 8 year old.

"Either way, why are we keeping this fact secret, it was never explained to me" Luis' quiet words seemingly had a way of cutting through the brewing argument between Brandon and Wilbert and seemed to get everyone thinking back on the main point.

"Honey, if the police found out they would take Oscar away and it was like you said, the police are corrupt, God-knows what they'd do to him. If they gave him to doctors or something they'd slice poor Oscar here up in a heartbeat and maybe not even find a cure. Were not letting a friend die because of this, we already thought we lost him once" Maria explained to Luis, whose face remained impassive.

"Then you were wrong, all of you" Luis snapped, inspecting one face after the other, before he continued to rant "If we don't trust the authorities here, then Wellington isn't safe. We've known this since that guy was executed and now we have the growing gap between rich and poor... if the elite people find out we've been lying and shielding a immune survivor they'll have all our heads..."

"Luis" Maria called faintly trying to calm her hot headed son down, but he carried on as if her words were merely a whisper in the wind.

"...let's be honest here. We're shielding Oscar because we know full well even if they made a cure only they would get it! They don't deserve it!" Luis finished his motivating speech leaving an uncertain silence in the still living room around him.

"I can see now why you kept this fact secret" Terri mumbled to Oscar who was sat next to her.

"He kept it secret because he doesn't trust us and we shouldn't trust him!" Wilbert howled, butting into Terri's exchange with Oscar.

"How do we even now that they'll kill him if they get hands on him! They could... they could just want a blood sample..." Tim babbled haplessly at this point Oscar shook his head vigorously at Tim's words, as he once again gestured at his missing tongue and quickly scribbled something down on a crumpled piece of paper he always had on him. Among the other scribbled words on the paper, the fresh marks in ink on the white paper read...

_"They took my tongue, they needed tissue, they'll want more" _

"The asylum" Ana muttered on monotone.

"You need to tell us more about this Oscar, I can understand why you kept this a secret but you need to tell us what the hell is really going on, as soon as fucking possible" Tom told the black haired man, as Oscar nodded, yet a small squeak of "No" made everyone look up in surprise.

"What?" Tom challenged whoever had disagreed with him.

"No, I said No his not going to tell us" JJ said much more clearly, the blonde boy had been as silent as Oscar himself since last night. Tom wondered if that knock to the head had really done something to the boy.

"But..." Tim began in his nervous state.

"He can't tell us now, because it's nearly 9 o clock. School starts soon, work starts soon we need to be there. We need to act as though nothing has happened, we can't let Wellington know how close we are to breaking" JJ didn't look at anybody, his large seemingly childish eyes were locked up the window outside, his tone flat.

"What makes you think that?" Luis asked in curiosity.

"Because they're watching us, right now they're watching us. We need to act as normal as possible" JJ replied, it was only then Luis rushed to the window to see a few curious neighbours give him and JJ passing glances, they're faces lined full of distrust, and as they bent their heads together to speak amongst themselves, Luis realised how quickly gossip could spread.

"My boy's right, We stay cooped up in here they're gonna know something's up. If were gonna keep up this stupid lie, we have to act as though nothing bothering us" Wilbert spoke up in defence of what his grandson had said.

"For probably the only time in my life, I agree with Wilbert" Ana announced.

"Then it settled, we'll head onto work but later Oscar you have some explaining to do" Tom told Oscar, who nodded firmly to show he understood and would comply with what the group leader had asked.

So the group got ready and headed out, putting on the faces they needed too, in order to survive Wellington, but one of those faces was slipping, somebody was breaking at that person was Tim. Because he knew a certain red-headed Journalist would coax it out of him about Oscar, he knew he would slip up and mess up as he had always done.

For now he promised himself he wouldn't mess up, not again.

But... he was playing a very dangerous game.

* * *

"You can't be serious here Becca"

Rebecca lay back on the couch, her feet laid on the coffee table in front of her the request she had just given Eddie (who was planning on using today to do what she was doing now) had made him blurt out these words in a lazy disbelief.

"I'm serious here Eddie, you're taking the kids to school today" Rebecca repeated, her brown eyes drooping shut and a small smile lighting her features as she made a show of stretching her arms and yawning, dressed in a comfortable jumper and stretchy trousers that only increased her comfort as she rested her aching shoulders on the warm fabric of the sofa she was sinking into.

"Haven't you got a job to be doing today?" Eddie asked, although he already knew the answer.

"You know full well I don't work on Tuesday's Eddie, I play housewife usually but today I deserve a well earned break" she huffed as Eddie's face fell, he turned desperately towards where Luke was about to squeeze past the ex-junkie in the narrow corridor.

"Hey Luke, you have a car why don't you take the kids to school?" he asked/begged of the southern man.

"Sorry Eddie, you know I've got to drop the others off, besides the kid's school is in walking distance" Luke pointed out to him, giving up all faith in Luke, Eddie's eyes found Molly's.

"N-O" she spelt out clearly before he could utter a word.

He turned to Nick.

"No time" was all he said, hurrying past him and giving Stephanie a quick peck on the lips before he departed out of the front door, everyone in the house had noticed since Nick had returned in the early hours of the morning he seemed somewhat restless, putting the others all on edge. When asked about what had happened at the house his answers were very brief and quick, he said they're had been an attack and that the police didn't know everything yet. He even refused to name the which Wellington residents had been attacked by another stray walker.

But they all knew he was hiding something, yet no one had dared question him about it for the time being, as the tall raven haired man swept out of the door and on towards his job.

"Hey Stef..." Eddie began.

"Sorry Eddie" she replied mustering a small smile as she prepared to walk out the front door. Nick's constant distant behaviour had been bothering the young woman ever more so, especially in recent weeks.

"Anyone" Eddie begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as an enthusiastic AJ bobbed up and down on the spot awaiting for Eddie to finally take him to school, while Lilly trailed behind him. Eddie faced the two toddlers who smiled back up at him. Sighing Eddie took of his new blue-ish coloured beanie and ruffled his short black hairs.

"Okay dude's let's get this over with" He finally muttered, much to Rebecca's smug amusement.

* * *

Luke's faded yellow ford car, screeched to a stop in front of Wellington High as Clementine and Sarah pushed themselves over Stephanie and Molly's forms to get themselves to school.

"Have a nice day girls, It looks like I'll be workin' out late in the fields again tonight so you'll have to walk yourselves back" Luke informed them, as Sarah merrily responded "It doesn't matter Luke, I like the walk" Luke had to smile at Sarah's optimism as he muttered "Now that's a good attitude to have, hey Clem you don't mind the walk either, do you?" for a moment Clementine didn't reply, her eyes laid on the concrete ground next to her, somewhat removed from reality.

"Hey Clem?" Luke repeated a little louder, this time Clementine's head snapped up when she realised her name was being called, registering the previous question she uttered "Oh erm... yeah I don't mind the walk either"

"Good to hear, I'll see you tonight girls" Luke told them, as the car revved to life once again.

"Yeah, see you tonight" Clementine echoed back to him, the pair of teenage girls waved back at Luke (and Molly and Stephanie who gave them quick waves and wished them another good day at school) before the car was gone, leaving Clementine exhaling a cloud of grey exhaust. Coughing slightly she turned towards Wellington high as her and Sarah walked side by side as they walked over the trimmed grass near to the entrance of Wellington High, with it's high walls and narrow windows reminded Clementine vividly of High Schools she had passed when she was young.

"Hmm... hey Clem you'd know you'd be good at that" Sarah suddenly seemed to say, Clementine was too busy sweeping her eyes across Wellington High. Yesterday she seemed more focused settling in rather than inspecting the appearance of the school itself. But now her eyes analysed every little detail of the school, from the tiny cracks on the cream coloured bricks, to some of the dried bird droppings that seemingly slithered down from the flat roof, it looked like any other average school. With the words "WELLINGTON HIGH" splashed in gold in an arch pattern right above the main entrance.

Suffice to say, Sarah's comment sucked Clementine right out of her analysis, as she tugged herself back down to earth (she was daydreaming more often than not, lately) and her golden eyes found what Sarah was looking at. A group of boys around their age or slightly older were kicking the life out of a tired old soccer ball.

"Good at sports? I don't like soccer all that much Sarah" Clementine reminded her best friend, she had told Sarah beforehand that she didn't like sports and she also remembered (with a distant pang of pain) telling Lee that fact all the way back in the drug-store in Macon.

"You never tried, I mean obviously there wasn't room back at Howe's and everyone was too old to play, but now there are people to play with, you should try it Clem, I think you'd be good at it and it would give you something to do" was Sarah's reasoning for Clementine to do something she didn't enjoy. The only time Clementine remembered playing sports, was remotely kicking the soccer ball back at the Motor Inn whenever she got bored. Or when Gill would demand she play soccer or catch with him, with any ball he could find. Clementine was always in goal and although she was better than Sarah she never thought she was "good" despite even Gill telling her once that she was "fast and pretty good" and Sarah's much more audible praise of "Wow! You're amazing!", in all honesty she might have been okay at playing sports. But she didn't enjoy it.

"I don't know Sarah..." Clementine droned, it was only their second day here she thought it was a bit too early to think about joining any sports teams as of yet.

"Hmm..." Sarah hummed to herself, her eyes flying after the soccer ball in a whizz, before they rested on four figures lingering near to the corner of the school and looking as if they were trying to stay out of sight.

"Hey Clem! Let's go hang out with JJ and those guys..." Sarah exclaimed and before Clementine could even say a word Sarah was already sprinting off towards them. Clementine gave herself a bemused smile, while also wishing at the same time that the bell would ring already and that lessons would start. Before the capped girl followed her friend's lanky form.

"...half the school probably already..." Brandon was hissing to Luis, before he noticed (in slight alarm) a smiling girl standing right behind them, whipping around Brandon was the one to mutter "Hey" at the girl.

"Hi" was her bright response, before Brandon was about to inquire who the hell she was, JJ had already taken the reigns as he shouted "Sarah, nice to see you!" as Brandon had to mentally slap herself for forgetting that was the girl JJ had been hanging out with all day yesterday. In fact JJ had been mostly mute on the way too school and not to mention Brandon had other things lingering on his mind.

"Hey, so you know the cult?" Sarah dive-bombed straight into questioning.

"Yeah" JJ responded.

"Well, I kinda.. forgot to tell my group about how we met other people who also encountered the cult..." Sarah said, as JJ went to tell Sarah that he too had forgotten to tell his group about the cult, as he did that Clementine rounded the corner, and rather than greet them all with even a sullen "Hi" the first question she couldn't help but ask was "What the hell happened to your hand?"

Luis did a double take, his knuckles may have scabbed over but they still left a very obvious mark as the crimson red of his fist that clashed with his darker skin. He knew his wound stood out but he found it odd that of all the things Clementine noticed that was the first thing. Clementine herself found her eyes drawn to the mark on his hand.

"A walker attacked our last night, let's just say that's how I got it" Luis spat instantly, Clementine probably already knew this. But seeing how her eyes widened and how Sarah audibly asked "Really? You got attacked last night JJ, that was your house?" as JJ nodded and went to explain (albeit briefly) "Yeah, walker showed up last night, kinda scary..." (omitting the detail he nearly got bit by it).

"You didn't know?" Terri decided to ask Clementine, speaking to Clementine for the first time.

"No, I knew a house was attacked but I didn't know it was your's" Clementine responded, before she muttered to herself (more than anyone else) "But Nick was there... he could have told us..."

"Nick?" Luis inquired.

"I'm guessing this Nick guy had black hair, very tall, really strong blue eyes?" Terri inquired, when Clementine nodded, Terri gave her a stern look "Yes, he was with Sergeant Moore and his sister, the woman who edits the Wellington Weekly, strange how he seemingly didn't tell you much" Terri left the subject hanging there as Clementine found herself uttering "Yeah, his been... acting quieter since last night".

"Really?" Terri inquired, her eyebrows rising and a look of pure concentration plastering her youthful features. She was giving Clementine a look that made the 14 year old very uncomfortable it was as if Terri was successfully deciphering all of her secrets just by analysing a few words Clementine had said. Because of this Clementine remained silent, afraid to say much more in case she could have gotten Nick into trouble, it sounded ridiculous but she felt like she was telling a higher authority this news, rather than a fellow student.

"Nick? Oh yeah I remember that asshole now" Luis commented.

"Nick's not an asshole, his really nice!" Sarah suddenly piped up, Luis turned his single eye to her, rather surprised by her passionate words of defence of him as he expected Clementine to get angry and not her nice friend.

"Yeah well he made look like an idiot, when all I was trying to do was tell the truth" Luis responded rather flatly, anger non-existent in his tone as he felt unsure of how to handle Sarah if or when she got mad. Thankfully Sarah remained quiet as she resumed her talk with JJ as though nothing had happened.

"you know Clementine when you spoke to me yesterday about not giving up hope..." Luis lips moved of their own accord, his eye finding Clementine, as she store back down at him "... I actually believed you for a minute. But what you did was stupid, you lowered my guard..." Luis growled.

"I didn't plant a damn walker outside of your house!" Clementine found herself yelling in her defence as JJ and Sarah seemed to stop talking for a minute to listen to the brewing argument.

"I'm not saying that, what I'm saying is your ideals are dangerous, they need to change...!"

"What needs to change Luis, is your attitude...!"

"How do you expect it too change after what happened last night! Do you really think...!?"

"There's someone behind you" Terri interjected into the argument, her tone flat and somewhat bored. Luis words died on his tongue as he whipped around and snapped a "What!?" at the nervous boy stood behind the argument. Clementine got a look at him, he was the same 12 year old blonde boy that had been called up first yesterday, Ryan Adams or something like that if she remembered his name correctly. His face was now flushed pink as he carried a series of leaflets in his hands.

"T-the Wellington weekly..." he stuttered.

"Speak up" Brandon told him, but in a encouraging way so that the Ryan found some confidence.

"The Wellington Weekly" he announced more clearly, before coughing and continuing "Is selling leaflets against the potential threat of a dictatorship in Wellington Walls. As many of you know, since we introduced the screws currency, crime rates have risen by 51.7 per cent" it looked as if the boy was reading from a book as he called out these statistics.

"Also, we've seen an average of 3.5 public executions in a month, prices at local stores and for valuable supplies like electricity and gas have doubled, their has been a 19 per cent rise in drug misuse and all of this applies to 97 per cent of people earning under 1000 screws a month and 10,000 per average household per month. Those below this figure are what we like to call The common people as 87.3 per cent of Wellington's population is under this poverty line..."

"You getting somewhere with this?" Luis asked rudely, ignoring him, the boy carried on with some gusto now behind his voice.

"The elite 12.7 per cent of the population waste our resources and there's evidence they hire hit-men to do their dirty business. Many of the rich are excused from crimes that use Common people would be executed for. The situation is becoming so dire that people are being executed for starving and trying to steal food. You may think this only occurs in the worst areas of Wellington, well soon food troubles around these areas too. Too stop this we would like you to take a leaflet and sign the petition "Against the elite" so President Schulz can read our plea and see the support it has attained so these policies stop". he finished his speech there, looking rather impressed with himself.

"I'll take one, where do we sign the petition?" Brandon asked kindly.

"Near the front reception, my dad works for the Wellington Weekly so I want to get this message across to as many people as possible" Ryan said, his wide youthful eyes shining. The others all took leaflets out of politeness, Clementine saw that Ryan had merely repeated what was already written on the leaflet. Then again lots of people around Wellington already knew the situation but Clementine was glad to see people finally starting to rise against it.

"Thank you" Ryan said before he dashed off to try and convince a huddle of girls nearby to join his cause.

"Well, I highly fucking doubt the president will read this, no one ever sees him" was all Luis had to say as he shoved the crumpled leaflet into his pocket of his jeans.

"You give up too easily" Clementine spat at him, not regretting her earlier words to him, even if a walker had attacked their house they didn't give him reason to act all high and mighty. There was keeping alert and then being obnoxious like Clementine was finding Luis to be, she didn't even know what it was that irked her about him so much, she didn't know if it was the cocky smile, his smug expression always plastered on his face or just the way he straddled around as if he was some big man.

Apparently something about Clementine irked Luis too, because he opened his mouth to retort to her comment...

"Well! Look who it is! It's the cripple walker killer!" came a bellow, Luis found his shoulder blades roughly smacked as Clementine recognised the sleek black hair of Scott, the petty bully and the annoying giggle of Lizzie as her blonde hair came into view. Clementine was disheartened to find that they had already found a posy of bullies to bolster their numbers.

"Well look who it is, how you doing Bob and Margaret?" Clementine announced loudly, the crowd behind Scott and Lizzie laughed amongst themselves as Lizzie and Scott went red. Lizzie roughly called over to Clementine "It's not your fucking business bitch!".

"Yeah keep the fuck out of this little girl, or I might just steal your dumb little hat there" Scott went to brush his hand against Clementine's hat, but she slapped his hand away and muttered "I'll beat the crap out of you if you touch it again"

This was met by rowdy laughter and a loud "OOOOHHH!" which echoed across the grounds of Wellington High, one boy had to yell "Touch more than her fucking cap Scott! See if she'll fight then!" this was met with more laughter, Clementine felt her face grow warm but she didn't dare avert her eyes to the gang flanking to her right.

"What are you here for man?" Brandon asked, breaking into the conversation with an annoyed expression lining his features.

"Were here to see the champions of the moment! Cripple boy here apparently beat a walker to death with his bare hands... it's the rumour going round. Looking at your messed up hand I can see that's true" Scott boomed, as Luis merely growled "Call me Cripple one more time..."

"Or what? You like to think your the big man around here, but you fucking ain't. It's time to get real, only able bodied individuals like me, or Lizzie or most people here are worthy to survive. We don't need cripples like yourself squandering all our supplies here..."

"So that's what you think this is? You think I'm playing big man when I'm not? You're worried I'll take your supplies from you?" Luis questions seemed to have a mocking edge about them, the intense glare he gave Scott seemed to unnerve the petty bully. But the mob mentality was behind him so Scott did what Clementine knew he was going to do and that was to switch to a weaker target.

"Or cripple girl here!" he announced turning to Sarah, she had been silent throughout the argument, but before she could say a word, Scott gripped her remaining arm with his singular stronger one, as Sarah began to panic as she tried to tug her hand away from the crude boy in front of her.

"Let me go!" she yelled.

"Stop struggling you one armed bitch!" Scott yelled in some sort of victory, the backing cheers of his peers only egged him on. Luis and Clementine wore expressions of a wolf about to pounce and bite into their prey's flesh as Scott continued, "So come on then retard!" he was addressing JJ now as he continued to tug at Sarah's single arm "A walker attacked your house last night! You survived that! Show us what a fucking hard man you are then... come on show us you fucking childish country boy! Hey! Heeeey! Look I'm fucking your girl! I'm taking her ain't you going too...?"

Sarah was squealing in discomfort as Scott made thrusting gestures against her as he spoke on, yet a mere second later he was cut to a halt, as two teeth flew from out of his mouth.

He soared through the air, crashing onto the wall of Wellington High, blood leaking from his mouth and nose, his eyes glassy, a massive bruise already spreading on the left cheek where JJ had punched him. Before any could even comprehend what JJ had done, the southern teenager had already strolled up to where Scott lay on the ground and placed the sole of his boot on Scott's arm.

"You shouldn't mess with my friends, or else you'll break" JJ spoke in a strange childish tone, as he applied pressure on Scott's arm. It was only when there was a distinctive crack, which sounded like a whip being cracked through the morning air that everyone seemed to come to life. Scott screamed in agony as JJ laughed and twisted on Scott's arm ever further.

"Hard enough for you now?" JJ asked, his eyes wide and demented, drool leaking from his mouth. As Scott openly wept from below JJ.

"Stoppppppppppp!" he wailed, half of his gang fleeing in terror the others still stood in shock. It took Brandon and Luis' combined strength to pry JJ from where he stood on Scott's arm.

"YOU ANIMAL! ALL OF YOU ARE FUCKING SICK ANIMALS!" Lizzie screamed, causing a shocked Sarah to flinch and look down at the ground. What Scott had done had reminded her of...of what Marisol had her men do to her. She shuddered at the memory but she assured herself despite how much she now despised Scott for doing what he had done, she didn't want to see him like this.

Did she?

A fleeting thought of Alex swept across her mind, no. She wasn't like that, but she proved it once that she was capable of such things and then again with that stranger... was she really that cold? She could be sometimes but when situations got bad, she guessed she had to be.

Lizzie dragged Scott from the scene, Clementine didn't know what to say, no one did.

"JEFFERSON!" came a bellow from the headmaster, (Clementine guessed members of Scott's gang had alerted him to the fight that had occurred) JJ dimly looked up to see the headmaster of Wellington High looming over him, the old man's expression was one of complete fury.

"MY OFFICE!" He roared at JJ, as JJ followed him head hung low, the eyes of his peers trailing him like a hawk. Clementine, Luis, Sarah, Brandon and Terri store after him, they didn't even know when Miss King arrived but when she said "Come on children, let's get to class" in a more subdued tone to her usual cheery one. Clementine snapped out of her stupor and followed the British woman back into the building, the bell must have gone but Clementine didn't hear it.

"So, do you still think this is all good?" Luis asked of her, referring to both the leaflet and the fight as his eyes scanned over Wellington.

"No" Clementine responded honestly, Luis smug grin of victory however was enough to make her say:

"But stop being so high and mighty about it, jerk"

* * *

"Class One!" A woman yelled from the door, Lilly smiled up and announced "Eddie! Eddie! That's my class!"

"Oh erm... then have a nice day then kid" Eddie mumbled in response, shifting on his toes and not liking the way all the over parents around him fawned over their children and gave them big mushy kisses and long "Oh, have a lovely day my darling..." speeches towards their beaming children. The surrounding wail of infants gave Eddie a sore headache and keeping track of AJ and Lilly's (by the bright colour of their coats) proved a challenge as they went off to play with their friends.

Not to mention all the cheesy introductions he had to give to parents he didn't know "Yep that's me, Eddie" he would say as he received "Oh Rebecca has spoken highly of you" alongside "Where is Rebecca today?" Eddie had to wander how many people Rebecca had been talking too, he guessed it was a woman thing, or maybe just a social thing. But after around 3 introductions to complete strangers, he felt like bashing his head against the wall in boredom. None of their talk interested him in the slightest.

Back in the present, Lilly merely rolled her eyes at Eddie before proceeding off to class, a very diva like Kenny strut about her as she did so.

"God, I'll be glad when this is over" Eddie muttered.

"Why? it's fun having you here" AJ complimented him, but Eddie didn't find himself doing anything remotely fun, over than sit down in boredom, wade his way through dozens of introductions and moan to the kids why he hated doing this.

"I highly doubt I've been fun..." Eddie began to say before another yell of "CLASS TWO!" shot across the playground, as AJ mused "That's my class!" Eddie looked down at him "Okay, have a nice day kiddo" he said giving AJ a random salute which the mixed race boy returned. A smile still plastered on his face AJ seemingly skipped across the gravel of the playground and towards the awaiting open door to him which led to his classes. Eddie didn't know why AJ looked up to him so much, he thought himself as a somewhat lazy slacker incapable of caring for kids, but AJ seemed to like him...

Maybe it's because Eddie's parents had been lazy with him, that he thought he would turn out the same towards a kid.

Yawning Eddie looked at AJ one last time to realize AJ had dropped his bottle of water onto the floor without realising it, the glass must have slipped out of the boy's green backpack without him realising it. Getting up, Eddie scooped in to save the bottle from the stampede of parents around it. Picking up the blue bottle he proceeded towards the class door and too where AJ's teacher was still stood there ushering in the last of the infants into her class.

"Excuse me" he had to kind of shout above the clammer of childish wails and parents chattering to get this teacher to notice he was there. She turned around and Eddie first thought was "Well, she's hot" as her lush green eyes, pale face, and wavy red hair which cascaded down to her shoulders was enough to make him think such a thought.

"Can I help you?" she asked again, Eddie snapped out of his stupor when he realised he had been staring. Cursing himself he muttered "Oh erm... AJ dropped this can you give it too him?" he asked handing over the water bottle to this attractive teacher.

"Sure" she replied simply, she took the bottle before muttering "Hmm... usually Rebecca's here with AJ. This is the first time I've seen you..."

"I'm Eddie, I live with AJ and Becca, I'm a family friend" Eddie rushed out, probably saying these words far too quickly as he mentally slapped himself and forced himself to shake her hand without messing up his speech once again.

"Eddie, I'm Violet Moore. AJ's teacher it's nice to meet you" she replied.

"You too" Eddie answered honestly, hoping that didn't come across as too creepy.

Violet released his hand as she quickly asked "So If you don't mind me asking, where is Rebecca today? You don't have to answer if you don't want too, because I saw the other parents swarming you back there and figured you could use some space..."

"Tell me about it, it's fucking irritating" Eddie mused, before he paused and panicked internally. She was a teacher, a teacher who taught little kids like AJ and Lilly, for some reason he expected her to be like the other parents. Who gasped at the thought of a curse word being uttered in this holy ground of innocence. Yet to Eddie's immense relief Violet didn't seem to judge him at all on his bad language.

"Yeah it is, but I put with it for the children. I always strangely prefer they're company over that of adults" Violet confessed to him.

"I know what you mean, kids can say the funniest things sometimes and I like looking after AJ..." Eddie admitted as Violet nodded her head "Yeah, his a very imaginative and lovely boy, you and Rebecca and the others seem to have done a fine job with him".

"Thanks" was all Eddie could say, smiling to himself as he looked at the ground shyly, a few yells from the class caught Violet's attention as she muttered "Well I better go attend to them, I'll see you soon I guess..." she told Eddie, but Eddie didn't want to stop talking to her just yet.

"Hey erm... you know I kinda swore earlier and I... erm... I'm sorry for that" that had to be the most broken and strangest sentence Eddie had ever tried on a girl (and he had said some weird things in his time) Violet gave him a look of pure bemusement when she saw the generally apologetic look spread across the bearded man's face and the way his big brown eyes seemed to be locked on her.

"What are you apologising for?" she outright asked in bewilderment.

"Erm... swearing like I erm... said". Eddie asked, each word growing quieter his gaze finding the ground as he mentally cursed himself. Just when he thought he had finally found a woman, his age, who seemed nice and free of HIV or any other diseases he went and messed it up over a simple...

Violet laughed, Eddie looked up in rising hope.

"You don't have to apologise Eddie, Jesus... but it's sweet of you" she muttered, the word "Sweet" being enough to make Eddie's heart nearly burst in elation as she finally muttered "Well I better go, hopefully I'll see you soon... bastard" she dared mutter the last word. As Eddie felt the large grin spread across his face to his further happiness he saw Violet had a genuine smile etched onto her face as well.

"Yeah see you later... bitch" he told her in return.

She gave him one last smile before she was gone, Eddie turned around to find the scrutinizing glare of some parents trained on him, not that he cared of course, he walked along back towards his house, humming a happy tune his head filled with images of Violet.

Maybe now he'd do the school run more often.

* * *

In early December the sun still shone brightly over Wellington although it's warmth was subdued drastically for midday in December it was surprisingly clear and bright for a mid-winter day and for the residents of Wellington ploughing away in the fields, this was even better news.

Draped a familiar set of dirty blue overalls, Luke worked tirelessly to uproot some potato plants in the never ending field around them.

"You know I thought... they had the technology to do this by machine" Molly panted from where she worked beside Luke, the brown haired man was too busy trying to tug a particularly large plant from out of the soil to answer Molly's inquiry.

"Yeah I thought they did too shame the machines they planned to use got burnt" an old woman grumbled from next to Molly, answering the blonde woman. Molly and Luke both knew this woman very well, because she was their next door neighbour Gertrude. An old widow with a tongue to match her no nonsense reputation, she lived alone opposite their house. But quickly became acquainted with her neighbours and was particularly kind to the kids. However even Sarah and Clementine knew Gertrude wasn't the sweet old lady offering cookies of coddling the neighbours with wrapped presents, she didn't fulfil that stereotype.

"Yeah pity about those machines, tell me how much petrol you got left now?" Molly asked.

Flashing Molly a bridgework of her golden teeth, Gertrude gave her simple reply of "Two" before returning to her job, last time Molly had asked this Gertrude had said "Three". But there was something Molly liked about this old woman, she had a lot of life left in her.

"I can't believe you got involved in that Gertrude, if you had gotten caught..." came another voice to Molly's right, another workmate of her and Luke's was none other than Father Jordan, the 40 something African american priest in Wellington. Expect in Wellington they had surprisingly large number of priests, so Father Jordan found himself shafted to this kind of manual work in order to earn himself a living.

"More dangerous if we got shafted out of the job father, tell me you're here because you, like me, need the money. Can't have damn machines takin' our jobs, we'd starve within a week. Rich fucking bastards thinkin' we need machines..." Gertrude grumbled, as Father Jordan sighed, they were an odd little workforce to say the least. Filled with misfits or any simply looking for a job to earn a bit of cash.

"Anyway Molly do you know when you're next scavenging trip is going on" Father Jordan asked of the younger woman to try and move the conversation onwards. For about 2 months now Molly had started working alongside Luke (much too his delight) as the scavenging trips had grown less and less frequent, so she needed any way to contribute to the house she was residing in, so here she was.

"I don't know, Wellington is becoming pretty self sustained" Molly muttered, however she sighed as Luke looked up, having managed to pull the potato out of the ground, as Gertrude seemed to read Molly's mind "Eh, but you miss don't ya?" Molly nodded at the southern woman straight out of Alabama. Gertrude nodded in understanding before she spoke "There's no beatin' it, the feelin' of the wind blowin' through your hair. Just the will to go whenever you want, wherever you want, I might not seem it but I was young once, I don't like it as much here anymore as those walls are starting to feel more imposing" she spat glancing at the distant walls in distaste.

"I know, but at least they keep us safe" Luke interjected as Gertrude cast him a look, she could read him as easily as she read her 3 grown up sons, well, when they were alive, he didn't care much about the walls but any point to keep Molly close to him was a point he would make.

"I guess" Molly sighed, hating more and more the feeling of being trapped here, but she chose to speak on "Anyway I told Stef to ask the guys at the wall about any more scavenging trips. I know they're probably not needed anymore but on the chance they are..." she smiled to herself, liking the thought of searching new places to see what could be found, it was just what she had done in Savannah. Eventually though that lifestyle had gotten dull and it was company she seeked, now she had that company but she was beginning to miss some of the freedom.

Eventually when Father Jordan and Gertrude had gone to deal with a different patch of potato plants, Luke swept in and commented to her "Hey erm... I know what it's like Molly. Prices rising all the time, rich getting richer, poor getting poorer. Hopefully that leaflet in the Wellington Weekly will convince people to start protestin' against it. Hell the pay here is shoddy enough as it is..."

"Which is why I signed their petition" Molly told him, cutting through his speech, Luke didn't know what to say for a second, but thankfully Molly seemed to speak for him, as she gestured at him to listen in, his bent his head towards her's before she spoke.

"Okay what I'm about to tell you is something I don't want anyone knowing, so If I tell you don't make a scene or tell anyone and I mean anyone, you understand here farm boy?"

"Sure" Luke said, as Molly breathed this had been bothering her all morning before she finally let it out of her chest.

"This morning, I was working on a crops, I was alone and I overheard these guys Luke. Their must have been 10... 12 of them. Luke, they're planning a riot. and I'm not talking your peaceful hippie style hold up the banners and all will be fine, type of riot. No these guys were scum, they way they spoke about fire-bombing places, killing the rich and executing the president... it sounds like big talk but it was the way they spoke Luke... they were serious..."

"People speak all the time Molly, ain't nothing to get too concerned about" Luke told her gently, planting his dirt coloured hands on the straps of the blue overalls, stretched across Molly's shoulders. A gentle breeze swayed the plants around them, as Molly faced the ground as she muttered "I know people talk Luke, but with everything that's being happening lately I think this is the real deal, but what scared me most is that... I found myself agreeing with them"

Luke's mouth dropped open in shock, Molly didn't look up to face him and Luke now understood why, she was too ashamed to look at him.

"You...Molly! No!" Luke blurted out, stress lines becoming prominent on his face as he now understood what Molly was getting at "You... you're not thinking of joining them!? Possibly killing innocent people!? Molly tell me that ain't the case...!"

"That's why I want to leave Luke!" Molly exclaimed suddenly, lifting her head sharply upwards to look him dead in the eye as she said her next words "Wellington... it's becoming Crawford all over again! Survival of the fittest and all that bullshit! They killed my damn sister in there and all I could do was run away... and I did because I knew that If I stayed I'd become no better than the monsters they were..." she paused there trying hard not to get emotional as bad memories of the Crawford community shook Molly to the bone.

"In here... Gertrude's right Luke. Were trapped, if were not violent in here then... what happened to my sister. It will happen to Clem and Sarah and everyone else. We either leave or we have to defend ourselves..." Molly spoke passionately.

"Molly..." Luke began, she knew this was his You're just overreacting let me calm you down voice, but she wouldn't have it.

"No Luke, listen to me. I-know-shit-is-going-to-hit-the-fan, sooner than we think, you need to help me, or anything... just... fuck I needed to tell someone and you... you and the guys are the closest thing to a family I have now. I can't go through the pain of losing that all again" Molly finished there looking at Luke with desperate eyes trying to make him see what she could see.

"Molly I... I won't tell anyone but... are you su...?" he cut off his question then, as Gertrude suddenly seemed to burst on the scene, to find Luke and Molly standing there, hands on each other's shoulders, heads inclined at angle close to one another and suffice to say she got the wrong impression.

"Oh hello, what's going on here?" she asked cheekily, smiling to herself more than the pair in front of her.

"We were just discussing things, about the... president" Luke improvised wildly, taking his hands of Molly's shoulders as Gertrude merely store at the pair of them, when Luke had nothing else to say she simply muttered "Well don't just stand there, doing what you young folks do, we got to work to do, for shit pay..."

"Aye" Luke responded springing to life, as Molly brushed past him, he uttered to her "We'll discuss this later" with a nod she seemed to accept this, as he got back to work on harvesting the land.

* * *

"So... you've already started the smear campaign about the president and the bigwigs" Trevor snapped at Stacy, who sat on front of her brother with a small smile plastered on her face.

"Yep, I thought Hunt the Wolf would be a good slogan for the leaflet, or down with President, I'm never anywhere Schulz, but I thought the basic statistics would be a good starting point" Stacy replied, as cool as a cucumber, they were sat in Trevor's office, on his desk lay several copies of the Wellington Weekly and the leaflets inside of them. Trevor gripped one of these leaflets in his vice iron grip.

"We don't need to go off adding fuel to the damn fire, the results could be dangerous Stacy" Trevor growled at her.

"It was going to happen anyway" was all she could reply, as Trevor merely snarled and asked "So what about this Immune Survivor then, this theory about that Oscar guy, when's that all going up in the Wellington Weekly?" Trevor asked, a pronounced poison on his tongue.

"That should be next week's headline, President hides Immune survivor from public..."

"But the president isn't hiding him" Trevor pointed out, as Stacy merely put her hands on her hips and muttered "I know that, but there isn't a doubt about it he would if Oscar was their captive".

"This is wrong Stacy, this is framing someone who hasn't done the damn crime" Trevor informed his sister a hint of annoyance laced in his tone.

"I don't care what has to be done, but I'm willing to do it if we want to bring the President down. If we live under him... listen, I'm fed up of working our asses off to be part of the elite 12 per cent that won't starve in the next year. After all we've been through do you want Violet to starve? Because now this is published, if the president wins we'll both lose our jobs and end up rotting somewhere, along with Violet do you want that...?"

"NO!" Trevor roared, slamming his hands down on his desk and standing bolt upright. Heaving he glared openly at his sister before he calmed down somewhat "We're... we're doing what's right aren't we? I tell myself that every day Stacy, I need to know after everything..." he choked back some bad memories of twisted stuff he had done in the past. For now he had to be the protector of Justice, yet he showed his vulnerable side as he glanced at his sister.

"It's what right Trevor, now I am going to find out if Oscar here is the real deal" she stood and turned away from her brother, her red hair bouncing as she strode towards the door.

"Wait! How are you going to clarify this information!?" Trevor inquired of her.

She smiled and simply muttered "Anyway I can" before she left the room.

Already having some... _contacts_ in mind.


	5. The Confessions Of Many

**A/N: Again, huge thanks to all of your kind words! Reviews last chapter really did come in handy!**

**ffapathy- Loved your review and how you pointed out Gertrude's flaw in destroying the farm machines would lead to more people starving, as admittedly it was something I completely overlooked until you pointed it out also when you pointed out how drastically food prices had risen... I'm really am appreciative that you give me long-detailed reviews and rest assured your reviews and feedbacks we will more rewarding to create a more realistic and entertaining story.**

**AshFelics- Thank you for reading through my stories and I'm glad to see you caught up, also your advice on the grammar thing. I know what you mean, and admittedly it's not a style I write in. However reading your feedback made sense so I will try and interrupt more quotes with "Said, shouted etc..." before continuing the quote itself. It's always nice to have some writing tips every once in a while as It helps me improve as a writer and hopefully crafts a more entertaining story for you and other readers.**

**Kristal- Dynamite- My fellow brit on here! The walking dead is a very american series and obviously attracts a large US fanbase, so when I read your reviews I'm always glad to have a fellow brit behind me and I loved how you were also disappointed by the election result (I could go on for hours, but I see it as, basically working class people like me are fucked) I liked that the fact I was trying to add some of my anger at the election result into the story sat well with you. People who don't want change (e.g Conservatives) will serve a problem in this story just as I feel the conservatives will cause problems here in the UK. Anyway I appericate your long and detailed reviews and I'm glad you're loving the 2000 days group more! **

**aoe lockdown- Glad to see you back! Yep now all I need is maximo and my new trio shall be back! (Also thanks for your review eggomypeggo) although since you've been with this story since NGB, new trio is a bit dated now. I shall label you my loyal trio, or loyal duo into Maximo returns. However I apperciate all of your reviews and I'm glad your liking the story so far! **

**Zombieslayer995- It's fine, I understand that people get busy with real life and all (it's been heteic for me lately) but thanks for leaving a review last chapter! **

**and finally thank you to everyone else for reading and reviewing last chapter! on with the story we go!**

* * *

If looks could kill, Sarah, Clementine, Luis, Brandon and Terri would be long dead.

Because from where Scott was sat slumped on the wooden bench in the gym, his arm resting in an pure white sling, half of his face still purple from the punch that the retarded blonde freak had given him less than a few hours ago. Now he had to sit out and watch as the people he already loathed run around the gym in the first Physical Education lesson of the year.

Their gym teacher (a big burly African american man known as Mr. Underwood) was currently bellowing instructions at the lacking members of Miss King's class. The dizty minded British woman sat next to Scott. Busy fiddling with a few sheets in her hands, as Scott simmered in rage next to her. He didn't want to be sat here, feeling like a fucking 4 year old who was being babysat, he felt the burn of embarrassment being sat here like this, worse than he felt the blinding throbbing pain that blinded half of his face.

"They're only running miss," Scott growled, "My arm's broken not my legs, Can't I...?"

"Oh no" Miss King replied, cutting through his sentence and mustering her thinnest smile to a boy she could tell was going to cause her trouble in the near future "nurse says no physical activity for 48 hours. In all honesty you should be in hospital Scott..." she continued to lecture as Scott merely cut her off with an impatient grunt.

"I'm not a fucking baby," Scott retorted "I can do this"

Miss King shot him a weary look, her youthful brown eyes drooping in some sort of patronizing manner.

"You really need to stop with the language Scott" Miss King lectured "It's rude and what happened to you earlier could have been avoided if you hadn't antagonised John in the first place" She finished there, expecting Scott to scream something in rage at her. When he didn't she inwardly sighed in relief and proceeded to continue rustling with her papers. In all honesty she had no purpose behind rustling this papers, she just didn't want too talk to Scott and making herself look occupied was her key goal at the minute.

"YOU'RE OUT!" Mr Underwood would bellow at random. A physical fitness test was being conducted on all the pupils currently with the misfortune of being in Miss King's class. Scott watched wearily as the fellow 30 something members of his class ran from one side of the hall/gym to another, if they could place their fingers on the cream coloured wall before Mr Underwood blew his whistle then they survived another round. The time to run from one side of the hall to another grew shorter as the so called "Bleep Test" went on as the breaks in time for people to catch their breath also got shorter.

If only Scott wasn't unfit to compete, he'd beat them all.

It hurt him in a way he couldn't describe to watch everyone else up and about, running around while he sat on the bench. Sports was his life, his way of escape in this shitty world. He was athletic and loved to boast about this fact, the 17 year old also loved to showcase his biceps and wink at passing girls, he knew he looked good and only here at Day 2 at Wellington High he had to act this way to rise to the top of the social hierarchy. All seemed to be going well, until... until now.

Sat here, even as his fellow "friends" sat down, faces red and sweat rolling down their heated faces. He could tell their eyes seemed lined with disappointment, they saw him as weak. At least they had done the test, whereas he was sitting out, regardless of the reason he could tell they judged him. Scott could have raged at them, about how that little bitch Clementine (still wearing her hat, because the stubborn cunt wouldn't take it off) had beaten them in a test of stamina. They were meant to be big men and the girls... they were so fucking petty... dropping out because their hair was sweaty...

Cursing to himself and drooping his head, Scott ran a hand through his slick black hairs. He was leader of his own little gang now, but also trapped by his own popularity, unable now to show weakness in front of the his leaderless sheep. All of them desperate to be in some sort of cliché group once again, desperate for security, desperate to be normal high school students once again. Scott was actually the complete opposite of that ideology.

He hated it. He hated Miss King, he hated Sarah and JJ and their naive little talk about everything being alright, when it fucking wasn't! He was expecting to find people who were aware of the outside world, his gang said that too but Scott knew they only agreed with him so they could fit into his little mould. They didn't know what it was like... being out there. You had to be cruel, you had to step on others to survive, Scott didn't want to be walked on all over again...

He shuddered at the memories, a few tears actually welling up in his eyes to his great surprise and disappointment. He was trapped here, trapped by fake friends and a fake society... he was angry! Angry that they all seemed so damn ignorant when the Wellington Wolf, that fucking serial killer was going around killing people and what about rising cost of living!? The costs were ballooning and Scott was struggling to make ends meet didn't that stress anyone else out!? How could he be surrounded by so many "friends" but feel so alone?

The thought of his somewhat crippling injury being karma had occurred to him. Did he deserve this for what he had done to the other group? Probably and that's what upset Scott even more, this is what he had become and he felt like he was that guy alone. That he was the only asshole this world had managed to churn out and everyone else was unscathed, he was envious of them all, jealous in a weird way...

"YOU'RE OUT!"

Scott looked up, managing to ensure that no tears were spilled in public, he saw Miss King stand up and cheer the one armed Sarah, as she put on her glasses once again and applauded herself on making it further than half of the class. Scott had to wonder how his gang had been beaten not only by a 14 year old, but also that lanky, weak girl with immensely poor eyesight, how had it happened?

Sarah caught Scott's black pupils in the corner of her eye, she turned to face him. A ripple of disgust and feat spread across her face before her eyes quickly found the floor and she proceeded to sit as far away from Scott as possible. He shouldn't have cared about her opinion, but yet it bothered him that he now felt more alone than ever.

He looked back at the centre of the hall to see who was left.

Clementine (one of the youngest of the class, by some means was still soldiering on) the brother and sister duo, that asshole Luis who thought he was the big man around here (having one arm and eye seemed to elate the Mexican boy's ego to enormous proportions) it rubbed off on Scott in the wrong way and finally Lizzie? Scott blinked, hadn't she sat down with the other girls? No. This was strange he spoke a lot to Lizzie yesterday and they got on, but in the back of his mind Scott just saw her as another bimbo, her pale face was plastered in make up and he made the stereotype of the cheerleader who was only good for one purpose... Scott was hoping to get into her pants but now seeing her like this...

She didn't care that she was make-up free, she didn't care that her face was plastered in shiny sweat or that her hair was a frizzy mess of blonde curls. Her icy teal orbs were locked on the wall ahead of her. Scott was rather surprised, he didn't expect her to be the athletic type at all, in fact unlike him she didn't seem to care how she appeared in front of others.

Clementine, Terri, Brandon, Luis and Lizzie were the final five then. Scott watched the show rather intrigued, his eyes locked on Lizzie she looked exhausted but he wished he could send her telepathic encouragement as he didn't want her to give in before the gang he loathed. In a way he was proud of her, briefly she met his eyes as she ran on and flashed the black haired boy a small smile that he returned.

Finally little Clementine seemed to halt to stop, she physically staggered on the spot for a few seconds as Miss King shot up in concern.

"Oh the poor doll!" Miss King proclaimed dramatically in worry "I hope she hasn't overexerted herself!".

Luis seemed to stop, just before Clementine hit the ground he scooped her up with his one arm and allowed the 14 year old to rest on his shoulder as he escorted her back to the benches. Scott listened in, just as Mr Underwood bellowed "YOU TWO, YOU'RE OUT!" in which Luis looked down at Clementine.

"You fuckin' idiot!" he snapped "Exhausting yourself, now we're both out because of you and I could have gone for hours" yet that statement was highly debatable, as Luis himself physically let his burly bones collapse on the bench when he reached it and allowed himself a full minute to regain his breath. As did Clementine, but when she was finally able to speak she flashed Luis a devilish grin.

"I wasn't letting you beat me" she panted in a sly victory.

"Bitch" Luis retorted instantly.

"If I really was a bitch" Clementine stated matter of factly, wiping a waterfall of sweat off her forehead "then you wouldn't have come back for me"

Luis responded angrily but Scott didn't hear the full response, it was something along the lines of "Bitches make guys do stupid things and you made me do a stupid thing, hence your name appears under Bitch in the dictionary" Clementine response was something insulting Luis' intelligence. But Scott paid no attention their bickering as his eyes locked on Lizzie once again. Yet even though he loathed that group there was something about them he couldn't help but admire...

Their... effort.

The final three dragged on and on... finally Lizzie drew to a stop and crouched on the ground for a full minute to try and regain her breath.

"YOU'RE OUT!" Mr Underwood bellowed.

Lizzie groaned and proceeded back towards the benches, sitting right next to Scott, she began to blabber instantly...

"What the fuck are those two freaks on?" she spat "Steroids no doubt I gave it my all and they still going and I barely heard them pant at all..." she dropped her eyes and Scott could see she looked ashamed of herself, without thinking, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You did great, honestly" was all he said. He wished he could have said more to her about how much of an achievement it was, but the sincerity of his words seemed to hit a note with her anyway. Her face seemed to relax, her eyes seemed to widen in gratitude rather than shrink in distaste as she stopped ranting and sighed.

"Thanks" she muttered, in a much softer tone than her usual high pitched vindictive tone.

Scott was somewhat inspired, to find out who really was going to survive in Wellington. Because he knew shit was going to hit the fan, the people he was living with... they were rioting soon. A real riot against the system and Scott was going to be behind them, one hundred per cent. He had to show these weak minded people who was really boss around here and so when the next activity began (rope climbing, Brandon eventually won the bleep test) Scott got up despite Miss King's protests and proceeded too (with one arm) begin to climb the rope before Mr. Underwood had even said go.

"GET DOWN!" Miss King screeched.

He ignored her, he saw the little red marker on the rope it was where he was supposed to reach, however the strain he put on his arm was too much... he felt himself fall. There was a thump, Miss King screamed, the other students gasped. Scott gritted his teeth together and got up of the soft blue mat he had landed back first on. He shouldered on through the pain, his eyes narrowed in determination he looked up at the target and proceeded to jump on the rope and climb up it once again. Blotting out the horrible rope burn that lay a red stripe across the palm of his hand. He had to give it his all, no matter how many times he fell he would get up again and give it his all.

Because those that gave it their all, him, Lizzie (and even if he hated too admit it) Clementine, Sarah, Luis, Terri and Brandon would be the one's who survived in this world.

* * *

"SUSPENSION!" Tim yelled in a dumbfound disbelief.

The Headmaster of Wellington High didn't seem to impressed with Tim's over the top response.

"Yes. Suspension" the headmaster had a way of dropping single words onto people's shoulders like a ton of bricks. The weight of his words made a downtrodden JJ wince on the spot.

"Suspended for how long?" Tom inquired, raising a heavy black eyebrow at the headmaster.

"The form says two weeks" Tim responded, the headmaster continuing to fix the African american twins with an intense glare, his silence weighed between the twins for a few seconds before he finally spoke up once again.

"You two see to it that this boy is punished" he said sternly "and make sure his grandfather and yourselves deals with him in a manner so he won't do it again".

The twins nodded at this information, "His Grandfather is currently working on top of the wall" Tom informed the headmaster "As soon as he returns home we'll see to it that John here is punished accordingly" Tom felt weird calling JJ, John as he almost always referred to the boy as JJ since he had first met the southern blonde boy. But he had to appear formal and strict in front of the headmaster, he didn't want to make it out as though he and JJ were on much more causal terms. He wanted to come across as a strict paternal figure but at the same time, he wanted to curse Wilbert.

What had that racist pile of shit done for JJ? Tom felt like Wilbert had simply dumped his grandson's responsibility on his shoulders. In all honesty Tom was surprised by how well behaved JJ had been while in their group with Wilbert as a domineering grandfather, but now on the second day of school here he had gotten himself into serious trouble...

"He had better be punished accordingly" The headmaster muttered, there was something about the way his grey eyes seemed to see right though Tom that unnerved the African american man.

"He will be" Tom responded looking at the headmaster dead in the eye, but he felt like he was on the losing side here. Tom was a big, strong man, yet this headmaster could cut through him like butter by his words alone. Despite Tom's many inner inquires on the policies of Wellington it had seemed like they had chosen the right man for the job to be headmaster of this school.

Without another words the headmaster turned on his heel and proceeded back into his office, his back as straight as board, his posture rigid. His spotless blazer and black tie gleaming momentarily in the weak December sunlight before he shut the door with a powerful BANG, that made JJ wince on the spot.

"Come on!" Tom snapped at JJ, who lugged behind Tom. The leader of the group wanted JJ to know how pissed off he was with him.

"And you're the one telling us to act normal this morning! Fucking hell JJ" Tim suddenly exclaimed rounding on the terrified teen, to give him some Tim discipline "Hypocritical much, no matter what fucking happens you don't go around breaking other people arms..." Tim said clearly.

"I... I... just got mad..." JJ whimpered quietly, not daring to look up once.

"Was it worth it though JJ?" Tom cut in, as he stopped in his tracks and turned to face the southern teenager "Was it really worth missing out on school for two weeks, because you wanted to break some punk's arm? Well, was it?"

JJ was silent, he seemed to be staring at the sole's of his shoes.

"JJ look at me" Tom demanded.

JJ slowly looked up.

"Was it worth it?" Tom placed a great value on every syllable as he said the words.

JJ shook his head and mumbled "I'm, sorry Tom... Tim..." he whimpered to a childish silence in which he continued to play with the sole's of his shoes by digging them into the tiled floor.

Tom always remembered when he and Tim had first come across JJ, that insane savage in the woods eating raw meat and that vicious glint in his eye he had then... for a second Tom swore he saw it glint once again in JJ's maple coloured iris'. However as quickly as it was there it was gone.

Tom sighed and faced the corridor ahead of him "We'll discuss this later, come on you, Oscar's waiting outside" the twins and Oscar had been stuck watching the home all day, as the construction work was cancelled for the next couple of days in the wake of Ryan's death. When they received the phone call from the school, Tom and Tim agreed to go and fetch JJ. While Oscar simply wanted to stretch his legs, he wrote down that he was fed up of staying indoors and that it put him on edge. So the three of them got into Tom's car and drove up here.

JJ hung his head on shame as he followed the leader of his group, towards his two weeks of isolation at his house.

However TT couldn't help but mutter under his breath (so Tim and Tom couldn't hear him)

_"It was... quite enjoyable, wasn't it JJ?" _

* * *

Oscar liked walking.

Even before the apocalypse he had been a keen walker (wrong phrasing there) but he loved to just move about and explore new places. He always thought he would get more buff if he kept on walking, however turns out walking places was a cardio exercise and Oscar ended up as thin as a stick insect. Never the less his lanky legs moved onwards, as they did now, stepping over the smooth gravel of the side-walk by Wellington High as he passed the surrounding houses

This looked like a nice area, Oscar peered inside one of the windows to see a family inside the main living area, planted in front of a TV, a young couple with a baby in their arms. They looked happy and at peace, in fact Oscar stood watching them for a short while. Whatever was on the TV made the woman laugh, as the man smiled back at her and kissed her fully on the lips. However over the woman's shoulder the man's eyes locked with Oscar's who must have looked like a right freak, standing there and staring at them through the window.

Feeling his cheeks flush, Oscar ducked eye contact and proceeded to speed forwards. He didn't look back.

That family... didn't know how lucky they had it. Warm sofa, a loving child between them they didn't have fears... well they probably did about the future of Wellington and the rising prices of things and the safety of their child in these encompassing walls. But Oscar, he had everything to worry about.

He looked up at the sky, as a few wisps of white cloud drifted lazily by. His secret was out now, he had tried to keep that secret for as long as possible but now it was out in the open... he didn't want to be that immune survivor. A trait no one else had... he never felt so lonely. People would think you'd be blessed to be immune from the walker virus but no... it was a curse.

Watching those you loved turn into those things and you couldn't even join them... and seeing how "the cure" could tear groups apart. He had seen that with the group only last night. If it somehow leaked into the public that he was an immune survivor... in all honesty what they were going to do to him didn't bother him. He knew they were going to chop him up and use his tissue to try and make a cure. That's what they did back at the asylum, chopped people up. People they found like him, at first they had taken the tongue but, if that place had lasted they'd have taken his brain.

His brain was what was needed.

Now, he was probably the only immune survivor left, probably in the world. The weight of such a title made Oscar realise how valuable he was, how valuable his spindly fingers, pale skin and lanky body really were. It was strange he always despised the way he looked and now his body, his tissues, his blood... it was the most wanted thing in the world. and if he had too then Oscar would gladly die to give the world a cure.

But, that wouldn't be the case.

He saw what happened at the asylum, he saw how easily and horrifically everything could fall apart. How people would clamber over each other to get the cure, when a few tissues, they weren't enough for even 10 people. Even if they did somehow make a cure from his tissues or his brain cells then Oscar knew for a fact only a very limited few would probably be injected with this cure. The conflict for this limited supply would tear Wellington apart, not that this society had enough problems as it was.

Kicking a stone on the side-walk and proceeding back towards Tom's noticeable yellow car, Oscar liked it when Ana saved him from that asylum. In the long time he spent with her, he was back doing what he loved. He was a survivor like her, her hatred of the walkers was infectious. Oscar felt like he could be a normal survivor who could be bitten and be killed with her, he and her travelled and became professional walker killers, they always travelled. Never being trapped in the same place instead the open road was laid out ahead of them.

Even now that Ana knew the truth, she treated him as she had always done. She understood instantly why he kept this secret even from her and Oscar only liked her more because of this.

Oscar was nearing Tom's car, as he tried to remember his past life before all of this, before the walkers. Before a cursed immunity... he had remembered his voice. The deep grumble of a Alabamian accent... it had been so long since he had heard his voice that he felt lost without it and he felt more lost with each passing day. His facial piercings were lost in the bathroom last night. Oscar hadn't bothered to retrieve them as he rubbed his fingers over the spaces in his skin where they would usually be. His glasses and long hair remained but... every day the black haired, grey eyed man felt like he was losing a part of himself.

Oscar heard another car approach from behind him, he heard it break and screech on the curb to the side-walk. Oscar's sense of hearing had refined somewhat since he couldn't speak. and by the way this car door slammed opened instantly he knew something was off, whoever the inhabitant of the car was seemed to have a shuffle in their step as their dogged steps bounded straight towards Oscar, they were running... running fast!

Oscar whipped around, his senses on high alert to catch a glimpse of someone... whoever this person was covered in a thick hoodie so Oscar couldn't make out if the person was male of female. Although judging by the smaller height and visible pale and small wrists and hands, he would guess this was a woman. The woman had a knife in her hands and before Oscar could even move his attacker had sliced the knife through the air.

For a moment, nothing.

Then the exposed skin on his forearm burst open, as blood instantly rained down his arm and dripped onto the ground. Oscar leapt back in horror, clutching his arm and screaming in silent agony. His attacker inspected the short knife they had on them, quickly and in a bizarre manner. The person produced a small jar from their pocket and scarped Oscar's wet blood into the jar. As Oscar himself fell to the ground in agony, his eyes watering as he was dimly aware of his attacker scooping up smears of blood from the ground around him...

"OI!"

Oscar dared to look up in hope, as Tom's powerful bellow rang across the front grounds of Wellington High, no doubt the leader of the group had witnessed this attack. The attacker themselves looked up in alarm, Oscar saw the attacker's face... except they had decided they didn't want to be identified, the hood on their hoodie was lifted up and whoever was attacking him wore a black face mask. However a trickle of long bright red hair leaked from under the attacker's hood...

"STOP!" Tom roared, sprinting after the already fleeing attacker like an Olympian.

The attacker reached their car and wasted no time in speeding off instantly, Tom slammed his hands against the rear of the car, screaming "STOP MOTHERFUCKER!" but this was too no avail as the car accelerated off down the road, leaving a furious Tom behind.

"What the hell just happened!?" A panicking Tim gasped, clutching his side as he looked down at Oscar and the blood around him, JJ quickly caught up with Tim, as Oscar quickly managed to write down (in the gravel and using his own blood as the ink).

_"Attacked. They took my blood"._

"Well shit, fucking shit!" Tom cursed like a madman, the leader of the group quickly looked around. The front of the school was empty, no one was around. Everyone was either at work or at school. They had to act fast.

"Clear the blood up, we need to get Oscar out of here, NOW!" Tom stressed, as JJ made it his mission to lift Oscar from the ground, while Tim dropped to his knees and used his sleeves to try (as desperately as he could) to rub the blood on the side-walk out of existence. While JJ made the wise decision to get Oscar into their car so he could avoid spilling more blood onto the pavement.

"Come on... come on..." Tim pleaded as he tried his hardest to rub the blood off the gravel... any traces of blood outside of the school would lead to questioning and they couldn't let the police know this information. Because if it became public knowledge that Oscar was attacked right after Ryan had been killed then people would start suspecting, they wolf would start suspecting...

"Blue car... Ford by the looks of it. Fucking common though, I didn't get time to read the number plate... fuck..." Tom swore to himself, burning holes into the side-walk, as he turned to his brother once again.

"Was that the wolf Tim? Did I just see the Wellington Wolf? Were they trying to kill Oscar? How did they know about him... how the fuck...!?" Tom held his head in hands as the volley of questions that spurred from his lips made the leader himself realise that here in Wellington, he had no power. No matter how powerful he appeared to be they were being fucked over by more powerful people.

"I... really don't know. I don't think so Tom, I just... they weren't trying to kill Oscar, I think they were after a blood sample..." Tim's voice quivered as he said these words, when he knew the full truth.

"How do we know someone hasn't betrayed us in our group?" Tom suddenly piped up "How else would anyone know? someone had to know Oscar was Immune and could have sold us out..."

"Well, the police doubted our story anyway" Tim decided to point out, as Tom seemed to relax only very slightly, before his eyes inched open again in alarm "The police... someone from our household! Fuck... Tim I..." he was about to admit he didn't know what to do but he shook off this weakness as he got a hold of himself and noticed a person walking along.

"Shit someone's coming, we've got to go!" Tom yelled as he dragged himself and his brother into their car and sped off from the school. Tim had managed to get rid of the blood on the side-walk so much so it was no longer visible. But while the other three all stressed about frightening new possibilities of who had attacked Oscar to get his blood sample. Because if they wanted a blood sample from Oscar they day after he was bitten, then someone most probably outside of their household knew that and wanted proof of it.

Tim knew the whole truth but couldn't say a word.

He knew that car was Stacy's, he knew she had attacked Oscar for that blood sample. No doubt about it she didn't believe a word he had said. She probably knew Oscar was bitten from the onset and now the ambitious Journalist had stolen a blood sample from him to confirm that information. She also knew that Tim would hear of this attack in some way and Tim already knew this was her way of demanding an explanation from him. Tonight he knew where she would be and the questions she would want answered.

He couldn't speak up, if he told the group now he'd been having sex with a distrustful Journalist behind all of their backs in order to gain privileges for their group then... Tim would be the fuck up. They'd be mad with him, they'd probably chuck him out of the group.

Tim bit his lip, this could either go two ways.

He could get Stacy on his side, protect Oscar with the power of the press on his side and gain the privileges for his group and fight the true threat who was the Wellington Wolf.

Or, Stacy could betray him, reveal to Wellington they'd be concealing the Immune survivor. Oscar would be killed, Tim would be ashamed and kicked out of the group and the Wellington Wolf would win, as the cure he or she was looking for would fall into their hands.

Oscar meanwhile only had to look around the worried trio around him to realise one thing.

He was right, this Immunity.

Was a curse.

* * *

Father Jordan had finished his day on the farm, although it was just past midday, today he would be required to hear confessions from people within the main church at Wellington. Bidding Gertrude, Luke and Molly a goodbye, the African american priest proceeded to the church near the middle of the town and entered the still and quiet church as he dressed in his more formal fitting robes and sat in one side of a confession box.

Admittedly the rather chubby man didn't like this job, sitting in this dark box and listening to people whine and moan about petty problems, or sins. Some of the crimes Father Jordan had confessed to him however... well he could safely say that half the cells at Wellington Police station were full because of him. A guilty criminal would sometimes come up, confess a crime they had gotten away with...

and Father Jordan would tell them God had forgiven their sins. Before waiting for said criminal to leave, he would quickly peer out of the box and he would see the back of the heads of the criminals. He got around Wellington alot, he knew a lot of faces and names and addresses because he spent his Sundays sometimes giving mass to the inhabitation's of Wellington.

He had a phone in the church, he would go to it, dial the police about the said person. and... BOOM! Criminal was locked up for good, many ended up on the end of nooses. Father Jordan saw himself doing God's work, the less scumbags they're were roaming Wellington the better. Besides the police always paid him a good large sum for his efforts in helping them with their work. Father Jordan was a good man in Wellington with a squeaky clean image.

But amongst the prisoners of Wellington he was loathed, as a greedy, fat, traitorous, bible bashing son of a bitch. Yet this reputation never spread beyond prison bars.

Settling in his small chair and wondering what clients he would receive today, the usual foray of petty sinners. An actual other criminal to earn him another sum of cash, working on the farm gave him money. But not enough... Father Jordan had to stay ahead of the game, nothing was going to stop the rich and poor gap growing wider and wider, the poor were going to die. The rich were going to live and the middle aged priest had been building up his small fortune.

He already knew that he'd call the police on Gertrude next if he didn't get another criminal confession soon, the old woman had destroyed farm equipment. Numerous times, the said equipment could have helped produce food faster for those who were starving in Wellington. The population of Wellington had steadily been rising and when screws were first introduced it was about a screw to buy a loaf of bread, but that was a mistake.

Because everyone could buy food then and food went far too fast, the fields in Wellington simply didn't produce enough food to sustain it's growing population. They had completely dried the surrounding areas of food and supplies completely. Scouting runs had stopped due to this as they could no longer provide the scouting team with enough food or supplies to make the journey to a said destination or back.

So naturally food prices rose, as did many things. But with people breeding like rabbits and still getting newcomers from time to time... Wellington was self sustaining now, but what it produced simply wasn't enough for everyone. To Father Jordan, the situation was clear...

It was survival of the fittest.

Those willing to tread on others like he had done, those willing to manipulate and lie to gain money. To Father Jordan the people who deserved to survive were the one's who were willing to do anything and everything they could to gain money and food. They weren't rich snobs... they were simply the 12 per cent who worked harder than anyone else to win a battle of survivors. Weeding out the weak of mind and body... Father Jordan was a priest so he couldn't express these views but this was their reality now, the weak would have to die so the richer and stronger could survive.

So what if he had get an old woman sent to prison because she thought destroying farm equipment to save her skin was a good move?

You had to play the game smarter than that.

Father Jordan heard the someone stepping over the tiles of the dusty tiles in the church, he knew this route off by heart. Somebody inside of the empty church was approaching the confession box, he tensed as he readied himself to enquire about their problems. He heard the said person enter the other side of the confession box.

The silhouette on the other side of the dotted screen took a long drawn out breath, he had the stature of a very well built man.

"Have you come to confess your sins?" Father Jordan's question was met by a short silence from the silhouette on the other side of the screen. The man in question seemed to settle before Father Jordan saw the man's head turn towards him.

"Yes, Have you?" the man asked back.

Father Jordan was rather taken aback by the question, he coughed and decided to plough on questioning the man regardless.

"What have you come to confess brother?" he asked ignoring the man's blatant question directed at him.

The man seemed to shuffle slightly on the spot, Father Jordan could almost hear him smile, just something about how his posture changed suggested a new smugness about him. Finally the well built man spoke.

"I want to hear your confession first Father" the man said, his voice becoming just as smug as Father Jordan had imagined it to be.

"I have nothing to confess" Father Jordan lied, he was ashamed of the way he could hear his own annoyance become more and more laced with his tone. He coughed once again and wiped his brow, no matter what sort of silly game or prank this man was playing he wouldn't lose his cool at him.

"I see, nothing to confess" the man replied "Not even about Amelia Stool and how you hired three hit-men to kill her because she was carrying your baby?"

It wasn't just words that failed Father Jordan, in those moments it seemed his bladder also failed, in pure horror he felt his crotch go wet as he remained paralysed on the spot. How... he couldn't move... he couldn't speak... that was his greatest secret how the hell did this man know...?

"H-How...?" Father Jordan stammered in disbelief, finally finding his small squeak of a voice.

"Amelia told no one, you made sure of that" the man spoke on "You paid her enough to keep her quiet, but you always feared she eventually would confess to someone or that her boyfriend would inquire on the mixed race of the baby when it was born. So you had to eliminate her, to protect your own reputation" the man paused, his voice a deep mid-western grumble as he shuffled in his side of the box once again.

"W-w-who... are you?" Father Jordan quivered, his words mere squeaks.

"I'm not a relative of Amelia's" the man replied "if that's what your thinking"

"Then how the hell do you know!?" Father Jordan demanded, his voice rising considerably as a mixture of fear and anger bubbled away in the pit of the priest's stomach making hum churn out these words.

"Father, I know everything about everyone" the man responded "You don't need to know how I know all of this information, what you need to know..." he paused there dramatically before continuing "... is that they call me the Wellington Wolf..."

Father Jordan couldn't breathe, he would have doubted this immensely had the man not revealed all the secrets he swore that no one else knew. Whoever this man was, he was powerful, he had information, he was dangerous, something about his confession rang true to the disgraced priest.

The Wellington Wolf, was inches away from him.

"It's true what they say father" the wolf spoke on causally "I did kill all of those people and the same will happen to you if you don't comply with what I want" the wolf's words seemed to shake Father Jordan to the core. So rather than call out the Wolf on his horrendous crimes he could only gaze at the wolf's shadow and gulp in terror.

"What to do you want?" Father Jordan stuttered.

"I want the keys to the morgue" the wolf responded as clear and as crisp as day "and I don't want you too peer out of the box like you always do. You can try and identify me and call the police. Rest assured you will die, I have friends in high places father, how else do you think I know so much?"

He left a ringing silence in his wake, Father Jordan finally found his voice as he shakily responded "T-the k-keys to the morgue are behind the altar, take them and leave brother"

The wolf's shadow rose in the opposite box, he seemed to linger there for a minute, Father Jordan was too terrified to even inquire why on earth he wanted to get into the morgue for. Father Jordan didn't want too know and no doubt the wolf would deflect the question.

"Father" the wolf called "If you breathe a word of this too anyone and I mean anyone. You will die, understood?"

Father Jordan nodded vigorously, still rooted on the spot. His urine dampening his robes and planting him to the wood below him.

"I'm glad we have an understanding" the wolf announced "You're a smart man Father, you know how to play it smart. I know you won't tell a soul and in return for your co-operation I shall also help you by giving you a word of advice" Father Jordan's head piked up in interest, he wasn't expecting this news at all.

"Stay away from the wall" The wolf warned "If you want to live"

and with that cryptic warning, the wolf departed from the confession box.

"God save your soul brother" Father Jordan whispered.

"Oh no" The wolf responded from a spot just outside of the confession box, Father Jordan didn't even dare to look in his direction.

_"I am the saviour"_ the wolf announced.

Father Jordan only moved, five minutes after he heard the Wellington Wolf leave the church.

* * *

"Leave?" Edith seemed to stress the word as she coughed into her hand once again, she really was coming down with some sort of sickness lately.

"Yeah" Stephanie told her clearly, her voice rising above the chilly gales that seemed to leap and crash against the sides of the large wall of Wellington. Stephanie always dressed up warm for work but even now she shuddered because of the cold, then again it was worse last winter.

"Stef, I can't let you..." Edith paused there as she hacked her guts out into her glove, Stephanie was going to ask if she was okay, before the black haired woman regained her senses and stopped coughing and muttered "Fucking cold coming on, but yeah Stef I can't let you leave and why would you want to leave anyway? This seems like it's come out of nowhere" Edith told her, as Stephanie merely shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't feel like I'm actually doing anything" Stephanie explained "I feel like I could be more useful down there doing something useful".

"Like what?" Edith challenged.

"I don't know, a nurse, police, farmer, anything" Stephanie stressed "and we barely get any new arrivals these days, besides loads of the others on top of these walls are old who can't do the physical work down there. I... just don't feel like I belong here anymore" Stephanie's words were met with a brief silence before Edith coughed into her sleeve once again, recovering from this she glanced back up at the younger woman.

"If you're serious about this Stef, you know you might find it difficult to find a job again, how will you provide for yourself?" Edith said "It's a risk Stephanie, you need time to think about it, so get back to your post". Edith's order was met with a curt nod from the raven haired woman who so desperately wanted to be somewhere else.

Turning back, Stephanie was about to walk back to her post, until a very violent coughing fit from Edith drew her attention.

"Hey... are you okay?" Stephanie asked in worry.

"Fine... Fine..." Edith panted, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, her chest was heaving as she drew in ragged, heavy breaths. Stephanie's eyes widened when she saw dollops of blood on Edith's lime green coat sleeve and a trickle of blood that ran down her mouth, some was starting to leak from her nose as well.

"Jesus, you need to go home!" Stephanie shouted.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling too hot, We'll... we'll discuss this tomorrow Stef..." and with that Edith was gone, heading back towards the main observation deck on top of the wall around Wellington, a small flat building with four walls and a main window with a few desks scattered around inside, it was where many of the watchers on the wall would go at the end of the day to receive their meagre pay, their were ten of them, scattered around the wall in different areas, although many thought Wellington was in a perfect circle, but Stephanie knew it was more of an oval shape.

Wellington had developed since they first arrived, according to Edith, Stephanie learnt the population now nearly stood at 4,000 people compared to the 2,700 odd when they had arrived, the wall itself had been constructed to greater heights. Once the wall were an amass of planks standing at 10 foot high. Now it was a solid structure of corrugated iron and steel, bolted together, with narrow wooden walkways to get around at the top of the wall. There were three constructed stairways now down the 50 foot high wall which concealed Wellington from the horrors beyond.

50 feet high and peering through the binoculars assigned to her, Stephanie's job was simple. Keep lookout, her loudspeaker was ready just in case somebody living approached the wall. Peering down 50 feet on this clear sunny day, Stephanie saw a few distant walkers land with a distant SPLOSH into the moat. Which from this height was turning a dirty brown colour. It looked like the moat would need emptying again soon and Stephanie was glad that wasn't her job.

Yet thoughts of the outside world were cast aside, the rolling plains and trees behind Wellington made Stephanie sigh as (she agreed with Molly on this) that there was a strange sort of freedom she missed about the outside world. No one in Wellington left it's walls anymore, scavenging teams were stopped, the only people that left were the one's who emptied the moat or the trash for Wellington's landfill (Edith had gone out the walls this morning to greet and inspect the landfill workers who had returned from their daily dumping of rubbish) but other than these people, that's the best hope anyone had. Stepping a few feet outside of the walls.

The outside of the walls wasn't the worry, the walkers were now nothing but distant specks.

Turning to face the panorama of Wellington behind her Stephanie knew that's where the problem was and where she needed to be.

Wellington's skyline was like that of any small town, a few church spikes jostled upwards into the clear blue sky, the main town hall (or the centre Hub as it was also known) was easily visible even from this height. The town hall and a few other buildings such as the churches or old houses being originally here before Wellington itself became a haven for survivors. The many suburbs that stretched across the town and the dizzying road patterns below was what made up most of Wellington town now.

Stephanie thought about Nick as she gazed at the town, she wanted a new job to be closer to him. Or to find out if he was distancing himself from her, for whatever reason. Stephanie wanted to say she could trust Nick, but Wellington was full of gorgeous women... she let her paranoia die there. But all she knew is that she served no good on top of this wall, despite Edith's protests.

Speaking of Edith...

Stephanie wanted to erase the image of Edith almost stumbling back to the observation deck, blood leaking from her nose and mouth... she shuddered at the recent memory and maybe Stephanie was just imagining it, but... did her companion on the wall have paler skin than usual.

These troubling thoughts kept bubbling in Stephanie's mind, eventually she couldn't take it anymore, she had to check if Edith was alright. Stephanie wasn't really friends with Edith, she wasn't really friends with anyone on this wall. She was still something of a loner, but Edith was the closest her age here and almost everyone in Wellington knew and liked Edith, as she was one of the first people to escort people around Wellington and in the minds of many here she was the first friend they had. She was likeable enough and Stephanie liked the cool demeanour of Edith and didn't want to see her struggle to get down the stairs to Wellington Wall in her condition.

She approached the observation deck, not really caring that she was gone from her post.

She found a lanky old man, banging away at the door, bellowing "OPEN UP! HEY! I'M BURSTING FOR A PISS OUT HERE...!" Stephanie faintly recognised him as a man she helped escort into Wellington. But she hardly ever spoke to him, or even picked up his name, all she knew is that he worked on the wall and had a bad reputation amongst the others here. Judging by his potty mouth and racist behaviour on several occasions Stephanie could see why he attained such a reputation.

"Is no one answering?" Stephanie asked of him, as the old man span around on his heel to face her.

"What does it look like you dumb bitch?" the man snapped at her "Of course no one's fucking answering"

"Just asking" Stephanie snapped back, annoyed already by this man. Usually when people went for toilet breaks they'd come here to the main observation deck. But whoever was in the building would usually open the locked door first to allow people to come in and out as they pleased.

"Now... is the door open?" Stephanie wondered aloud, she brushed past the old guy and too her surprise it seemed Edith had left the door open, as it creaked open a few inches. Stephanie smiled in victory and turned to face the old man.

"How the fuck was I meant to know it was open?" he raged "It's always locked when I need it"

"Pity" was all Stephanie could say in sympathy towards the elderly man, with a feeling of foreboding growing in the pit of her stomach however she switched her attention from him and back towards Edith as she opened the door fully.

"Hey Edith!?" Stephanie called "Everything all right in he..."

She never finished her sentence because it was then Edith came charging out at her, knocking Stephanie to the ground, Edith's yapping teeth missed Stephanie's neck by centimetres. Using her arms to hold Edith up, Stephanie saw (with a gas of horror) that it wasn't Edith anymore.

Edith had turned.

Struggling against walker Edith, Stephanie could only focus her attention on not letting the walker woman chew her neck off, as she started to sweat at the effort exerted at keeping Edith at bay... she seemed so strong...

SPLAT!

Edith's grip slackened as bits of brain and skull bounced of Stephanie's coat, with a disgusted grunt she threw Edith's limp corpse off her own form and panted heavily to herself. She saw the old man above her, had impaled Edith's skull with one of the chair legs, he must have run in and got it while Stephanie tried to fend the walker that was once Edith...

Everything... all that happened it had happened too damn fast. The only thing Stephanie could process was that this old asshole had saved her life.

"Thanks" she panted.

The old man merely grunted, before he grumbled "Fucking freak, nearly gave me a heart attack" he paused there before continuing "To think If I opened that door, it would have gotten me. Whose stupid now?" he taunted Stephanie with.

"Piss off" she snapped, in light of everything that had just happened the last thing she needed was some old man gloating about saving her life and acting as if he was high and mighty. The man (too her relief) stayed quiet as he pulled the chair leg from out of Edith's skull, as her blood seeped through the gaps in the wooden walkway. It was then that every emotion seemed to hit Stephanie, but she just blurted out the most burning question on her tongue.

"How?" she gasped.

"Hmm" The old man grumbled.

"How, how did she turn?" Stephanie asked in horror "She... she wasn't bitten".


	6. Set Up

**A/N: Thanks for waiting everyone, been busy this week getting my claws into other episodic games by Telltale, as I'm now loving Telltale's Game of Thrones (go Forresters!) and although this game isn't by Telltale it's become one of new favourites and it's up there with the walking dead season 1 for me, which is the game Life Is Strange if you guys have heard of it (episode 3 just came out and I'm addicted after playing through 3 episodes) in short if anyone now wants to chat to me about these games then feel free (I feel like go on for hours) but yeah I might even write a fanfic for them for them in the future (if I don't lose motivation) but all in all back to walking dead business and answering your reviews!**

**Chameishida- I understand, I just finished my final exams here at Uni, I'm not sure if they're the same as finals but I know that work can be a pain and keep you busy at times, anyone thanks for reviewing once again! I appericate all of your reviews and I hope this next chapter entertains.**

**Catwoman286- A new reviewer! Hello there and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and your theories on the Wellington Wolf, also do I smell a fellow Attack on Titan fan in my midst? But yeah, the wall in Wellington is quite similar to the one AoT, just without you know what inside of it. **

** Kristal Dynamite- Yep, fellow brit it will be then, (I love the title of fanfiction king, it boosts my ego, in a good way) and I'm glad you're sort of neutral about Scott now. Originally that scene wasn't planned at all, as the gym thing was written in Clem's perspective with a few descriptions of Scott glaring at her at the benches, when I suddenly thought it would be interesting to see what he was actually thinking and I just started typing and well, I was surprised on how it turned out but I know I like it! and as for the Wellington Wolf, yep the infamous name is well known in Wellington and I imagine the Wellington Wolf is demonized by many and that's why there's so much fear surrounding his name. As for Oscar, yep that was Stacy who attacked him and his plot shall go somewhere... and I'm glad you're liking Stef more and more. She's a challenge to write at times as I wasn't given that much source material on the game with her, so in a way I was writing an OC character with her. A pretty face but she is very flawed which makes her all the more interesting and complex to write. That was a long response but thanks for reviewing!**

**ffapathy- Glad you pointed out both Lizzie and Scott's development, they may seem like stereotypes, but they aren't which makes them fun to write about. Luis and Clem's relationship... I know a lot of things are fun to write about but their exchanges are simply a blast to type down. As their bickering can turn from sort of playful to serious very suddenly and their relationship will be explored further as the story goes on. In terms of being a slow burning relationship... maybe, maybe not. Although bear in mind Clem is 14 and Luis is 18 and Clementine probably has too much sass for Luis to deal with and I can't see Clem in a relationship (half the reviewers would probably bite my head off too If I went down that road, I already tortured Sarah enough) however speaking of characters, Father Jordan... I'm glad you find him intriguing as that's what I was going for. His not a good man, but his not the spawn of satan, and as for that final question, you'll learn more this chapter.**

**Maximo- Glad to see you back, my new trio, or shall I now say Loyal trio has been returned to me! Nice to see you're enjoying the story.**

**AquaDestiny's Embrace- I also hated the bleep test (but I was one of the last people still running for it, that made me proud of myself) in terms of last chapter I'm glad you liked it and Scott and Lizzie were great OC's to develop.**

**and thanks to everyone else for stopping by to leave a review!**

* * *

"And that's what happened?"

Stephanie and Wilbert faced each other, the forensic's question was laced with doubt and distrust and judging by the way his azure eyes would narrow when he gazed at the pair of them. Clearly he did not believe what Stephanie was stressing was a true story.

"Yes boy" Wilbert snapped "How many times do with have to repeat it?"

Clearly offended with the term "Boy" from behind his satin white face mask, the forensic opened his mouth to reply.

"Mr. Jefferson" he began in a crisp business like tone "you were involved in an incident in your home yesterday..."

"Wait!" Stephanie interjected suddenly "That was your house?" she inquired, turning to face Wilbert who only seemed to glare back at the younger woman. An ominous breeze blew by in the silence that followed Stephanie's question, ruffling the hairs of Wilbert and Stephanie and the many forensics and police officers surrounding the observation deck. Looking over the forensics white draped shoulder, the young woman could see the dreaded stretcher that was carried out of the deck by some sombre looking officers.

Edith's outline was clearly visible from under the thin white blankets that were made to cover her form. Amongst the many police officers at the scene Stephanie's eyes connected with Nick's strong cobalt coloured one's. He was leant against the wall of the observation deck chewing away on his thumb (a common nervous tick he had) a small frown was etched on his face as he eyes swept over the outline of Edith's body. He looked back at his girlfriend with a look of grief and anxiety, which Stephanie was sure reflected on her own face.

"Yes" the forensic replied, tearing her gaze away from Nick, the one word uttered by the coldly spoken forensic made Stephanie hone back in on the current conversation she was having.

"Yes that was his house Miss Clarke" the forensic explained coolly "and seeing how their have now been two attacks in a short space of time, both of which revolve around Mr. Jefferson you see why this comes off as suspicious..."

"Trouble always fucking finds me!" Wilbert shouted rudely over the forensic "Ain't my fault the dead seem pissing drawn to me...!"

"and yet" the forensic coolly cut in "you stood for 15 minutes outside of an open door with a walker behind it?"

Wilbert merely shrugged at the question "It's always closed" he snapped in his defence "I didn't know the bitch had turned, I mean she wasn't bitten and them dead things can't fly"

The forensic seemed to assess his words, before he sighed.

"You said Missus Clarke" he muttered turning to face Stephanie "That Miss Edith Brown suffered from blood loss from the nose and mouth when you last her?"

"Yes" Stephanie confirmed.

"and this was fifteen minutes before you found her?"

"Yes" Stephanie echoed.

"and you also said, she was planning on going back home because she didn't feel well"

"Yes" Stephanie felt like an automated machine with her repetitive response.

"You went to check on her out of concern and then you found her in the state?"

"Yes" was all Stephanie needed to say.

"Well then..." the forensic began, before he found a meaty hand slapped between his shoulder blades. Wincing ever so slightly, the forensic turned to face where the chief of police, the red-headed wonder Trevor Moore himself stepped onto the scene with Nick tailing in his shorter shadow.

"This is my job son" Trevor boomed to the forensic, who merely bowed his head.

"Sorry sir" he squeaked "Just a bit curious that's all"

Trevor sighed, his green eyes scanning the area around them. The wooden walkway slowly decaying because of the lashing of rain it had received over the past year, the setting sun in the sky that gave the whole of Wellington a bright orange aura and the few wispy clouds that dared venture in the pale orange sky. The tallest buildings of Wellington below them cast stark and long shadows of the rest of the town. Their breath came out in fog as it had gotten colder and the winds started to pick up as it had become later into the evening. Rubbing his pale fingers together to try and generate some warmth Trevor finished inspecting the surrounding area and came up with a conclusion to his analysis.

"Walkers can't get up here" was all he uttered, causing the surrounding 4 people around him to raise their heads in mild interest.

"We inspected the body" the forensic said "and we didn't find any trace of a bite mark, the most likely outcome is that Miss Brown suffered a brain aneurysm and turned while in the observation deck. However until an autopsy is carried out we cannot come to any instant conclusions".

"Well get to work on that lad" Trevor told him, patting the curious forensic between the shoulder blades once again. The forensic departed without another word. Trevor sighed and gazed over Wellington town once again. It was so peaceful seeing it all from up here but seeing it all... it hit him. The enormity of all the people he was trying to protect. They weren't safe in that frying pan of a town and they weren't even safe up here on the wall, what could he do? He sighed once again and rubbed an aching spot on his forehead.

"You alright sir?" Nick felt inclined to ask, seeing the stressed out look on his boss' face.

"Fine" Trevor replied in what Nick liked to call Luke style (which meant he wasn't fine), "It's just" Trevor began once again, his voice quivering as he spoke "Edith, she... she was the first person me, Violet and Stacy saw when we arrived here nearly three years ago" he exhaled for a long time as Wilbert, Stephanie and Nick gazed curiously at him, awaiting for the powerful man to speak once again.

"A lotta people knew Edith, a lotta people liked her" Trevor mumbled, his voice diminished, however his eyes hardened before he spoke up once again "Rest assured whoever was responsible for this, whoever is responsible for all of this... this shit! Going down here, we are going to bring them to justice" his words had a more powerful impact as he openly glared at the town below him. Knowing in that haystack, the needle that was the wolf needed to be found and in a way he was becoming more like his sister, whoever this wolf was they needed stopping.

No matter what he had to do to get information, he would do it.

"Duran take your girl home" Trevor instructed of Nick, Nick couldn't find a single word to say to his boss. So Stephanie shyly walked over to Nick's lanky form and the two departed from the scene of the crime.

"You too Jefferson" Trevor told Wilbert.

The grumpy old man merely huffed at Trevor, clearly not feeling sentimental at all about Edith's death or the chief of police giving a powerful and emotional speech in front of him. All Wilbert could do was grumble about how he "Had been held up" before he departed. Trevor shot burning daggers into the back of Wilbert's head.

Knowing full well, that old bastard and his group knew something that he didn't.

* * *

"CLASS BE QUIET!"

It was a helpless request of course, Miss King could puff out her chest and roar these words at her out of control class, yet no one halted in their activities. Half of the class (Scott's cronies) had snapped out of the stupor that they had suffered on the first day and were now busy pranking each other. Telling crude jokes far too loud, throwing paper balls at quieter members of the class who looked like they wanted to evaporate on the spot and in general, not doing work.

Scott was leant back in his chair, grinning like a Cheshire cat and holding his arm brace like some sort of trophy, as Lizzie and a cluster of other girls that crowded around his desk, giggled at his stories or whatever the hell he was saying. Some of the more dizty minded girls already tugging on his blue t-shirt, trying to close the gap between them and the "cool kid" or "the hot guy" Scott's white toothed smile was directed towards the puny form of Clementine, she looked up once and gave him the middle finger before returning to her work, she had ignored him since.

However, Scott soon discovered that taunting Luis was a lot easier.

He flashed his injures, the girls by his side, the goading smile was like a bullet to the head to an already fuming Luis, who sat smouldering in seat.

"Two weeks!?" Luis remembered gawking at Miss King in mild disbelief, just after they returned to class after lunch.

"Yes Luis, two weeks. The Headmaster just informed me of John's punishment" she told him in a rather patronizing manner, pretending to look busy flicking through empty papers on her desk, in other words she wanted this conversation over and didn't want much trouble from Luis.

"But..." Luis gasped like a wounded fish.

"If you want to challenge his punishment" Miss King said "Then you'll need to talk to the headmaster as he was the one who issued the suspension" feeling proud of herself from managing to cut through one student and speaking formally, Miss King puffed her chest up pompously and prided herself on doing a good job (even if the sensation only did last a few seconds) however her ego was bolstered as a sunken Luis trudged off back towards his desk, he was too angry to muster another complaint to Miss King and he knew it would get him nowhere.

"Two fucking weeks" Brandon hissed, the second Luis slumped back on his chair. No doubt the black haired boy had already overheard what Miss King had said.

"After everything" Terri interjected "After he tells us all to keep our heads low and he goes and does this..." she stressed her point, shaking her curly blonde locks as she did so.

"When we get back" Brandon began, leaning his head in, closer to Luis and Terri's as he began to whisper something "We ignore all this JJ stuff, he doesn't need it, he probably just got angry. What's important is that we find out about Oscar..."

He was stopped there mid-sentence as he felt something bounce of his black hairs, with an irritated sigh he reached down on the floor to pick up (what he knew) was a small paper ball thrown in his direction. He uncurled the dirtied lined paper as he gazed upon the crudely drawn illustration there. It was a picture of him (he was noticeable because of his spiky black hairs) and Terri (noticeable with her curls) Terri's and his genitals had been crudely sketched and enlarged in detail, although these stick figure people weren't that detailed, Brandon knew what they were getting at.

The words "SiStErFuCkEr!" were scribbled above the crude drawing.

Brandon's heart missed a beat, how did they know? How did they know about...? He paused for a minute and allowed himself to calm down, they can't have known it was just a crude joke, a malicious crude joke by a bunch of assholes, but still their guesswork was not something he was in the mood in for now.

"Assholes" he snarled, flinging the paper ball back towards the huddle of laughing boys a few desks away.

"What did they write?" Luis inquired, shooting the group a very dirty look indeed.

"Nothing, just ignore those assholes" Brandon snapped "We get to go home in an hour, let's focus on Oscar. Fucking thing has been bothering me all day, don't need this shit on top of that..." Brandon trailed to angry halt as he pretended to bend over his work and write the answers down for more basic equations. The group of boys threw the ball back at Brandon but he didn't dare pick it up.

Now the class was fully out of control, Brandon and Terri soon had no problem blocking out all of the abuse thrown their way, but Luis... Luis was already troubled by the whole Oscar fiasco and having Immune survivor amongst them. Added to the incident with JJ this morning and now he had this crap on to of that... his single hand was shaking on the desk. If that fucking ass hat Scott flashed him another cocky smile, he'd go over there and pummel that bastard until he barely had any teeth left to smile with...

SNAP!

Clementine whipped around in her seat at the snapping sound.

"You've snapped your pencil in half" she observed, from where Luis was red in rage he had been clutching his pencil so tightly he had broken it.

"Do I look like I give a fuck?" Luis snarled back at her, not in the mood for smart-ass comments from the younger girl right now, Clementine merely rolled her yellow eyes at the enraged boy "You have to stop reacting to everything" she told him calmly, his stubbornness and habit to get kick-started about the tiniest little things certainly rubbed off on her the wrong way.

"What?" he taunted "You want me to stop reacting to oxygen, so I can't breathe and I'll die?" he seemed to be challenging her, as Clementine felt her own face flush red at his smart-ass comment. and he was usually the one calling her the smart-ass.

"You know that's not what I mean" she snapped.

"Then what do you mean?" he questioned, narrowing his singular black eye in a familiar annoyance at Clementine "Surely a stupid cripple like me, doesn't understand such complex things..." he raged, frustrated at himself almost as much as he was with everyone else.

"You're such a drama queen" Clementine huffed "This is high-school of course their are going to bullies like Scott and Lizzie, but it isn't a warzone, you put everyone on edge Luis" she told him matter of factly.

"Since when?" he found himself challenging her once again.

"Since we started" she replied as if it were obvious, straightening her back and lifting her head in pride because she had belief behind the words she was saying, "Can't you just calm down for once?" she stressed "Not everyone here is out to kill you"

"If you knew what I've been through..." Luis began, his tone rising with each syllable he uttered in growing rage.

"So?" Clementine shot him down with "Me and Sarah have been through loads as well, don't act like an asshole, you're not the only one whose lost people...or limbs" she finished, distantly recalling the heated exchange she had with Kenny in a distant pre-life soon after Sarita died. Adding her extra detail of limbs, because Luis was missing an arm and an eye, Sarah was also missing an arm and at least two or three others in this class were missing limbs as well as Luis.

"After yesterday" he began in a serious tone "I'm not paying attention to your lower-your-guard lectures, not with all the shit that's going down in Wellington..."

RING!

The bell rang signalling the end of the day, with a sigh of relief both Clementine and Luis rising up in their seats as fast as they possibly could, neither of them offering another word to each other. Luis had stressed his point and she had stressed her point. Clementine didn't want him to lower his guard completely but... she knew she was right and in a strange way she was intrigued to know what on earth had made Luis into such a wired up asshole. Was it the arm or the eye? Or maybe... maybe it wasn't the loss of limb. Being bitten by a walker and having a limb amputated didn't make you into some sort of militant type of guy who always seemed on edge because of other people.

Whereas Luis was trying to erase yet another Clementine lecture out of his head, he didn't need her bullshit advice. Yet for some reason he was still intrigued by her, he could see it the first time he looked at her at that public execution, he could see that she was a fighter. That she understood fully the gravity of the situation they were in, unlike so many other kids in the class or across the school. So if she was actually this smart and level headed,so why on earth was she preaching the anti-survivalism bible to him.

Luis swept out of the classroom first, speeding ahead of Terri and Brandon who went to follow his burly form, before Scott stepped in front of Brandon.

"Hey, did you like the drawing?" he asked in feigned innocence, as his gang laughed rowdily at his question and for some reason Brandon's glare of death seemed to amuse them ever further.

"Move" he ordered of the grinning bully in front of him.

"Or what?" Scott challenged, after his earlier achievement of climbing in the gym today, his ego had bolstered now he knew he had his gang behind him and with Luis currently gone from the classroom. He felt like he had to target the next threat to his alpha male position that being the winner of the bleep test, Brandon. Deep down, Scott guessed he would respect Brandon much more than any of his so called "friends" laughing around him. But right now it was almost as if Scott was testing Brandon to see if he was just as capable as the rest of his group and to see if his capability went beyond that of a fitness test.

"You know" Terri told him, sharply cutting into the conversation as Scott turned to her, rather surprised that she had spoken up "You are going to do a lot of things you regret if you carry on like this" she told him clearly.

"You can speak?" Lizzie screeched like a harpy, after she sensed Scott had taken too long to reply to her words. Lizzie could have counted down in her head when the gang around her would start laughing at her comment and sure enough, on cue the sound of malicious laughter crashed into her eardrums. Lizzie liked almost being in control of them, it made her feel powerful.

Terri didn't reply to Lizzie, but merely shot the other blonde girl a look of distaste so strong... it actually sent shivers up Lizzie's spine. The cocky girl didn't admit this of course, something about those siblings freaked her out, Terri in particular. Not only were they fitter than everyone else in the class but they seemed mentally stronger, to a point where Lizzie didn't want encounter any member of the Roger's family in a dark alleyway at night. But gulping down her fear she continued to glare back at Terri, as Brandon faced Scott once again.

"You better move" he began in a threatening tone "Or else I'll give you another cast to match your current one"

"You'll get suspended" Scott shouted for all to hear, as he swung his cast with confidence "Just like your freak of a friend..."

"You really like getting your ass kicked, don't you?" Brandon seemed to say, his anger seemingly diminishing as he smiled back at Scott. The sort of smile that concealed a rapidly developing rage and Lizzie knew this was probably the final stage before Brandon was likely to beat the living crap out of you. She mentally begged Scott to move out of the burly boy's way, despite his gang goading Scott on from behind him.

"You're in the wrong crowd" Scott finally snapped, as he finally cleared the way for Terri and Brandon (and half the class queueing behind them) so they could pass through the doorway and after Luis. Brandon and Terri didn't say another word as Scott went to return talking to his gang, who seemed disappointed that he had backed down from a fight with Brandon.

"Well then you guys beat the shit out of him" he told them, trying to keep his voice causal "You haven't all got broken arms"

This seemed to shut them up, for now at least.

Sarah and Clementine who had been held up by the commotion, finally squeezed out of the main doorway, Clementine shooting a glance at a hapless Miss King, who had simply stood there during the altercation between Scott and Brandon, the 14 year old wondered when her British teacher would grow a backbone already and learn to deal with the class she could see was going to be annoyance. It was only Day 2, she didn't want this going on until Day 200.

Sarah silently walked beside Clementine, the Hispanic girl had muttered even less than Terri since news that JJ had been suspended, spread through the school like wildfire. Sarah heard her name being whispered in hallways and saw people pointing at her, knowing full well JJ had stood up for her during the confrontation. She liked making friends, but... she didn't like this attention. She didn't like listening to Clementine and Luis argue, or the taunts from Scott and his gang...

She was glad to breathe fresh air as she exited the front entrance of Wellington High, and there was another surprise awaiting her.

"Hey Clem, look!" she jabbed her finger towards the road in front of the school.

Clementine looked up and during this somewhat frustrating day she couldn't have been more glad to see Luke's car parked on the side-walk. Beaming from ear to ear the two girls ran towards the car, "I thought he said he was busy on the fields tonight?" Clementine asked of Sarah, as they sprinted towards the car.

"So did I" Sarah responded, just as clueless as her best friend.

They reached the car, where Luke was awaiting in the front seat, he opened the door as Clementine reached the car first she managed to get to the front seat. Whereas Sarah got the back seat, entering the car, Clementine muttered a quick "Hi" to Luke and also noticed the bony old form of Gertrude on the back seat as she said "Oh hey, Gertrude" the old woman and their friendly neighbour waved back at Clementine and Sarah as they pushed themselves into Luke's small car. Luke himself didn't ask instantly how their day was, which reminded Clementine of the mood Rebecca was in the other day.

"I thought you were working late tonight?" Clementine asked of Luke, already the 14 year old could sense something was off.

He gulped, as if he was swallowing a stone in his throat and clutched the black steering wheel in front of him harder than he would do usually. The skin on his knuckles was turning white, as his brown eyes finally rolled towards Clementine.

"We were meant too... but we got to leave early" Luke muttered after a few seconds of silence, he finally seemed to inhale as Gertrude gazed at him with sympathetic eyes, knowing he had to be the one to break this news to the girls.

"Girls, Edith... Edith's dead".

This blunt statement made Clementine's stomach turn to lead, as sudden images of the brunette woman flashed through her mind. The first friendly face she had seen at Wellington nearly 2 years ago, a face that almost everyone was familiar with as she would offer Clementine the occasional "Hi" or "How are you doing?" in which Clementine was more than happy to speak to her. Edith was a people's person after all, probably the best on the wall, the best possible person who made newcomers feel welcome. (No offence to Stephanie, but the raven haired woman wasn't a people's person like Edith and her social skills paled in comparison to Edith's when it came to Wellington introductions).

"N-no..." Sarah mumbled in denial, she had already had a bad enough day as it was, she didn't need this news, not now.

"I thought you girls had to know" Luke mumbled mournfully "It was gettin' around Wellington real fast" this information was processed by the two girls, but Clementine still had to croak "How?"

"It happened on the wall" Luke began "Stef said she looked sick, she went to check on Edith. Found her in the deck already turned into a lurker, she attacked Stef. But some old guy saved Stef's life" he paused there before continuing "No murder weapon was found, she wasn't killed by that damn wolf. No one knows how she turned, she just did. She wasn't bitten, she wasn't murdered..." he ran his hands through his hair at this point, a signal that he was stressed. As he too, got on well with Edith.

"A-are you sure, she wasn't murdered?" Clementine asked.

"P-pretty damn sure Clem" Luke responded "N-nick was telling me earlier. The police force have been trying to spread the news, she died by unknown causes. It stops people from panicking if they know the truth..." he paused there and wiped his brow.

"Terrible business" Gertrude muttered from behind him, she sometimes hitched a ride in Luke's car when she wanted to get back to her house, which was directly opposite of there's.

"How is Stef?" Sarah asked in genuine concern for her friend.

"She's erm..." Luke seemed to fumble for words, before a small smile played on his face "She's doing alright, shook up an all, but she's doing real well considering what's she been through" this was met by several silent nods of acceptance from the other three residing in the car.

"First Eddie and now Stephanie..." Clementine mumbled as the car geared to life.

"That wall is getting damn dangerous" was Gertrude's verdict, one everyone in Wellington right now could probably agree with.

* * *

"...did you hear about Edith?"

"Yeah" Miss King mumbled sadly, clutching the cup of coffee in front of her and trying to warm her hands, she looked down at her own reflection in the light brown liquid, as sitting next to her on smooth wooden kitchen table, her friend Violet seemed in a sombre mood.

"She was so young" Violet went onto say, as she took a sip of her own cup of strong coffee before gulping the warm liquid down her throat and continuing to speak "So full of life as well, she could kill a cow with her charisma, and what a way a horrible way to go, on top of that wall..." she shuddered to herself, having strong vertigo she couldn't imagine being on top of the wall, let alone dying on top of it.

"and she was all alone" Miss King mumbled, taking a sip of her own coffee, as the rays of the sunset through the window, caused piles of swirling dust to build up on the wooden surface of the table. The empty house creaked around the two women as Miss King gazed out of the window. With a pronounced sigh she tried venturing back onto lighter topics as she asked her friend, "So... how was work?"

"Oooh" Violet muttered, her legs bobbing up and down on the spot, as a smile spread across her face "The kids were lovely as per always" she mused, before she rolled her bright green eyes and continued speaking "and I think I got chatted up by a guy today"

Now Miss King could smile, as she felt like a giddy schoolgirl once again on the topic of boys, "You think?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow as Violet's eyes went large, and Miss King could tell she was starting to daydream "Well, regardless of whether he was or wasn't" she mused "I thought he was sweet, he was different from the other stuffy parents, he seemed really laid back".

"and does the laid back guy have a name?" Miss King asked.

"Eddie I think" Violet uttered, before she took sip of her coffee, "ever heard of an Eddie before?" she asked of her British friend.

"No, sorry love" Miss King replied, taking another sip of coffee herself.

"So..." Violet paused, before the young redhead decided to ask her friend "Any gym teacher at Wellington High meet your fancy?"

"Violet!" Miss King laughed, when she managed to calm herself down, the British woman managed to respond "No, I'm honestly just focusing on surviving the year, without my class ripping me apart, they are a nightmare Violet..." she stressed, as she locked her brown eyes on Violet's leaf green one's.

"I, I really don't think I'm cut out for teaching" she uttered sadly.

"Don't say that Cristina!" Violet shouted, hating to see her friend give up so easily "It's only been two days, it can't be that bad" she tried to inform her friend, who merely shook her head.

"Yes, but you have it easy with the little one's" she mumbled, before she sighed and ploughed on "Dealing with teenagers is hell, If only I had more training..." she sighed and gazed into the orange sky above Wellington. Remembering how she had come to the US, as she had relatives here and she would be attending University of Michigan on a teaching course, she was in her third year of studies when everything went to hell, and hence her dreams of a teaching career were dashed. Luckily she was one of the first to find Wellington and as such hadn't barely experienced any of the horrors the apocalypse had to offer.

"You've been waiting years to start teaching again" Violet's voice brought Cristina King back down to earth, as she gazed at the friend she had made in Wellington. Both had a love for teaching, both were somewhat shielded from the horrors of the apocalypse. Mainly because Violet was cared for greatly by her two tougher siblings who guided their triplet sister through the apocalypse without experiencing too much trauma.

"I know" Miss King replied to Violet, "But..."

Just as she said that, the front door opened and the front doors to the house opened and Trevor and Stacy came striding into the kitchen.

"Violet, Cristina" Trevor greeted them formally, as Violet muttered a cheery "Hi" back at both her siblings. Suddenly feeling like an outsider, Miss King took once last gulp of her cup of coffee "Well, I'll get going now" she announced "Thanks for the coffee Violet"

"Oh any time" Violet responded politely, as she waved at Miss King who picked up her belongings and proceeded out of the front door. When it slammed shut, Violet turned to face her siblings, both of which had collapsed into wooden seats around the table, looking exhausted.

"Busy day?" Violet asked of them, Trevor's nod confirmed the obvious answer.

"With Edith and all..." Stacy panted "and that attack on the house that still needs covering..." she wiped her hairs as she pushed her black face mask further into her pocket. The vials of blood she had retrieved from Oscar also lay safely in her zipped up trouser pockets, it had been an exhausting day after all.

"First Ryan, then Edith..." Violet counted off on her hands, seeing the anxious look on her face, Trevor placed a comforting big brother by 2 minutes hand on Violet's shoulder.

"It's not going to happen to anyone else" he told her comfortingly, as she smiled back at him. Stacy meanwhile shot a jealous glare at Trevor across the table. She always felt like the outsider even when they were growing up. Trevor and Violet would have much a closer bond than she had with any of them and it made her feel left out and worthless. Gritting her teeth together she let her childish jealous die in her throat as she stood up and proceeded to turn on the oven.

"Well" she announced "I'm going to cook myself something, before heading out again"

This caught Violet's attention as she turned towards her Journalistic minded sister and openly asked "You're heading out tonight?" in which Stacy nodded.

"Where too?" Trevor asked, just as innocently but looking into her brother's eyes, a mental note passed between the pair of them that Violet didn't pick up on. Trevor knew Violet was off doing something possibly dangerous to find out the identity of the wolf and he wanted answers from her as soon as possible.

"Out to talk with an eyewitness" Stacy quickly improvised "One of the officers at the scene of Edith's death" she gulped there before continuing, how had that bastard wolf done it again? Despite what the police were saying Stacy was adamant this was a cover up of some sorts. Her brother knew information she didn't and she knew things that he didn't.

"I'll be back late" she informed her siblings "But I'll discuss whatever the officer says Trevor, just in case there was something you missed out" she was staring directly at her brother now.

"Yeah sure" he grumbled disinterested, well that's how it sounded to Violet.

Between them, they were finally going to exchange information and try to piece together who this wolf really was and what he really wanted.

* * *

JJ had enough of it.

He had sulked and fled to the kitchen after being practically screamed at by all of the group for his rash actions today. The only one ever to come to his defence was his grandfather, after hearing about his grandson breaking Scott's arm, his reaction was simply "Well good on ya lad" he grumbled "It will teach the little shit not to mess with you again"

"That's not the point!" Tom tried to yell over to the elderly man. But Wilbert may as well have been deaf, because Wilbert didn't even glance in his direction.

"Wilbert" Maria muttered in a softer voice, to try and soothe the elderly man before he would fly off the handle again "After what happened to you today, shouldn't you take it easy?"

"Easy?" Wilbert questioned, almost guffawing at the suggestion, as glanced around at his enraged group "I fucking saved that bitch's life? The one up at the wall... one who led us here... what's her face...?"

"Stephanie" Luis responded, to him this was certainly news. It always seemed as if his group and Clementine's were caught up in these walker attacks.

"Yeah her" Wilbert grunted "I saved her from Edith, I was the one who had to impale her head and all..."

"Regardless" Ana cut through darkly, shooting daggers at Wilbert and JJ "It seems as if the Jefferson family, want us to be more infamous than we already are"

"THAT ISN'T OUR FAULT...!" Wilbert roared, as Maria sighed in defeat and shot Ana a glare, as if to say "Well done, now you've set him off" in which Ana looked as if she couldn't give two shits about as she continued to inspect the rings on her fingers. Something about hearing Wilbert get angry soothed her soul.

In the commotion, this is when JJ fled to the kitchen. His head fit to burst because of all the telling off he had received. and if the group didn't have enough to deal with beforehand, it got worse. Because JJ, Luis, Brandon and Terri learnt that (because he had been suspended) Oscar and the others had come to pick him up. Leading to Oscar being attacked by a mystery assailant who had stolen some of his blood. Currently his arm was in a bandage, as he looked at the floor due to the commotion. Scribbling a long note of explanation to the group, as when the argument would die down. (When it eventually would) they would ask for this note and it was his only way to explain everything he knew about his condition so far.

But for now JJ had simply had enough, he had simply tried to protect a friend... and now he had this much shit placed on his shoulders?

"I can deal with this" TT muttered under his breath, his fingers inching towards a large kitchen knife, that lay on the counter.

"No, no, no..." JJ mumbled, but his fingers grabbed the hilt of the knife regardless yet he didn't move the knife an inch. TT smiled to himself and store (with large eyes) at the blank wall ahead of him.

"It feels good doesn't it?" he asked of the wall, as he gripped the knife tighter in his hands.

"Imagine what you could do" he babbled at nothing "Imagine what you could change"

The voices of the argument were now dim, his head felt light as he used TT as a way to escape all of the stress. But TT seemed to alert of him of a presence in the kitchen, as TT heard two faint footsteps step onto the tiled floor, he whipped around and when he saw Terri staring neutrally at him he reverted back to the stressed out JJ.

"Hey Terri" He mumbled at the blonde girl.

Terri didn't reply for a while, he hated that she just stood there analysing him, before he was about to blurt out what the hell she wanted, she seemed to answer for him.

"JJ, you need to behave" she uttered quietly.

"I don't need another lecture" he snapped harshly at her, she didn't even flinch at his response. The teenage girl looked as if she was fully expecting this insult to come rolling her way.

"No, you don't" she agreed to JJ's surprise, she took a step forward however. Her brown eyes reflecting no warmth, JJ felt himself gulping in some sort of fear.

"You need a threat" Terri announced clearly, she quickly looked back towards the living room to ensure no one was listening in, when she was adamant they weren't, she took another step closer to JJ, as the blonde boy glared back at her, he didn't say a word. He towered over her small form, yet in those moments she seemed to tower of him.

"If you act out of line again" she began "Then I'll have to let Wilbert and the group know that you poisoned him".

JJ went as cold as ice, he was certain Terri had forgotten about that incident, he mentally cursed himself and tried to babble out anything in his defence.

"The group don't care no more" JJ spat at the unflinching curly haired girl "Granddaddy don't care..."

"Oh, I'm sure he does" Terri informed him, cutting through his words of defence, as if they melting butter "You know it, I know it. If I were to bring up that topic of conversation once again he would be interested to know who it was..." she smiled to herself then before continuing "Your granddad is the only one backing you up, here. You don't want to lose the support of the last member of your family"

JJ pondered on these words for a short while, before he tried a new angle,

"No one would believe it anyway"

Terri rolled her eyes at JJ, when would this kid learn?

"Maybe they won't" she responded "But that's not a risk you're willing to take, is it?" she inquired of him, before she looked down at JJ's hand "So, you want to drop the knife now and promise to keep in line? With have enough trouble as it is" JJ wasn't aware of himself responding but he was dimly aware of his fingers uncurling around the hilt of the knife. He took a simple step forwards and back towards the frying pan of the living room, neither he or Terri exchanged another word but Terri could tell the blonde teenager was annoyed with her.

She waited until JJ was gone, before she swept up the large kitchen knife and placed it in her trouser pocket.

She was doing it for both her and JJ's safety.

* * *

The group gathered around, the argument had finally drawn to a close and now, all eyes were on Oscar. All he had to do was hand out the note, as every set of eyes digested the information scribbled onto the piece of paper.

_I was surviving, just like everyone else when this shit started, but my group got caught by some mad doctors._

_They took us all back to some asylum, locked us up and treated us like prisoners, believe when I say (or write) that we tried several times to escape but every time we were unsuccessful and every time some doctor would come up the hallway and start experimenting on us, some would come back with no legs, no arms, or missing internal organs._

_Eventually these people would simply die and their bodies were burned. We were trapped in straight jackets and trapped in the same rooms all day and night... however some people who went into the main operational room never came back. We all assumed these people died and the doctors refused to tell us anything about them, every month about three more of us would be lead into the dark side of the asylum where they experimented on us, either until we were dead or we simply vanished. _

_My time eventually came, first they took blood from my body. But rather than chop me up like they did with most of the others, they started going nuts. Saying they'd "found another one" I was led off to another room, where I was kept with all the people who we all thought were previously dead. Turned out we were the Immune one's they were 7 at us at maximum._

_From what I overheard, these doctors were actually Government workers, trying desperately to find a cure. Even if it meant slaughtering people to try and find people who were immune like me. Those that weren't Immune, they simply chopped them up to experiment on the walker virus' effects on different organs of the body. Those Immune to the virus have special blood cells that can fight the virus and overcome it. I didn't pick up all the scientific details, but it's a bit hard trying to listen in, while also trying not to go crazy when being treated and caged like a human guinea pig._

_They tried making cure's by tampering with our blood and putting them into syringes and injecting themselves with it. Turns out simply injecting immune blood into your system doesn't make you Immune. Many doctors learnt that the hard way, they either died, or had limbs amputated when they realised the blood itself wasn't enough to keep them immune. Eventually they came to the realisation that the virus targets the brain. Our blood cells make us identifiable as Immune survivors, but it's our brains themselves that are needed. I forgot the specific part of the brain, but I watched an operation where they pulled a whole brain out of a woman's head (one of us Immune survivors) so I'm assuming there's some sort of cell or tissue in the brain that works against the virus and can make other's immune._

_They didn't specify to us (prisoners) what they put into the syringe, but something in the brain, it made the cure actually work. They rejoiced and soon the remaining 6 of us would be killed and sliced up to make into syringes offering the cure for all. However I gave them a bit of a shouting match that I didn't want to die to give a cure to people who treated us like animals, so they cut out my tongue, as a way to shut me up. But Karma caught up with the bastards of course, turning out setting up a base in an asylum can actually make you go crazy._

_Half of the doctors had gone borderline insane at this point, they starting killing and turning on each other when they realised even if they killed all of us their wouldn't be enough syringes for all of them. Apparently some of them even protested that the other prisoners deserved the cure, but that all led to conflict. Eventually the prisoners managed to rebel and set the place alight, killing them all. I was one of the last immune guinea pigs left, maybe because I was now mute they didn't pay attention to me, me and two other guys managed to break out of our little room. I saw the two of them get killed by an insane doctor. I got bruised and battered and burnt to hell, but eventually I jumped out a window and escaped that death-trap._

_I was exhausted, but knowing I was immune I knew walkers weren't a threat. But I was weak and still in my straight jacket, I collapsed in the mud I must have been waiting for 2 days. Simply waiting to die before Ana found me, I couldn't tell her I was immune, I couldn't tell anyone. I saw what it had done back at the asylum and what it's doing here in Wellington. _

_Anyone that's all I know._

_Your ever dearest mute man._

_Oscar._

The group all looked at one another and then back at a mute Oscar.

"Holy shit" was all Ana could utter.

* * *

"Daddy, is Mummy going to be alright?"

Nick looked over at Stephanie's plate, before facing Lilly once again who had asked that, the rest of the group were silently chewing down their meals. Well as silent as could be. After they had comforted Stephanie and discussed Edith's death until the topic was exhausted, she had excused herself to her room to sleep. Yet Nick couldn't help but feel anxious for her, as he gazed at the empty chair in front of her dinner, she hadn't responded to Rebecca's call about dinner being ready.

Lilly could tell something was off too, even at her young age.

"Mummy is going to be fine" Nick said, placing another scooping of mashed potato onto Lilly's plate "She's just a little shook up about today, that's all"

"Is that because she saw someone DIE!" Lilly proclaimed dramatically, causing many people to look up in worry. Nick had to wonder if he'd ever make a good father at all, as his face went red and he uttered "Well... kind of..."

"I heard she got squashed!" AJ added dramatically.

"Woah, you are so going goth little guy" was all Eddie could say to AJ on the matter.

"That's gross, I wouldn't want to be squashed to death" Lilly shouted, the morbid details coming from the mouths of the 2 and 3 year old's around the dinner table were more than enough to make some people a little uncomfortable.

"That's enough horrid talk" Rebecca snapped at her son and Lilly, as AJ dipped his head in shame and Lilly suddenly seemed interested in squashing her mashed potato into the shape of a flat plateau. "It's been hard enough on your mother" Rebecca scalded beginning to tell off Lilly, who didn't look at her "We don't need it discussed at dinner table".

"Okay, sorry Rebecca" Lilly mumbled under her breath, now staring at her food rather than eating it.

"You know, maybe I should go take Stef her dinner" Nick mumbled, as he rose from his seat and scooped up Stephanie's plate, he turned back towards Lilly and muttered "Okay behave now" he waited until she looked at him, when she did he carried on speaking "I don't want to come down to hear you've been misbehaving, I'm sure your mother is fine. But I'm going to check on her to make sure she eats her dinner. Understand?"

Lilly nodded vigorously.

"Good girl" Nick praised before he departed from the table, leaving the mostly silent group chewing on their supper, as he ascended the narrow staircase towards his and Stephanie's room.

"Hey" Nick muttered creaking the door open, he saw Stephanie lying on the bed, she was lying far too still to be sleeping. Sighing, Nick closed the door and sat on the corner of the bed, he peeled off his heavy police uniform. Placing on some simple black trousers and t-shirt. Lying in lighter clothes he lay next to his girlfriend to see her eyes were wide open, but she wasn't crying.

"You should really eat" Nick advised her.

"It smells nice" was all Stephanie said, before she sighed and sat up slightly, "Nick I..." she began before she managed to say it "Nick I'm... I'm not working at the wall anymore".

"Because of today?" was his instant response.

"I've been thinking about it for a while" she uttered, her distant blue eyes finding the outside window, and resting upon the night sky outside, "I don't feel like I'm doing anything at the wall" she explained "I just... I want to be closer to the action, I want too feel like I'm actually helping". She collapsed on the bed again, allowing herself to rest her head on Nick's chest as he simply store up at the celling. A bubble of anxiety rising in his stomach "You know I'd worry a lot more about" he muttered.

"I know, nearly died today though" she mumbled into his black t-shirt in response "No where is safe"

Nick couldn't find anyway to disagree with this, in fact he suddenly felt tired, he laid back at Stephanie murmured "Nick... can... can we just stay like this" in which he nodded and muttered "Yeah, you think I'd forget about you?"

Stephanie's face lit up, "I know" she began "It's been a busy job for you lately and it's selfish to moan about it, but..." she trailed to a halt as she simply let herself relax on Nick's chest after everything that had happened today. She needed his comfort now more than ever and simply having him lie here next to her, was all she could ask for.

"Hey, come on" he could feel himself becoming as Stephanie herself called it, a corn dog. Someone who said things overly cheesy and corny, yet he spoke on regardless "I'm not going anywhere, you're not going anywhere I promise you that" he smiled coyly to himself as they simply lay there for a while bathing in each other's silence and comfort for what must have been a while. Before Stephanie quite suddenly mumbled "Lilly... I know you're behind that door"

Sure enough the door creaked open a few more inches and Lilly herself ran up to the bed and yawned "I'm tired, Mum and Dad, can I...?"

Nick already made some room for his adopted infant daughter to crawl onto his chest, the trio of them feel asleep on that bed. Nick clinging onto his family tighter than he had ever done before and as he glanced at Stephanie and Lilly, he knew that now was the time. It was the time to make it official, he drifted off to sleep thinking of the money he had saved up,

and whether it would be enough to buy a beautiful ring.


	7. On The Air

**A/N: Hopefully as the holidays have now began I'll be able to update more regularly, last chapter was what it said in the title a mere set up of things to come. I'm glad you guys liked it though as I felt like it dragged on and some of things I wanted in last chapter got pushed back to this chapter, so hopefully you guys enjoy this!**

**ffapathy- I'm glad you pointed out the whole Brandon and Terri aren't having sex and that the note was mere taunt and not someone actually knowing about Brandon's thoughts (considering his told no one) Also as for Clementine and Luis... yep you can certainly say that their polar opposites for now and Luis and Sarah bring out the optimistic side of Clementine. One we don't see much in the game (or in season 2 at least). Finally you made a lot of good points but I loved your analysis on JJ, whereas the other teens all have someone to rely on JJ hasn't really got anyone other than his granddad who doesn't really understand/help with his condition. Whereas JJ is meant to be a defence persona one who appears happy and friendly to others. Whereas TT is when JJ's true thoughts/frustrations and anger come to surface, you'll certainly see some more JJ developments in future.**

**The Rose of Hedylogos- Thanks for your review, to see you praise my OC's so much means a lot as they were a challenge to write in 2000 days but I feel like they've grown since then and are much easier to write as they each have their own unique characteristics, and as for Clementine and Luis... you're right that nothing will happen between them anytime soon, however I like the prospect of Luis being protective of her. and nick and stef? Well a cat is good too I guess... glad you're liking Stacy, she's interesting to write about and finally, yes the 10 chapter rule is back. In Chapter 10 something big will happen...**

**catwoman- I love how a lot of people have pointed out how buying a ring would be kind of stupid considering the price and how it could be used on food instead. I'll address the issue this chapter, but right now I'll put it down to Nick being romantic and wanting to Woo Stef. (But, I like the thought of them sharing doughnuts) **

**Kristal Dynamite- I like that you pointed out Wellington's mindset, a murder in Wellington means a lot whereas in the outside world it's kind of expected. About when shit goes down (it always does) there will be major decisions the characters have to make, however I can't reveal if it will be Eddie making those choices. Also I love Gollum too and whenever I write TT I always see him as Gollum so he is fun to write about and I'm elated you like Stef! She's featured a lot more in this story so far than I originally planned, before shit goes down I'll try to develop more of the existing and new cast.**

**and thanks to everyone else for you reviews!**

* * *

Father Jordan really didn't want too.

He didn't know whether it was just his curiosity that propelled him forward, or some sort of supernatural entity. But as he stepped over the long lime green strands of damp grass, that lay over each other like a mangled cobweb in the pitch black graveyard, he knew that with every step he took, he was getting one step closer to a very real danger.

The crescent moon was almost had an unnatural yellow hum too it, as Father Jordan looked up at it, his brown eyes widened in anxiety as he took another dangerous step forward. The shadow of the large church behind him chilled him to the bone and blocked out any of the street-lights from the road opposite. A normal man would have blindly stumbled around in this pitch black deathtrap, crashing into tombstones and cursing themselves. But Father Jordan knew every pebble of this graveyard so even without his eyesight to guide him, he stealthily crept over the crooked graves of Wellington's deceased.

Some of these graves had been here years, before the dead had started rising again. Father Jordan wondered (if by some crazy means) the remains of the people below him who had went unchecked, were stirring in the damp wooden boxes. The remains that may as well have been skeletons, with scraps of flesh and hair still dotted on their white bones, he wondered if they still moved and groaned and emitted those horrible moans that still made goosebumps explode over the African american man's skin.

Trying to blot out the mental image of an army of skeletons breaking out of the ground, Father Jordan ploughed onwards.

As he approached where he knew the morgue would be, his thoughts lingered on Amelia Stool, the woman he had got pregnant... he still questioned how the hell it had happened. He was just tired of playing the game and Amelia was an attractive woman and was a regular attendant at his church, she was just there for him. He knew she had a boyfriend and yet he made his move regardless and she didn't resist, the brown haired beauty even went along with it, but the risks outweighed the advantages, so... she had to go.

Father Jordan just wished he could hack off his own manhood sometimes, not only would he would be serving penance for him hiring those hit-men to kill Amelia, but it would also prevent the sinful, lustful feelings that circulated in his mind. Approaching the morgue, he realised maybe his overwhelming sense of self-loathing had driven him to venture into possible danger. But also his curiosity... who was that man? The Wellington Wolf? and how the hell did he know so much? How did he know about Amelia? He was 100 per cent sure neither he nor she had told a single soul...

He gulped as these thoughts faded in his head, the imposing stone steps that led into the darkness of the morgue below him were in his poor vision.

Inhaling deeply, the cowardly priest mustered whatever sort of inner courage he had, and took the first step into the darkness.

* * *

Despite the darkness above him, the morgue was well lit, the second Father Jordan closed the door behind him, automatic lights flickered on. The morgue was built in the graveyard so bodies could be quickly transported for funerals (which, as of late, had been handy) Father Jordan found it strange how modern the morgue looked in comparison to the 19th century church and cemetery surrounding it.

The morgue consisted of a cluster of rooms, on every wall, the haunting coffin shaped holes in the walls gave Father Jordan shudders. Some of them had bodies inside but thankfully they were all covered in white blankets. Father Jordan slowly crept from room to room, not really knowing what he was looking for. But knowing full well that the wolf needed to do something in the morgue and Father Jordan was determined to find something... to get to the bottom of the mystery.

He searched all the rooms, he felt his stomach turn to lead when he saw the fresh corpse of Edith laid out on an autopsy table. Her face was pale, a hole in the middle of her head had been cleaned of blood, but it was still a haunting site never the less. Father Jordan searched every room and yet there was nothing, no trace of anyone moving anything.

Then, of course there was that one locked door.

He knew he'd find something horrible inside, he knew the wolf had used the keys to lock himself in there and if the room was still locked... then surely the Wolf couldn't have still been in there? It was middle of the night, what the hell was he doing? Father Jordan always kept a spare set of Morgue keys on him, in case he lost the first set of keys. It seemed as if the wolf had left the rest of morgue open, all except for that one room.

Father Jordan pulled out his keys and opened the door, he dared peek inside as the automatic lights flickered on.

He wanted to scream at what he saw.

In the middle of the room, on the autopsy table, a male corpse was laid spread-eagled on it's back, it's guts pulled clean out of it's body. It was stark naked and Father Jordan saw the bloodied once sterile equipment laid out like lego bricks around the bloody cadaver. The stench of the dead man instantly caused Father Jordan's eyes to water as he gulped down the vomit building in the back of his throat. For whatever reason he felt his feet move of their own accord as his hands (on autopilot) closed the door behind him, he was alone. In this room with a torn up corpse.

Picking up a surgical knife, plastered in blood, on the floor next to him. The terrified priest proceeded towards the body, trying hard not to look at the gory torn up stomach, instead he recognised the pale face of the dead man, his eyes were still open a fraction. They were very noticeable green eyes and the man had very muscular arms and sleek brown hairs, brushing his fingers against the man's cold flesh and dry stubble, Father Jordan uttered the name of the man lain there.

"Ryan..."

The brutish construction worker, who had died at the wall about 2 days ago lay in front of him. Why would the Wellington Wolf want to rip up his corpse like this?

He closed Ryan's green eyes, it was only then he realised he must have been imaging the green in Ryan's eyes, as he had turned into a walker before his death and henceforth the colour would have drained from his iris'. Sighing Father Jordan remembered how lively and active Ryan was in life, a man of motivation, the life in his leaf green iris was infectious. It was impossible to imagine him simply lying here, as dead as dodo in a surprise attack.

Uttering a quick prayer under his breath, Father Jordan looked around his eyes were drawn to a microscope propped up on glass table to his right. Approaching the table, he thought about it all. At first the wolf had killed loners, people no one had cared about, yet now he seemed to be going for the more popular and well-loved members of Wellington's society. Ryan and now Edith... was the president himself next? Or maybe not the president himself was hardly ever seen in public.

Squinting, Father Jordan peered down the microscope to see a clumps of what he could only describe as bacteria, tiny blobs that moved and attached to one another.

"It's how the infected blood looks"

Father Jordan would have screamed, but he already felt a knife at the back of his neck, that degraded his scream to a mere whimper, as he trembled all over.

"Drop it father"

The knife crashed to the bloodied ground, falling from Father Jordan's sweaty palms. He knew the Wellington's Wolf voice, the mid-western accent.

"Good" The Wellington Wolf uttered, before he leaned into Father Jordan's ear "Now, watch this"

Father Jordan's eye was practically glued to the lens of the microscope, he felt the wolf move from behind him but he knife remained trained on the back of his neck, one sudden movement and it would all be over. Father Jordan would simply be a pale, bled out corpse, lying in the morgue next to Edith and Ryan. He trembled at the thought, after everything he had done to stay alive...

Father Jordan felt another knife slice across his hand, leaving a small cut, grimacing in pain the father watched his own drop of lighter coloured blood drop next to the infected blood. He watched as his own blood cells were instantly swallowed by the larger and darker infected blood cells. Within two minutes the blood that had dripped from his system had turned a shade of much darker red. It was like watching milk spill into clear water, on how quickly the de-colouration of his own blood had occurred.

"It spreads fast" the wolf told the terrified priest the obvious fact.

"I-is..." Father Jordan trembled before finding his voice, "Is that why you chopped up Ryan, back there?" he turned to face the wolf, but he felt his head get forced back towards the lens of the microscope.

"Don't turn around" The wolf growled.

Father Jordan obeyed the order.

"Now" the wolf began in a much more crisp tone "I chopped up Ryan to make 100 per cent sure, that he wasn't immune..."

"So you are looking for a cure!" Father Jordan exclaimed before he could stop himself. He expected his throat to be silt there and then, but the wolf only chuckled and it was with this chuckle that Father Jordan realised he had heard this man's voice before! Not just as the wolf but... he now knew the identity of the wolf. A powerful man, someone who had contacts high up... it should have been obvious from the start! Yet Father Jordan played dumb and allowed the wolf to continue speaking.

"You've been hearing rumours" the wolf said "Yes, they are true. I am looking for a cure and I was certain Ryan was the one..."

"How?" Father Jordan knew he was prying far too into the wolf's business but he had to ask these questions. His curiosity had reached a peak. The Wolf remained silent for a while but finally said "Look at the blood, it will give you a hint".

The African american man did so, it was then he realised something.

"Before Ryan died" Father Jordan began, his voice quivering as he spoke "H-he was taken to A and E beforehand because he cut his arm on a piece of glass. I h-heard it from a friend who works near the hospital..." he gulped before he continued "S-so you j-just went around randomly taking blood samples from pieces of glass...?"

"This test worked" the wolf replied flatly, point blank ignoring Father Jordan's direct question, before he ploughed on "The blood I supposedly attained from Ryan, it didn't turn dark. The blood cells could fight off the infection, I was certain it would work, but I was wrong..."

"You smuggled in the walker?" Father Jordan knew he was firing questions at the wolf now like wildfire, but he didn't care "How did you smuggle in the walker? What do you mean stay away from the wall? How many blood samples did you collect? Is that you killed all those people beforehand? Were they immune too? Why did you smuggle that second walker near too the other house...?"

The wolf seemed to shuffle slightly cutting the babbling priest off, mid question. He only seemed to answer the last question while ignoring the rest.

"Ryan" he began "Was seen with one other man at the time of his incident with the glass shard" he paused there, leaving Father Jordan to fill the very obvious gap, yet the priest couldn't answer. He wanted confirmation from the Wolf himself, after a full minute of silence the wolf sighed in disappointment "I thought you were cleverer than that father" he huffed "Oscar Williamson, Oscar was seen heading to work with Ryan that morning. I tested to see whether or not he would be immune, it was a far-shot even for me. A desperate attempt to see if Oscar was bitten or not..."

"So you did smuggle that walker in!" Father Jordan cut him off, he felt the knife dig in further into his neck. Father Jordan remained silent, afraid another word would lead to his skin breaking and blood being spilt.

"...and apparently" the wolf growled "Nothing happened, the walker didn't bite anyone, but from what I've been hearing from police reports it seemed likely Oscar's group was trying to hide the fact he was bitten" Father Jordan could almost hear the wolf smile as he leaned in close to Father Jordan's ear.

"I want clarity Father" he muttered "You're smart and you're curious and well respected. You are perfect for me" Father Jordan tensed, already knowing what the wolf wanted from him.

"I could destroy that reputation in a minute" the wolf snapped, clicking his fingers together for an added dramatic effect, that caused Father Jordan to flinch slightly, "I want you to get me proof that Oscar Williamson is immune from the walker virus". he ordered clearly.

"You want me to get a blood sample" Father Jordan stated flatly "You want me to get you this, or else my secret about Amelia comes out"

"Of course" The wolf replied.

Father Jordan felt like he was playing a game far too dangerous, how on earth was he meant to get a blood sample for Oscar? He knew where his group lived but still that didn't help him, what he wanted was some sort of praise and some sort of award, if he managed to accomplish this risky mission.

"and what do I get in return?" Father Jordan asked "What do I get, if I help you find your cure?"

"The cure itself" The wolf responded as if it were enough for Father Jordan, but the irritated priest (despite his fear) let his frustration show as he blatantly snarled "That's all? We're safe in these walls anyway, why do I need a fucking cure for?"

The sudden sound of a distant door opening and footsteps clanking along the tiled floor of the morgue, caused the wolf to yank the priest's head away from the microscope. But he still felt the wolf's knife at his throat as the wolf stealthily crept forward, the priest still unable to see the Wolf's face as he muttered.

"Because it's starting" the wolf stayed silent after these words, as he listened by the door. Father Jordan could clearly hear the muffled voices of the forensics who must have been about to perform an autopsy on Edith.

"You're about to learn, why you need a cure" was what the wolf lectured to the listening priest.

* * *

"Hey"

Clementine couldn't sleep, and she guessed Sarah had heard her creeping out of her room and followed her to the spot beneath the oak tree, on top of the small tree at the back of their house. The grass swayed lazily, the frosty bite of winter didn't seem to affect Clementine as she had wrapped up warm, with her orange coat and blue scarf, Sarah was dressed in similar winter gear as she sat down next to Clementine. For a while the pair of them simply stared at the crescent yellow moon above them and the white blobs that made up the stars.

"That's the north star" Clementine eventually said, breaking through the silence and jabbing her arm towards the brightest star in the sky.

"It looks pretty" Sarah complimented the star, before she faced her friend once again "How come you're up here?"

Clementine sighed, but didn't give Sarah an answer for a while, however she finally found her voice.

"Back when we were on the run from the cult" Clementine began, hating the fact she was dragging bad memories to the surface once again "Me and Luke, Luke pointed out the north star to me"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Sarah inquired, gazing at the star through her glasses, as if she expected to find an answer.

"That's what I said" Clementine recalled, as a small smile played on her face "But that's the point, it doesn't have to do with anything. It helps me forget everything" she lapsed into silence after this, but she felt Sarah shuffling next to her, as she spoke up "This hill makes me forget about everything" at these words Clementine turned to face her best friend and saw her glasses shining in the moonlight.

"There wasn't any of this trouble at school" Sarah began, as she mused on the olden days "Remember? It was just me, you, Nick, Stef and Lilly, building that snowman..."

"and then Luke came up and tried to sleigh down the hill" Clementine interjected with a chuckle, the fond memory of Luke tumbling down this hill when it was plastered in snow, was one of her favourites.

"and Eddie tried to make that giant snowball...!"

"Rebecca's face when that snowball hit her...!"

The two girls laughed heartily into the night at these memories, managing to calm down slightly Clementine sighed and faced the black town of Wellington behind her. Some lights were still on, Clementine could see their house directly below the hill, she could see into Gertrude's back garden she could also distantly see the american flag waving in the wind at her, from the top of Wellington High. A place she already disliked.

"How do you keep doing it Sarah?" Clementine asked out loud of her friend.

"Doing what?" Sarah inquired, as Clementine shuffled herself closer to the Hispanic bespectacled girl.

"Keep being happy" Clementine mumbled, as she faced the grass below her "Everything Luis keeps telling me, it gets me down sometimes. I try and be positive but it seems to have no effect on him..."

"Ignore him" Sarah advised, as Clementine looked up at her beaming friend "If he doesn't want to be happy, then you can't make him. Life's too short to keep being negative all the time, find people at school that make you happy, that's what I do with JJ" Sarah told her, as she cracked a large smile "You know, I was shocked at the time" she confessed to a listening Clementine "But what JJ did for me, it was so cool" she beamed at the memories, remembering how Nick had saved her multiple times, how Stephanie saved her from Marisol, how Clementine and the group had saved her from the clutches of the cult...

_"People who want help you"_ Clementine uttered to herself, she thought about these words carefully. Coming to a conclusion in her mind.

However before Clementine could ponder on that conclusion, Sarah looked at her once again "If trying to find those people is too hard" Sarah mused before she suddenly pounced on Clementine and began tickling the life out of the 14 year old.

"Then this always works" she panted, as Clementine giggled like the little girl she felt like she was in those moments.

"G-g-get off" Clementine choked, eventually managing to lift Sarah's lanky form of her own, trying to regain her breath as Sarah stared at Clementine, smiling like a maniac.

"You make me happy" Clementine mumbled, after the last of her laughs had expired in her system, at her comment Sarah gave a childish giggle which for some reason made Clementine's cheeks grow warm. Coughing and feeling somewhat embarrassed Clementine felt the need to correct what she had just said.

"The group and you make me happy" Clementine said more clearly, in which Sarah didn't seem to reply too. As Clementine herself let her head droop as she stared at an ant crawling across a long blade of grass, watching it's voyage and trying to concentrate on the tiny insect. Yet she could feel Sarah's wide brown eyes boring into the side of her head and she could tell without even looking at Sarah, that the Hispanic teenager was smiling at her. Her smile seemed to cut through the chilly night air and basked Clementine in a warmth, she could sit all night here, in this silence next to Sarah in this "warmth" trying to forget all the pessimistic crap Luis had force fed her, all the stupid bullies and growing poverty in Wellington, in those moments Clementine forgot about it all.

That was until Sarah suddenly piped up "Hey Clem!" she yelled as the 14 year old span around, to see what Sarah was jabbing her arm at the direction of their house, a tall, dark silhouette was briskly stepping across their front lawn, despite the distance Clementine could tell who it was, without even looking at the man's face.

"What's Nick doing out so late?" Sarah inquired, her eyes trailing after his form, she could tell it was him just by the way he walked.

"Probably been called out" Clementine yawned "Being a police officer isn't a easy job"

However Sarah looked doubtful and shook her head at Clementine's words "If he was going to work" she stated "then why hasn't he got his uniform on?"

Clementine squinted, she couldn't make out the bright golden badge that was usually encrusted on the top of Nick's uniform so he must have been in normal gear. Sarah had already stood up and taking large steps towards where Nick was going.

"Hey!" Clementine exclaimed, as Sarah turned to face her "Where are you going?"

Sarah looked at Clementine as if the African american girl had grown two heads.

"I'm following Nick of course" she hissed, "Come on Clem, we need to hurry up or we'll lose sight of him!"

Clementine shook her head at this suggestion, not really in the mood for a midnight goose chase around the crime riddled town of Wellington.

"We can't follow him" she stressed "It's too late and too dangerous to go out alone, besides..."

"I'll catch up with him" was all Sarah had too say before she took off in a reckless run towards Nick, Clementine yelled "SARAH!" but this had no effect, as the only reply she got from Sarah was the distant "I'll be back in a bit! Tell the others I'm fine!" and with that she was gone, leaving Clementine alone on the hill.

Sighing, Clementine crouched down on the spot once again and gazed up at the north star and then the ant crawling on the grass, Sarah was right this place made Clementine forgot about everything but she only wished her best friend was by her side. As of late Clementine had been craving Sarah's company more and more often, she always had admired how Sarah stayed so positive in light of everything because it was so easy to lapse into depression or panic considering everything that was happening in Wellington. But no, because Sarah was so optimistic Clementine found herself defending her own new found optimistic beliefs, she wasn't stupid she just believed that everyone that had died, from Lee right up to Kenny had died to get her here.

They would have wanted to live, not survive but live for once and that's what Clementine was planning to do. She was 14 now and her body no longer resembled that of the 8 year old she was nearly 6 years ago. No, her childish thoughts had long since died in mind, replaced by different thoughts and sudden mood swings. When she was younger she would never feel this weird feeling she had now. Her stomach wouldn't swirl with butterflies and why would her cheeks grow warm in something she knew was a bit more than embarrassment?

Clementine proceeded back towards the house, wishing Sarah was by her side.

* * *

Nick looked at it in disbelief.

The price tag on the cheapest ring was 100 screws over what he had been saving up, despite it being slightly past midnight, Nick saw the wealthiest of Wellington's society congregating in the brightly lit jewellery store. Admiring each other's latest accessories, all of them looked so happy and so slick, in the latest clothes with the best haircuts, and best shoes and...

Nick felt his own hand slide down the glass window of the jewellery store in defeat, his gut sinking.

All his life, not only had he lived in Nick's shadow but he would always be that bit poorer than the other kids. The baggy, ripped clothes, the worn out shoes, his general hygiene at points is what seemed to propel bullies to verbally and physically attack Nick. The majority of Nick tormentors had been wealthy kids, who didn't need to worry about abusive alcoholic fathers, or where there next meal was coming from. They breezed through life seemingly without any troubles, they were always top of the classes, in the best sports teams, best clothes...

Gazing into the jewellery store, it felt like a punch in the stomach for Nick. Despite his hard work in upholding the law, despite all he had been through, this simple image seemed to remind him of where he was in society. The outcast, the freak... all he wanted, for once. Was too show his girlfriend that he wasn't some loser, that he too could afford an expensive ring for her and that for once he was somebody... and not just the the shit on the side-walk.

Nick wasn't gazing anymore, her was _glaring_ at those rich people, without a damn care in the world... they didn't care what he went through everyday to ensure he brought a income to his household. They didn't give a shit about the abuse he received too protect these wealthy people, from the poorest and most rogue in Wellington's society. He was fed up of being their damn guinea pig! He didn't know why him standing here, outside of his jewellery store made his infamous temper bubble to the surface, but it just did because it made him feel just as he had done before he met Sarah, Stephanie, Lilly or the rest of the group.

Like dirt, like he was nothing.

He hadn't cut himself in over two years, but if he pulled up his wrists he could still see the faint scars on where he had once cut himself.

He wouldn't feel that low again.

An obese man caught sight of Nick at the window, Nick quickly averted his eyes to the ground and shuffled off, his unspoken frustration making him even more angry. He intense glare could have burned holes in the side-walk he was walking along...

BOO!

Nick leapt back in shock, "HOLY SHIT!" He bellowed reaching for his gun, realising then it wasn't there, as his heart rate began to accelerate before his blue eyes adjusted and he realised that it was only Sarah, who was laughing openly at him "Y-your face..." she giggled into her hand, as Nick scratched the back of his black hairs.

"Jesus Christ Sarah" he huffed massaging his heart "You nearly gave me a heart attack"

Sarah was about to reply, but that was Nick suddenly realised, what on earth was she doing here? Alone? In Wellington in the middle of night?

"Sarah" Nick began in a cold tone "What are you doing here alone?"

"I saw you" Sarah replied simply "and followed you here, I thought it would be funny to scare you..."

"You came here alone!?" Nick demanded to know, his frayed nerves and anger getting the better of him, Sarah seemed to sense she had angered Nick. But she had grown very accustomed to dealing with his sudden temper as stress from his job had sometimes caused these outbursts, so she nodded her head and braced herself for Nick's angry lecture to her.

"Do you know how fucking dangerous that is!?" Nick snapped at her "With all these murders going down and you think it's okay to wonder out alone at night!?"

"I can look after..." Sarah began.

"NO!" Nick exploded, making Sarah flinch "YOU DON'T! THERE ARE MURDERERS, RAPISTS AND ROBBERS ON THESE STREETS SARAH, THEY'LL KILL YOU OR SHOOT YOU OR GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE! DON'T BE SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT AND COME OUT AFTER ME!"

Sarah was shocked and hurt by Nick's rant, Nick himself saw the hurt look on Sarah's face and felt a pang of regret he also realised that some of the wealthy from the jewellery store had exited the store and were now staring at him. Cursing himself and feeling his cheeks go red in shame, Nick stormed up the side-walk and Sarah trailed after him, when they were both out of eyesight and hearing range of those wealthy people, Nick turned back to Sarah.

"Sorry" he muttered like a sulky child, before he regained his composure and stood up tall "I was just worried about you, understand?"

Sarah nodded, but didn't reply to him. In which Nick knew he had taken it a step too far, he remembered (with a pang of his gut) the time he had his outburst at Kenny which had led to the Floridian man completely losing it and nearly killing his best friend. His temper really was his downfall and he really wished he could have controlled it more, that rage he felt at those wealthy people, he could tell it would drive him to do something stupid. Sighing he knew he would have to explain himself to Sarah.

"It's just..." he began, as Sarah looked up at him in curiosity "I... I wanted to buy Stef a ring"

Sarah got the hint instantly, as she squealed like an alarm, "Ooooooooooooooohhhhh" in which Nick had to pat the air in front of Sarah muttering "Sarah, keep this quiet..."

"You want to get married!?" She exclaimed, as Nick mentally cursed himself for revealing this information to her.

"Yes" Nick muttered with a baited breath, as Sarah let out another excited squeal, "I want it to be a surprise" Nick muttered, as Sarah remained quiet this time to listen to Nick "So don't tell Stef".

"Of course, I'm really, really good at keeping secrets" Sarah whispered to Nick, as if they were in on a big childish secret, Nick smiled at her, before another frown lined his features "But" he began in a more sombre tone "I erm... I didn't have enough money to get the ring" Sarah looked at him sympathy at these words.

"Is that why you got mad?" she inquired.

"Yeah" Nick responded, as they continued to walk along the side-walk and back towards their house.

"Well then" Sarah began, "You're being stupid Nick, Stephanie doesn't need a ring" this caused Nick to look at Sarah in surprise he was expecting some sort of comfort but he didn't expect her to say this.

"But, I wanted to make it special for once" Nick grumbled to himself, their house was now within view.

"It will be!" Sarah encouraged her friend with a cheery smile "It sounds cheesy, but as long as you're by her side and if you tell her you love her, you won't need a ring" this lecture was met with a short chuckle by Nick. "Since when did you become a love expert?" he inquired of the 18 year old.

"It's just a girl thing" she responded as if it were obvious.

They approached the house, Nick and Sarah joking about boy and girl things on the walk, when they reached the house, Nick turned back to Sarah.

"Remember, keep it secret" he told her.

"Yeah, yeah" she waved him off as if it were nothing.

"and Sarah, thanks" he muttered, because Sarah had a way of putting Nick in a good mood and he needed Sarah to talk too after his earlier anger at being unable to buy the ring.

"No problem" Sarah replied as they entered the house. Sarah always wanted to ensure that her friends would be there for her and that as long as she protected and defended them, they would continue to protect and defend her and she hadn't been proven wrong.

Yet.

* * *

"Tomorrow"

The single word had a damming impact on the residents in the room, many of the adrenaline pumped men around the kitchen table, seemed somewhat eager. They remained silent but they way they moved their jittery legs showed they were eager to get going and eager to start actually doing something.

"Why tomorrow?" came a single question, Scott was aware of himself speaking. He was sat stiffly at the kitchen table. Surrounded by at least 20 men and women, all of which had their minds set on a riot. A riot to shake up the way Wellington was run, Scott was a bit unnerved by the sheer numbers that had been drawn to the idea of a riot. Or even a rebellion of sorts to overthrow the current president who seemed to be doing very little, other than making the poor, poorer and the rich, richer.

Scott's black eyes scanned over the room, some of his friends from school surrounded him, Lizzie was sat in the corner her gaze locked on him after he had asked this question. Many people here like her had come from poorer households, some people here were family. But many were mismatched groups of survivors who had bonded together in the outside world before coming here. Scott's group was also similar group.

He remembered escaping the last group he was part of, he was treated like scum in that group. A frightened kid he once was, constantly pushed around and bullied by the members of the group. He was originally with his uncle in this group but his uncle soon died, leaving him alone. Surrounded by unfriendly strangers who had no qualms about hurting or abusing him and over time that only grew worse. Until Scott himself fled, finding a new group of 4 guys. They sort of adopted Scott, after the teenager had spent a while alone, the 5 of them reached Wellington and now here they were.

Jasper, Harry, Joe and Norman, were the names of the 4 friends who had adopted Scott into their group, Scott was like the little brother to the four of them and they weren't bad people. However like many people at this meeting in the moment, their eyes shined dangerously. Hunger and poverty driving them to this state, some of the planned rioters were in such a bad shape they needed to lean on something to support their weight.

Regarding Scott's question, someone near the back of the room stood up.

"Because the Wellington Weekly comes out tomorrow" the man boomed clearly.

"Exactly" Jasper (one of Scott's house-mates) replied.

"But what's the Wellington Weekly got to do with any of this?" a woman asked, just as confused as Scott.

"The Wellington Weekly" the man at the back of the room spoke up once again "Recently released a campaign to stop this poverty. The president point blank refused to sign the petition, as did many others". He drew a breath gazing at everyone as he spoke "I work for the paper, my name's Robert Allen. My son Ryan tried handing out flyers to people, but despite the support we have received there has been no result and no comment from the president" this left an impressed silence in his wake.

"So?" Scott found himself asking "Why's tomorrow's issue so important?"

Robert Allen smiled at him.

"Our editor, Stacy promised that the copy that goes into print tomorrow" Robert seemed to laugh before continuing "It will cause a riot, regardless of whether we were planning a riot or not".

This left a ripple of curious chatter in it's wake, several people from different households had gathered here for news of this riot.

"How can we trust her!?" Someone yelled.

"It's bull!" another man bellowed.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see" was all Robert said, but he certainly seemed confident as he sat down at the back of the room once again. Around Scott he could hear more malicious whispers that made his hairs stand on end. Scott looked down at his cast, had anyone actually made a goal of this riot? Who was actually leading it? So far the motto was simply "Overthrow the president" which was vague enough in it's self. Granted Scott should have been more bothered about the weapons scattered around the room, he felt like he was part of a terrorist group sat here, plotting this. It didn't feel right.

Some people (he could tell) simply wanted change. However Scott got an uneasy feeling about some of the scum that had gathered in the room, under the impression they wanted they wanted change as well. But from they way they were whispering... they simply used this riot as an excuse to unleash pure mayhem on Wellington.

"Where are we meeting?" Scott inquired of anyone who would listen.

"Outside of the The central hub at 11 o clock sharp!" Jasper replied, yet Scott wondered who would actually turn up there. But he also had to wander what would be in Wellington Weekly to ignite a riot this size, if the information was even bound to appear.

"Hang on!" came a yell, that Scott saw came from Lizzie, he whipped around to face the blonde girl, as many eyes found her in the chattering across the room.

"What's the actual plan here?" she inquired "We march up to the president's building and...?"

"and we demand change, if he refuses we get violent" Jasper told her, as if it were as simple as that. Lizzie went to inquire further but the chatter that had built up in the room once again drowned out her voice so no one could hear her, while Scott shook his head. Feeling more unnerved by each passing second at how poorly planned this riot was, there was the motivation behind it. Scott himself would be rioting, despite his cast he was going to show the president that he wanted change. He was fine with murdering or killing the president if need be, he knew what hunger to drive people to do, but what worried Scott is what if they were met with resistance, what if innocents were killed...?

He gulped, everyone just seemed to accept this riot far too easily, he was as hungry and angry as they were. But they needed to clear their heads and actually analyse the situation, there was an excited buzz in the air. Tomorrow something was going to go down, regardless of what the Wellington Weekly posted people simply wanted to cause chaos.

Standing up and approaching Jasper, Scott muttered "Man, I really think this idea is spiralling out of control"

Jasper flashed Scott a devious smile "What? Getting cold feet?" he asked.

"Well... no..." Scott muttered, uncertain of himself in those moments.

"Then go with it" he snapped "We're dying here Scott, fucking dying! and the president isn't doing shit about it! Regardless of whatever the fuck happens tomorrow, things are finally going to start changing!" he gripped Scott's shoulders at this point "We have to let them know we aren't trash! You don't want to be trash, do you?" he looked into Scott's eyes here and Scott thought about all the times he was treated as trash. No, with a new determination he realised he wouldn't be treated as trash, not again.

"No" he uttered darkly.

"Good, get ready to make your voice heard tomorrow" Jasper told him.

However on the other end of the room, an old woman exited the house. She had kept quiet during the meeting but she could tell by the whispers she had overheard that this riot wasn't going to lead to anything good at all. She felt like her stomach had been turned to lead as for one of the only times, fear seemed to have an effect on Gertrude. She hobbled back to her house knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep at all that night.

She was... preparing.

* * *

"Nothing" Father Jordan overheard this word from where he was listening in on the forensics who were performing an autopsy on Edith, "Nothing, no problems, no sign of a blood clot in the brain, no chance of a brain defect killing her. Organs were all in good shape..." he paused there, Father Jordan heard one man step across the tiled floor.

"Sir" someone said, his voice sounded shaky.

"Yes" came the reply.

"The... strains we found in the blood sample, show that the virus is mutating and..." he seemed to pause there. Father Jordan seemed to lean on the door to overhear what was said next "It's a weak strain sir" the man seemed nervous as he continued to speak "it can't affect anyone, unless they're 5 feet from the walker..."

"What is it!?" another man growled, a question Father Jordan also felt like screaming too the nervous man on the other side of the door.

"and this..." the wolf suddenly whispered, he had been silent throughout the whole autopsy so hearing him speak once again surprised Father Jordan "is why you need a cure" the wolf words seemed to leave a ringing inside of the nervous priest's head as he heard what was said next.

_"The virus is becoming airborne" _

* * *

Tim saw the car, parked in the middle of the dark woods of Wellington. He had made sure the rest of his group were asleep, after the events of today everyone was particularly restless but finally when the house seemed still enough, Tim was as quiet as he could physically be as he gathered his winter clothing and exited the house. When he was certain he hadn't woken up anyone and that no one was looking out of the window at him, he ran off into the woods, to the spot where he knew Stacy would be waiting for him.

Sure enough her car was parked there, Tim opened the back door and sure enough the redhead beauty was sat there looking bored out of her mind. Her facial expression didn't change when he crawled in.

"Hi" Tim said nervously, he wanted answers from her and he was certain she wanted answers from him.

"Tim" she replied, her cheeriness seemed forced and her smile seemed strained. She made a show of yawning loudly and uttering "You know, I'm bored of our usual routine" she crossed her legs over each other and gazed out of the window "So I thought we'd spice things up" she announced to Tim's great interest.

"Strip secrets is what I like to call it" she muttered, gazing back at Tim with those seductive green eyes that made him drool in a very cartoonish manner.

"So" Tim mumbled, "What are the rules?"

Stacy grinned "I ask a question, you answer it" she informed him "If I'm satisfied with the answer and believe it's the truth I remove my clothes and you can fuck me, same applies your way" she grinned at him. Both of them knew the other wanted answers and Tim muttered "Fair enough" the signal to let the game begin.

"Okay, I'll start" Stacy said, "Was Oscar bitten by a walker?"

Tim knew this question was coming up first, he wondered whether he should have betrayed his group for sex. But what harm could Stacy do? She agreed to keep it secret and he knew that he needed answers as much as she did.

"Yes" he admitted.

Stacy smiled her largest smile, before removing her top and bra, revealing her bare breasts to Tim who soaked up the image with his wide brown eyes. He regained himself and coughed, asking his own question.

"Did you attack Oscar earlier and what did you take?"

"Yes, I took two vials of his blood" Stacy responded, Tim certainly found himself satisfied with this answer as he removed both his trousers and top, leaving him in his black boxer shorts.

"Why did you keep Oscar's Immunity a secret?" Stacy inquired.

"We were scared of what would happen to him. We think the president and some wealthy folk would take advantage of this fact and would cut him up and use him to create a cure, just for themselves" Tim told her honestly she certainly seemed satisfied with this answer, as she removed her pink pants, leaving her nude. The redhead lay seductively on the back seat of the car. Tim felt his impulses take over once again, as he leant over her.

"Final question before we fuck" he gasped, transfixed by her memorizing form as he bent down to kiss her, before the African american man whispered into her ear.

"You promise you're still going to help us?" This was the one thing Tim was doing this for, not just for the sex. Making links with Stacy was a way to save his group from the impending poverty they faced. Stacy looked up at him and whispered "Yes" as Tim grinned, feeling satisfied with this answer as he removed his own boxer shorts. It was only at the last second he realised one of Stacy's arms was behind her pale back added to the fact she was reaching for something under the car seat.

"What the...!?" Tim began alarmed.

"I lied" Stacy mused, a devious smile spreading across her face, before Tim could even move she had whacked him across the head with the baseball bat she had hidden under her seat, Tim felt his vision go black as he collapsed in a heap on the back seat. She pried open the back door and the redhead Journalist rolled Tim's form out onto the leaf strewn ground. She closed the door with a SLAM that made Tim stir slightly and rub his head.

In the car Stacy jumped to the front seat, pulling down the hidden camera she had planted on the windscreen, which had successfully recorded all of what Tim had said, she now had the evidence she needed. Grinning like a maniac she sped off, leaving Tim to face the fleeting form of Stacy's car, his head still felt dizzy and he was lying here naked and ashamed because he knew know, he had played with fire and gotten his whole group burned.

"What have I done?" he croaked to himself, sobbing into the ground.

He had lost this game. Their secret was out.

Stacy herself entered the main office of where the Wellington Weekly was printed merely 15 minutes later. She was fully clothed and had a confident stride in her step. Even at this time some of her workforce were awake and ready to start typing tomorrow's issue and Stacy had the story that would, once and for all end the president's reign of terror and with President Schulz gone the Wellington Wolf would no longer have that shield to hide behind. Stacy was convinced the president was protecting the wolf and when the president fell, the wolf would too.

She gripped the small recording camera in her grip, this was all the evidence she needed to prove their was a immune survivor after all.

In her office her brother leant on her desk, looking very stressed indeed. While a forensic stood next to him, "Miss Moore" he said the second after she walked in "We have informed your brother, but there is a very real danger that we feel needs to be made public as soon as possible".

Stacy took a seat and muttered "I'll be glad to hear it" she told the anxious looking forensic before she turned to her brother.

"Oscar's Immune, isn't he?" Trevor asked.

Stacy nodded "and I have evidence to prove it" she held up the small camera at this point.

Ready to write the story, that would change Wellington forever.


	8. The Domesday Report

**A/N: Quite simply, onto answering reviews!**

**ShatteringSoul- Hello and thank you for leaving a review, feel free to leave more in the upcoming chapters if you so wish, I'm glad you like the survivalism theme in 2000 days and GTR and RTR will be a mix of both political stuff and survivalism, I also consider a lot of past trauma's and try to link them to the remaining characters (i.e. Nick) but what you pointed out Clementine being anxious about being watched went completely over my head! So thank you for addressing that as it will be an interesting point to bring up in future chapters, also good observation on Luis and Clem. Everyone would assume Luis is the all wise survivor but he actually does have a lot to learn from Clementine, also thanks for the grammar advice (I'll try my hardest) and the point about characters such as Luke and Rebecca being pushed into the background, as I'm establishing the new characters in the first section of this story they have been neglected slightly but expect to see a lot more of them later on. **

**catwoman286- You seem like the only one to have picked up on that line and what could it mean, it's down to the reader to interpret what Clementine sees Sarah as, her best friend or even, possibly something more. Clementine is 14 now she's not the romantic type but I wanted to show the reader she's not a child anymore... and as for that mistake with Nick living in Nick's shadow... yeah I always make typo's in every chapter, I'll have to clear it up if I go back and re-write this fic in the future (or at least polish it up) but yeah It meant in Luke's shadow and not Nick's.**

** santiago. poncini 20- Going to Ruin? Yep it's going to ruin for now, but you'll soon see why this fic called Ruin to Redemption. **

**TWDRUNNER- ****sip tim es un idiota, pero como personaje creo que él quiere lo mejor para el grupo, su absolutamente como ben paul y una vez más gracias por la revisión!**

**ffapathy- You brought up a lot of interesting points, I'm really glad you picked up on the foreshadowing in the earlier chapter about Luis statement and how that eventually applied to Tim and you'll see in the lead up to the riot plenty of foreshadowing in the previous chapters and some this chapter as well and also I enjoyed writing the Nick/Sarah scene in light of all the tangled plots and mysteries in this story so far it's also nice to take it back to basics.**

**Micidonalboss- I imagine Tim's eyes were somewhere else... but yeah he was quite foolish and don't worry I'll be sure to introduce your OC soon, I'm just trying to find an ideal point in the story to introduce him, suffice to say if Wellington doesn't fall to the riot or airborne virus then he will be ideal to introduce in rebuilding things...**

**Kristal-Dynamite- Thank you for reviewing once again! Scott and Draco are quite alike and that's the vibe I get when I write him,and I loved how well received Nick and Sarah's scene was. In light of Luis and Clem's bickering, Father Jordan's saga with the wolf and the Moore Triplets drama it's nice to focus on the characters I've been writing from the start. **

**A Writer with Mixed Interests- Yep, I can confirm Chapter 10 is where all the shit will officially hit the fan, with the wolf, airborne virus and riot arcs all coming together there will be chaos and maybe Character death... (laughs evilly) **

**Chameishida- I find it overwhelming too, to try and develop and write the mass cast of characters so Nick/Sarah, Sarah/Clem scenes were a great way to link NGB and GTR to RTR. However... another life is strange fan! Yeeeessss! The game is awesome and If I have the time I'd love to write a fic of it in the future! **

**and thanks to everyone else who reviewed onto chapter 8!**

* * *

_**IMMUNE SURVIVOR OSCAR WILLIAMSON IDENTIFIED AS WALKER VIRUS BECOMES AIRBORNE!"**_

The big, black and bold letters that filled the top half of the page of the Wellington Weekly were certainly noticeable, the forensic and Trevor had a copy of the issue in their fingers, Stacy was looking down at a copy of her own on her desk, she seemed to be grinning manically down at the issue in a way that made Trevor concerned about his sister, with a grunt of disapproval he lowered the paper down to his waist level.

"I know" Stacy huffed, her green eyes rolling upwards towards her brother "The headline's too long, isn't it?"

Trevor didn't say a word, he simply threw the paper down on her desk, to showcase his fury and disapproval.

Stacy only smiled at her sibling.

"What?" she eventually inquired, her smile looking ever thinner by the second, her pupils beginning to shrink into the pools of her light green iris', brother and sister held each other's glares for a short while, making the forensic uncomfortable as he pretended to read the small text crammed below the headline.

"You" Trevor seethed "You've been sleeping around to get...!"

"We know who it is" Stacy cut through him, she sounded bored and her strained smile was still plastered on her pale face.

Trevor didn't say a word, the forensic gulped loudly,his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat as he peered closer at the black smudges of print on the printed paper in front of him, not absorbing a single word there.

"I found who was immune, I have evidence" Stacy argued, her smile finally starting to wane, as she gestured the vials of Oscar's blood on her desk "I have his blood, I have video evidence, if anyone doubts this story then I have proof! I'd be willing to do anything to get this story out there, you knew that Trevor"

Trevor remained silent still.

"Erm, Miss Moore" The forensic suddenly spoke up, nervously peering over the printed paper to look at the editor of the publication.

"Yes" she responded turning to face him.

"What's this at the bottom of the page? About there being three headlines?"

"Ah yes!" Stacy shouted, "So much to reveal this week, Page 1 to 3 has all the news on the airborne virus, why Edith died, the 5 metre radius of the airborne virus and I used your words as a reliable source" Stacy mused to the forensic, the forensic was a generally curious man and caught onto things very quickly and from the way Stacy was speaking to him so positivity, he knew something was very wrong. Something but him on edge yet he couldn't explain it. He opened the two page spread to find Page two was donated to the revelation of the airborne virus. He saw his own name in print... everything seemed factual and close to the truth at this stage.

"Page three, is all about how Oscar Williamson, my findings on the man, Tim Akastu's revelation and how his group hid him and why they did so"

The forensic glanced at the page to find this information was also accurate, at his sister's words Trevor scooped his copy up of the paper and flicked to the second and third pages to find this information was indeed accurate.

"Whatever happened to framing the president for hiding this information?" Trevor growled at her.

"Overturned" was her simple reply.

"Overturned?" Trevor grunted, raising a busy crimson eyebrow to her explanation to as why the president was let off so easily.

"Pages four and five are on the troubles in Wellington and possibility of a riot" Stacy explained as both the forensic and Trevor turned the page. On the double page spread the headline read clearly...

_**"WELLINGTON TROUBLES AND UPCOMING RIOT! PRESIDENT IGNORES PLEA FOR CHANGE!"**_

Trevor's eyes analysed every word about the riots, but there was nothing, nothing there to actually provoke the public into rioting, there was no slander as far as he could tell. Just thoughts and opinions from the general populace of Wellington, from both rich and poorer sources, the fact the president had refused to sign the petition however seemed to cause a ripple.

"This is too tame for you Stace" Trevor muttered, Stacy now seemed to be shaking in her seat but she didn't look nervous, on the contrary she looked very excited about something as she faced both her brother and the forensic.

"Turn to pages five and six" she mused "The headline there will set things straight"

Trevor turned the page, to find a glaring headline gazing up at him.

_**"THE DOMESDAY REPORT! TRUST NO ONE!" **_

"The Domesday report?" Trevor asked, as his eyes began to adjust to the writing below the sordid headline, as Stacy nodded.

"Yep, remember the last editor?" she inquired as the two men nodded "He committed suicide a few months ago, no one knew why, but I found a message from him, written on this cabinet draw" she passed the forensic a sticky note, as he read aloud.

_"Open the cabinet, when it's time"_ the forensic read out the cryptic message.

"When it's time, the fuck does that mean?" Trevor snarled.

"When it's time for people to learn the truth" Stacy responded "I opened the draw this morning, I'd been tempted so many times to open it, but I always stopped myself. Knowing that when shit hit the fan that was the time and now is that time. I know now why he committed suicide the information was too much, it drove him insane, he didn't know whether he was right not to publish it, or wrong not to publish it. This report has power, he couldn't handle that power, he was weak and pathetic and chose the coward's way out, I'm not like that" Stacy told both men in defiance, as Trevor's eyes finally adjusted to the what the Domesday report actually was.

He let a gasp of horror.

Their was a picture of a person in a small box, followed by smaller text listing all of their crimes and secrets, Trevor's eyes locked upon one man's profile, he was a middle aged man with black hair and bright eyes who looked sheepishly at the camera.

_Harry Evans_

_\- He murdered his brother in insanity and jealously, he lied to his brother's girlfriend and began a sexual relationship with her afterwards, which is still continued here in Wellington. He has also been cheating on his girlfriend with Georgia Rattz, 25, their last meeting was 4th July 2006, 12:34AM. _

This "Domesday Report" was written months back according to Stacy, so Trevor imagined that Harry Evans had many meetings with Georgia Rattz since this was written, but this seemed completely up to date otherwise. But Trevor couldn't imagine this report out there, it would cause chaos, it would ruin Harry, Georgia and Harry's girlfriend's lives and add that to the riot... it... it would be complete madness and it wasn't just Harry on the list, on the first page alone there must have been about 50 residents on there, all their crimes and secrets listed down for the world to see.

Both the forensic and the Trevor's stomachs seemed to churn sickeningly when they realised, why the paper was as thick as it was.

"That's right boys" Stacy said, as if she could read their minds, as she hauntingly announced

"Every Resident in Wellington is on that list"

All 4000 odd people who lived in Wellington now! Crammed into a single newspaper! Trevor couldn't believe it, but he saw that some names simply had no picture next to them, or any listed crimes or secrets. Those must have been the one's with clean records, Trevor's eyes raced down the page, he saw briefly that Cristina King was listed, but with no picture nor crimes to her name. Henceforth she was as innocent as could be and Cristina was Violet's friend, surely... surely...

"Sis, we are not in there, are we?" Trevor begged.

Stacy only grinned at him.

In horror, Trevor swept past the names, they descended down the pages in Alphabetical order by surname, past the K's into the never-ending L's and finally onto the M's...

"You can't publish this" someone announced, Trevor was seconds away from finding his name on the list, but then he heard the click of a gun and his reached for his own pistol in his holster. Stacy looked up at the white faced forensic who had pulled a gun (from God knows where) on the editor of the Wellington Weekly. Trevor knew the forensics's name, he looked down the paper and saw the listed crimes next to his name and he suddenly knew why the forensic didn't want this information out there.

"This is an invasion of privacy!" The forensic yelled in anger, brandishing his gun as his voice rose with every passing syllable.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THIS! WHO THE HELL KNOWS ALL THIS!" He screamed "I TOLD NO ONE! FUCKING NO ONE ABOUT THIS! HOW...!?"

BANG!

The forensic fell to the floor, as dead as could be. Trevor pistol was aimed upright he had pulled the trigger while the forensic was busy ranting at his sister. He had failed to notice his enraged boss on his left, who had shot him down with a look pure rage plastered onto his face. Stacy didn't glance in the dead forensic's body, nor at the blood that soaked through the carpet on the floor, instead her eyes remained locked on her brother.

"He left a family to die at the start of this" Trevor began, his voice quivering "He went around stealing supplies from groups who desperately needed them, even here in Wellington he was suspected of stealing money and he stole a damn car! He was a thief and a liar and...!" Trevor finished his rant there, because his sister's stare told him that the forensics's crimes paled in comparison to his own. Trevor had shot the forensic not only out of his own very impulsive hot head, but also for another reason... a selfish reason.

"Go on" Stacy urged him "Check your's".

Trevor's eyes sped down the page, eventually finding the surname "Moore" printed down to the chief of police's anticipating dread, however first up he was surprised to find his own sister's name printed there, as he read her crimes...

_Stacy Moore_

_\- Left her siblings to die at the start of the apocalypse in an act of cowardice, is suspected of murdering 7 people in supposed self defence, In Wellington she has had sexual affairs with men and women, as she has tried to gain their favour. Using this she has risen in the ranks in the Wellington Weekly and is suspected to be the next editor of the paper._

"Y-you're allowing yourself to go into print?" he gasped in disbelief, everyone in Wellington would know that Stacy Moore, the editor of the paper was someone who had murdered over 7 people and was a notorious whore had a slept with anyone and everyone in order to rise in the ranks and become the editor of the paper, her reputation would be ruined but then again, if her reputation was going down the gutter, than his own...

Stacy insane smile was the only answer he got, as he read his own list.

_Trevor Moore_

_\- Had a reputation as a bully in his days in the armed forces, during the apocalypse he murdered over 20 people, some in suspected self defence and others in anger. During one incident, Moore's girlfriend suffered a freak heart attack during intercourse with him, leading to him developing a traumatized obsession with the dead and suspected cases of necrophilia, an obsession that has carried on into his days in Wellington. He has received treatment for this disorder and his anger management issues. Moore is currently the Chief of Police in Wellington. _

Trevor felt the wind get sucked out of his stomach, as he struggled for breath, his world spinning wildly out of control as he gripped the edge of his sister's desk with his one hand and gripped his pistol as tight as can be in other hand. How? No one other than his sister knew about how many people he had killed outside Wellington's walls, no one knew about what really happened to Trevor's girlfriend. He told Violet she simply died of a heart attack and his little sister had believed him. It was Stacy who had found him... with his deceased girlfriend. It was Stacy who knew the truth behind his anger issues... but his sister had not obtained this information, unless...

"You, you didn't tell anyone this, did you!" Trevor demanded of his sister.

"No" was the flat response.

"Sure you didn't sleep with the editor and tell him this, to gain _favours_?" Trevor snarled at his sister, a pronounced poison evident in his voice.

"I didn't tell anyone" Stacy spat back with just as much venom, she exhaled before she looked down at her own copy "A few people are missing here, people such as Oscar Williamson, whoever wrote this report clearly don't know he was immune or else that fact would have been listed. His record is completely clean, despite the fact his group has a rather stained record..." her eyes whizzed across the page as she told her brother "Look at the list and tell me, who is missing?"

"No one" Trevor responded "You said everyone was on that list"

"Wrong, nearly everyone" Stacy said clearly, before she spoke on, discussing her final findings with her brother "No one on this list is the identifiable Wellington Wolf, the Domesday report doesn't tell us whose immune, or who the wolf is. and notice how it also omits the President and the top 12 per cent of the population..." Stacy smiled as her brother gazed up at her.

"I used data from the central hub" she said "Those living with raised incomes, the majority with fancy housing, money and cars... they're not on the Domesday report. Whoever gave the editor the last report was clearly a rich man or woman who wanted the crimes of us inferiors exposed. If this report is released can you imagine the anarchy it will cause, the riot won't be just towards the rich and the president it will extend far beyond that, people will turn on each other. The airborne thing and the immune thing are only extra ingredients to add to the pot... the self destruction..." Stacy's eyes were reflective at this point, as she envisioned the destruction one of these papers would cause.

"Also" she added "How these rich people earn such a living, their jobs seem a bit a shady and this report comes out detailing everything that the majority of the population have done wrong. That is physically impossible without spies, without spies stationed all around Wellington..."

"Whoa" Trevor began his brain starting to boggle at the vast amount of information he was receiving "Are you saying, that the reason these people are rich is because... somebody has been paying them vast amounts to spy on the general population?" he inquired of his sister who shook her head, her crimson hairs bouncing on her shoulders as she did so.

"No" she answered "I believe the president hired these people to spy on the population. To keep them in line and yet for some reason somebody must have done something wrong, because the president must have allowed this report to get out there. Why? To doom us commoners?" Stacy asked with a raised eyebrow, before she let out a shrill laugh and continued to speak "These people, this specific 12 per cent, they all arrived at Wellington at pretty much the same time, in mass groups that showed up day after day after day, no one saw it as suspicious at the time but connecting all the dots" Stacy was dawning on a conclusion now, as Trevor's world seemed to further plunge into darkness.

"Imagine, such a mass quantity of people showing up in a few days" she said "Imagine who else the president would have hired to spy on us all. Because that group were experts on spying on us on the outside. They saw what we did, they followed us, overheard our conversations, they know everything about us. A large amount of people here have had to pass that group, that group who gave us hell, shot at us if we refused to join and learnt all our weakness..."

"That... that fucking cult!" Trevor spat, coming to the conclusion instantly and seeing all the evidence Stacy had gathered, it all made sense now.

"Did you...?" he began

"Back page" was all she said.

Trevor turned the paper the other way around and sure enough the headline couldn't have been anymore bold or straight to the point.

_**"THE DOMESDAY REPORT, WRITTEN BY GUN TOTTING EX-CULTISTS WHO MAKE UP THE ELITE TWELVE PER CENT OF THE POPULATION!" **_

"The cult are going to destroy Wellington if this report gets out!" Trevor bellowed, flinging the paper across the room and past the body of the forensic, as it fell to the floor in a heap, he paced around the room (pistol still in hand) as he felt his temper flare "Those fucking cultist pieces of shit! Spying on us... I'm gathering the force together, give me every name Stacy, every fucking name of every cultist. Where they live and everything were gonna wipe them out, one by fucking one..."

"I don't think that's very smart" Stacy argued, as Trevor's face fell "I'm releasing this paper regardless".

"WHY!?" Trevor exploded.

"Because" Stacy argued back her voice controlled as she spoke on "With every name on their other than the cultists and the President's, they may be destruction. Us commoners as they like to call us might turn on each other and kill each other, but won't the population do it for you? When they discover the cult has been spying on them, revealing all of their secrets it is very likely they will fulfil their original objective of killing the cult and the president and you know what? I prefer to live in a society which doesn't mirror George Orwell's 1984, I want to live in a society of freedom and truth!" she spoke passionately as she slammed her fists down on the table.

"This report, reveals what the elite are. Everyone knows how evil the cult were, they thought they were better than us. They still do, they'll hide their own truths but have no problem throwing us into the dirt. This paper will ruin them, it will give us the freedom of the press we so badly need!" Stacy urged her brother, yet to her sheer disappointment he shook his head.

"Even if you kill the president and those cultists" Trevor growled "Do you think anyone will look at anyone else in the same way after this comes out? No one will trust each other, ever. Society will fall, nothing will function!"

"No, we have a right to publish this!" Stacy spoke up "We have a right of the freedom of speech and everyone has the right to know the truth!"

"THE TRUTH WILL GET EVERYONE KILLED!" Trevor screamed at his sister, all he saw was red, he was losing control.

"THE TRUTH IS WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT!" Stacy squealed back at him "IT'S JUDGEMENT DAY TREVOR! EVERYONE! YOU, ME... EVERYONE IS GOING TO JUDGED! I KNOW YOU ARE SCARED...!"

"I'M FUCKING NOT!"

"I KNOW YOU ARE! THAT'S WHY YOU KILLED THAT FORENSIC, YOU WERE AFRAID HE'D TELL SOMEONE ABOUT YOUR SECRET! GUESS WHAT TREVOR!? IT'S ALL COMING OUT! VIOLET IS GOING TO KNOW ALL THE SHIT ME AND YOU HAVE DONE!"

"IT'S FUCKING EASIER FOR YOU! SHE'LL NEVER LOOK AT ME AGAIN!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! OUR LITTLE SISTER DESERVES THE TRUTH! NOT TO BE SHIELDED LIKE A FUCKING BABY!"

"ALL WE'VE EVER TRIED TO DO IS PROTECT HER! YOU'LL DESTROY HER IF THIS COMES OUT! YOU'LL DESTROY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US! BUT I GUESS THAT'S IT!? ISN'T IT!?"

"WHAT'S IT!?"

"YOU! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN JEALOUS OF ME AND VIOLET! WELL I'M SORRY YOU'VE FELT THAT WAY STACY, I REALLY AM! BUT WE CAN'T MAKE THIS PERSONAL YOU WANT THAT REPORT OUT THERE TO DESTROY ME! SO YOU CAN BE THE GOOD OLDER SISTER! YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE AS FUCKING INSANE AS I AM!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!? I DO! THIS IS NOTHING PERSONAL...!"

"IT IS, I WILL DESTROY THE CULT WITHOUT THIS FUCKING REPORT!"

"I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

There was a distinctive click of a gun, as Stacy found herself gazing into the black abyss of the pistol that was trained on her forehead, her brother's face was redder than his hair. His eyes wide and crazy, Stacy looked down at the Domesday report once again, this report and the power it had held had truly driven her brother insane in the space of minutes. No wonder the past editor couldn't handle it, the power it held was enough to drive him to suicide and others to madness, but she wouldn't succumb to this.

"Now come on" she said through a baited breath, as she gazed into her brother's eyes "You, you're not seriously considering killing me. I'm... I'M YOUR SISTER GOD-DAMMIT!"

Trevor was silent as could be.

"But I guess you've always wanted me out" she spat "I'm the unwanted one, aren't I? You can shoot me now have your perfect little world with Violet. Try and take out the cult with your pathetic police force, maintain order and all that shit, but guess what Trevor, I'm not backing down... she inhaled then before uttering her last words.

"I'm releasing this report"

BANG

Stacy fell backwards, a red hole indented in the middle of her head, as she tumbled off her chair and onto the carpeted floor, her blood forming a crimson halo on the carpet around her. The editor of the Wellington Weekly was dead, murdered by her own brother. Trevor himself stumbled out of the office, almost blindly, blood splattered onto his police uniform, his head as dizzy as could be, his head not really registering the fact that he had murdered his sister and someone he thought he could trust.

There was a man stood directly outside of the office, no doubt the noises of gunfire had brought him there.

"Stop the publication" Trevor heard himself mumbling, raising his shaky pistol to the man's head.

"It's too late" the man muttered "Miss Moore gave us orders to print it just before you arrived".

Trevor couldn't utter a word, the game was truly up he had murdered his sister in the faint hope the paper wouldn't be published when she must have already known it was going to be published. She must have been testing him, she must have truly wanted...

Her brother's approval.

She must not have suspected he would murder her, Trevor's guilt seem to overwhelm him in those seconds, she must have worked hard on that paper, figuring it all about the cult and managing to get it into print in the very last minute. and now there were hundreds of copies, already being distributed, he could envision the rolled up copy of the newspaper awaiting the sleepy residents of Wellington, they'd wake up and grab it from the front yard... and...

All hell would break loose.

"Going to shoot me too?" the man challenged from what seemed like the end of a tunnel to Trevor, Trevor himself felt himself shove the man into a nearby desk, the man crashed papers and boxes all over the place. Trevor was aware of himself sprinting towards the door of the building, bursting into the outside world he jumped into his police car and drove out the vicinity.

He had to reach his sister, he couldn't let her see the truth.

* * *

_"Now, get me those samples Father remember not too turn around"_

_Father Jordan felt himself walking, his feet felt numb the wolf's threats still lingering in his ears as he tried to wipe away the never ending stream of sweat that rolled down the crevasses of his face. He put one foot in front of the other, one step, two step, three step... he was nearing the stairs of the morgue. He was close to leaving, oh so close, yet he could feel the wolf's penetrating glare at the back of his head. But the wolf didn't pursue him._

_The second Father Jordan was back on level ground, he took a look behind him at the morgue. No one was there, no wolf was hunting him now._

_He took of in a mad dash, jumping over the crumbling tombstones and graves of people long deceased, Father Jordan didn't waste any time as he had been saving up money, he had managed to buy himself a rather luxurious car. The bright turquoise coating of the car reflected the moonlight easily, acting as a beacon for the panicking priest as he located it in the pitch black of night._

_Merely seconds after stumbling into the car, he had put his foot down on the pedal and tore out of the area. Not daring to look back once._

_His destination in mind, was the building where the Wellington Weekly was posted, he couldn't go to the police because their chief, Trevor Moore. Trevor Moore was the Wellington Wolf._

_All the dots connected, Trevor's voice was identical to the one of the wolf, the mid-western accent that the chief of police had mastered was intimidating and certainly matched that of the wolf. Besides, who else would have so many contacts around Wellington and have such much power to wield? Trevor Moore. Father Jordan was aware that Moore's triplet sister Stacy was the editor of the weekly, but he had to make her see what her brother really was._

_A dark thought crossed the priest's mind, what if they were in league? What if this reckless gamble was for nothing? There was no way in hell Father Jordan was going to do the wolf's bidding. No, Father Jordan was not going to be someone else's puppet there was a way to play the game to survive, he wasn't becoming the wolf's errand boy. No doubt the wolf would eventually use someone else and Father Jordan's secrets would be exposed, The Wolf scared him, but a mob of angry rioters scared him more. _

_The wolf had made a fatal error, Father Jordan acted like the helpless victim but now it was time to do, what Father Jordan did best._

_Be the Snitch._

_He was too late._

The anxious priest arrived too late, to find a few Journalists scurrying around the building, he received the news pretty quickly Stacy had been murdered by her own brother along with a forensic. The bodies were still in the office, Father Jordan saw them both as the gory sight washed over his eyes. Offering a silent prayer for the red-head Journalist and the forensic, the local priest departed from the office.

Then he learnt why they died, the Domesday report.

Father Jordan read the paper in a surreal fashion, his secrets, his fling with Amelia, her pregnancy, what he had done to stop it from becoming public, his status as a snitch, his greed and corruption, all of this was already out there. The Journalists in this building now knew this information and soon the whole of Wellington would too.

"Hey, you alright?" One Journalist asked, his voice edged however with a tint of hostility, now that he knew the type of man his priest really was.

"Forgive me" Father Jordan croaked "I have sinned"

"Haven't we all?" The Journalist responded flatly, he picked up a copy of the paper, he sighed before flinging it to the floor once again, "Say Father, why are you here?" he suddenly asked "Priests don't just show up in the middle of the night" and Father Jordan knew what else he wanted to say, of all the nights he could have turned up, why _tonight?_ Why the very night in the last hours before the storm hit the entire population of Wellington.

"I came to give information, to the editor" Father Jordan responded. What he knew about the airborne virus was already in the paper. The Immune survivor was confirmed as Oscar Williamson, but how the hell Father Jordan was meant to get some vials of blood from him was beyond his reasoning. The Wolf must have used this "Cult" mentioned on the back page to spy on everyone, "That's how the bastard knew!" Father Jordan seethed to himself, Trevor Moore had contacts in high places indeed.

"Information of...?" The Journalist left the question hanging.

"The one thing you don't have in here" Father Jordan responded, he stood up as he said it. His knees felt shaky and his world was spinning, but he took a brave gulp of oxygen because he knew what he had to do next. "The identity of Wellington Wolf, his Trevor Moore"

The Journalist blinked in surprise "How do you know this?" he inquired.

"He threatened me with death, so I kept quiet" Father Jordan explained "But I could tell by his voice that it matched Trevor's, it must be why he killed Stacy, he didn't want that paper out there giving him infamy. He wanted a low profile as he already knew he was guilty, his sister must not have known this fact. Moore had his own agenda and... and I think he wants to save Wellington from this airborne strain of the virus, because he asked me to get vials of the Immune... I mean, Oscar Williamson's blood. But Trevor is mad, he is deluded he thinks he can save everyone by murdering innocents, by smuggling walkers into Wellington just to test if survivors are immune, the cult must have helped him, but the fact remains, Trevor Moore is the Wellington Wolf, it may not be the paper but tell everyone you know that" and it was with that final instruction that the determined priest swept past the Journalist, but not before the curious Journalist could enquire further.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To Kill the wolf and atone for my sins" Father Jordan responded, leaving a silence in his wake as he left the building.

He knew where Trevor lived, that would be his first destination. Father Jordan got into his car and sighed, wondering how on earth he was meant to actually kill the wolf, he didn't have a gun. He wasn't a policeman nor a watchman on the wall, those were the only people allowed access to guns. Some criminals probably ran amok in the streets with guns too, but Father Jordan wasn't that violent a criminal. All he had were a few sharp knives, and Trevor had a gun and God knows what else.

To the priest, this was a suicide mission, but the paper was already out there. He'd be ripped to shreds, unless he actually did something to redeem himself and he could imagine the admiration he would receive if he was the slayer of the wolf.

It was a long-shot, but Father Jordan either killed the wolf, or he died. In this game, he guess you won or you died, there was no middle ground.

and right now with the paper out there his name was in ruin.

Time to go from Ruin To Redemption.

* * *

Tim had snuck back in the house, just as the morning sun peaked over the horizon he had mustered up every sort of bravery he could muster, to walk back towards that house and face his group once again. He expected they'd all be awake now and that they'd wonder where he was, yet to the African american sheer relief everyone still seemed to be dozing upstairs. He managed to put some clothes back on, he was as quiet as a mouse. Yet his mind was still plagued with worries.

How could Stacy ditch him like that?

Stacy... he... he was so stupid to believe that a girl like her would want anything to do with a guy like him. He was such a fucking idiot, he had deluded himself into thinking it was love. When he should have known from the start she was using him for her own ends, if he had thought more with his head and not his private parts. He wouldn't be in this situation, right now and now Stacy knew that Oscar was immune and that would be in the next week's paper. He tried to remember what day the paper came out on...

His heart stopped.

It was today.

He raced to the front porch of their house to find the newspaper usually at the front of the house, it was gone.

Panicking now, he raced back inside and tore into the living room, he saw a curtain of curly blonde hair draped behind the largest couch, he should have known. Terri was a morning bird, she always woke up hours before anyone else, right now she turned to face a clearly terrified Tim.

"I was wondering" she said "How long it would take you too notice that I'm here"

Tim took a shaky step towards her, to his heart stopping horror, he saw the daily copy of the Wellington Weekly curled up in Terri's fingers, he couldn't fathom any words but he finally managed to stutter "G-give, me the p-paper..."

"No" Was Terri's damming verdict.

"Please" Tim begged.

"I know you were fucking that editor of the paper" Terri began "You told her Oscar was Immune, now the whole of Wellington knows too, added that to the fact the cult are here and spying on us..."

"WHAT!?" Tim exploded.

"It's all over" Terri's stare was usually terrifying but right now Tim kept his eyes firmly on the ground, as Terri made a strange sort of laugh from where she was seated on the couch, "It's funny isn't it? Fourth day of school and Wellington is already fucked, you know the virus is airborne too? Just thought I'd mention that"

"Need... paper..." Tim began in a deluded fashion, aware of himself stumbling towards the crumpled copy of the Wellington Weekly.

"Stay back" Terri instructed calmly, when Tim refused to acknowledge her words, she pulled out the large knife she had taken from JJ earlier, she pointed it dangerously towards Tim who seemed to freeze in his tracks, Terri cold glare freezing his bones in place as he lower lip wobbled, never had Terri seen someone look so utterly pathetic.

"I could kill you" she droned, as if she were at an ordinary office job and not in tense situation "But, why rob your brother of that right?"

"Terri..." Tim was pleading now, tears about to burst over his eyelids.

"GUYS!" Terri shrieked in her loudest and most high pitched tone, the reaction was instant Tim heard the creaking of bedsprings above him, he heard the first footsteps from the celling as they pit patted across the floor upstairs...

Without thinking Tim dived at Terri knocking her down to the ground as he desperately tried to wrestle the paper out of her hands, Terri's knife slid under a nearby sofa, but before a struggle could even become apparent there was a yell and Tim felt the air get knocked out of him. He rolled onto his back to find a furious and red faced Brandon towering over him.

"What the fuck?" he spat "Don't fucking hurt my sister!"

He must have sprinted down the stairs at lighting speed upon hearing his sister's panicked yell, indeed it was a full 5 seconds before the rest of the group even appeared at the top of the stairs before clambering down the narrow things, all of them still in their sleeping gear and all look disgruntled and sleepy as they rubbed their eyelids, as Tom stepped forwards and asked the Rogers siblings "S'matter?"

Upon seeing his twin, Tim eyes found the floor as he tensed up, not preparing for any of this at all.

"Read it" Terri instructed thrusting the paper at Tom, who took it and soon as he unfolded it and he saw Oscar's name printed down for the world to see, along with the fact he was immune... it was more than enough to cause several shocked gasps.

"How?" Ana barely mouthed the word, as Oscar went a shade paler than he already was.

"Read it" Terri instructed again "Read every word out loud"

* * *

It was over.

Tim lay there not bothering to get up as his brother read through everything... each word being a stab to Tim's already frail stomach he didn't dare utter a word or look up at the group. He was even afraid to move in case it angered them. No one reacted or said a word when details about his affair with Stacy came out, Tom read on his voice not changing in the slightest and this scared Tim even more. No one reacted at the other news either the cult spying on them, the airborne virus and the Domesday report, obviously Tom didn't read every single person in the report, in fact he skimmed over a few, read the last page and put the paper down.

The silence was overbearing, Tom stood up and Tim saw his brother's bare feet approaching him. Tom couldn't bear it he had too look to face his brother.

**"YOU FUCKING RETARDED PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT! YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"** Tom exploded, in a sort of shrill scream that made everyone else in the room flinch uncomfortably, Tim cried in pain as his brother kicked the life out of him, each powerful foot leaving blood trailing down Tim's head, or leaving a bruise on his stomach.

"STOP THIS!" Maria screamed, the Mexican woman (by some magical means) managing too hold Tom back, it was only then the others seemed to come to life, as they helped Maria to hold back the raging lion who came in the form of Tom. Tim's twin would have probably killed him had the group not intervened and that wasn't even a joke.

"The cult, fucking airborne virus and this!" Ana shrieked, jabbing a finger at Tim in hatred, "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" she roared at him.

"a..." was the only word that came out of Tim's mouth before he was blocked off by a dozen shouts.

"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Brandon spat at him.

"GAME OVER, IT'S GAME OVER! WERE FUCKING DOOMED!" Luis bellowed with the force of a bullet.

"We have to hide, when people see this..." Maria was stating, the room seemed to fall quiet again as Tim found his shaky voice as he dared mutter "I was... I was trying to help us. I was trying to help us gain money off her so we wouldn't fall into poverty! I know, I've been an idiot" he stated sadly "and I don't expect to be forgiven..."

"Damn straight you ain't!" Wilbert ranted "Fucking darky can't be trusted, I knew it all along..." yet Wilbert's ranting was so common now that it was (in a strange way) soothing to Tim's ears. At least Wilbert wasn't that mad with him, because Wilbert was treating him the same as he always did.

"I... I just..." Tim began once again.

"Out" came a single snarl.

Tim looked up at his twin who had uttered that word of hatred.

"OUT!" He bellowed, once again sending a ripple of discomfort across the room, Tim gulped and looked at his brother's face which was scrunched up in hatred.

"His... his your brother Tom. Don't do this" Maria pleaded weakly for Tim's defence.

"His nothing to me now" was Tom's cold response, something about this made Tim lose what ever sort of restraint he had left, as he found himself blurting out all of the emotions he had bottled up for so long.

"I TRIED!" He screamed, drawing all attention to him "HAVE YOU ALL FUCKING FORGOTTEN, HOW LONG I LED YOU!? KEPT YOU TOGETHER!? TRIED TO POSITIVE!? I KEPT US ALL GLUED TOGETHER AND EVEN HERE IN WELLINGTON I TRIED TO HELP US AND I TRIED SO HARD... I DID LOADS OF STUPID FUCKING THINGS, I KNOW THAT ALREADY RIGHT!? BUT I TRIED TO HELP US LIVE HERE! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL STILL ACTING LIKE WERE OUT THERE, WITH THE WALKERS! YOU'RE ALL SO DISTRUSTFUL OF ONE ANOTHER AND THE ATMOSPHERE ALWAYS SEEMS... TOXIC! I TRIED TO HELP! THAT'S ALL I WAS DOING, BUT YOU PEOPLE NEVER APPRECIATE IT! NEVER! LOOK AT THAT DOMESDAY REPORT, I'M NOT THE ONLY FUCK UP HERE, YOU ALL ARE! ALL THIS CAME OUT BECAUSE WE CAN'T BE A GROUP! NO ONE SUPPORTED ME! YET I SUPPORTED YOU, JUST... JUST THINK ABOUT THAT!"

Tim finished his outburst panting heavily, leaving another silence across the room, would they all hate him now? Defiantly but Tim didn't care for now he had nothing else to lose.

A few approaching shouts from outside seemed to fill the void in the house, as JJ cautiously went to peer out of the window, that was before there was a sudden shattering of glass and a large brick flew through the air, sending shards of glass with it, the brick skidded right up to Terri's feet and the shouts suddenly became much more distinguishable.

"FUCKING TRAITORS!"

"GIVE US OSCAR!"

"PUSSIES!"

"YOU DOOMED US ALL! GIVE US OSCAR!"

"WE'LL DIE OF THIS AIRBORNE SHIT! GIVE US THE IMMUNE GUY!"

"Gather what you can" Tom's voice was shaking as another window shattered in an opposite room, "and get out the back, don't stop running for anything" these instructions were met instantly as the rioters approached the house at an ever faster pace, it was already starting as the crowd approaching the house grew in number, those flocking out of nearby houses to join the chant of hatred, those that had read the paper and now knew the truth.

Tim lay on the floor, aching from Tom's beating he didn't expect to go with his group. So he could certainly say he was surprised when someone tapped at his head with the sole of his foot, looking up Tim saw Tom's stern face above his own.

"I'm coming with you?" was all Tim asked, rather surprised by this gesture.

"You're not forgiven" Tom growled, however he helped his twin brother to his feet, as he added "But I don't want you dead".

and with that an ashamed Tim lingered at the back of the group as they sprinted out of the back of their house, maybe his outburst had some sort of effect on them. Maybe they would finally start acting like a group for once, either way he promised he would never, ever fuck up again. He would kill anyone who threatened his group and he meant anyone, even anyone that appeared to be a threat to them. Tim knew he would shoot them without a moment's hesitation.

Because no one, not one of his group was going to die because of his error.

JJ meanwhile was telling the group that he knew a place they could hide for a while, he remembered Sarah mentioning a tree on a small hill, he had seen that hill before and knew where it was located and Sarah mentioned that her house was right in front of the hill.

Oscar meanwhile looked back, the riot had started and he was the epicentre of it, should he have been running with Ana by his side?Her sword tight in her hands she had sworn to protect Oscar from any sort of harm, yet Oscar wondered if he was worth the trouble. Did he really want to see his friends die to protect him?

He ran on for now, but he knew this was simply an illusion of freedom, his secret was out.

He was already a dead man walking.

* * *

Clementine and the group were bustling around in the kitchen, preparing for another school and work day. Rebecca lay back on the sofa Eddie seemed rather eager to go on the school run today, she asked him what the cause of this was, he sheepishly replied that he enjoyed the walk. Which she translated that he'd probably come across a teacher he liked the look of, it was probably Violet Moore, the redhead who was the youngest and prettiest teacher at Lilly and AJ's school.

"AJ tells me you were chatting with Miss Moore yesterday" Rebecca informed Eddie, Eddie shot a glare at a grinning AJ, before returning his gaze to Rebecca.

"Well, she seemed nice" Eddie mumbled, as Molly walked past them, munching on an green apple (her form of breakfast) she overheard Eddie's comment the blonde woman rolled her eyes.

"Nice in bed?" she muttered, these three words were enough to make Eddie turn as red as tomato.

"N..n...no... nothing like that" was his poor recovery.

"What's going on?" came the curious inquiry from Sarah, who had picked up on the situation. Molly grinned in victory there was nothing better than using Sarah's innocent mind for her own form of entertainment, as the blonde woman merely muttered "Oh, Eddie's got a girlfriend, we just learnt she's pregnant"

"Eddie's got a girlfriend!" Sarah exclaimed loudly enough for the whole kitchen to hear "and your having a baby together! Cool!" Sarah mused, as every head turned towards an embarrassed Eddie, to further add to the confusion Lilly turned to Nick who asked "Oh, so does that mean I get a new friend now?"

"Erm no, Molly's just joking" Nick told her, it took a short while to clear the confusion, at which put Molly was laughing hard enough anyway, she had her entertainment. Rebecca scalded her "You shouldn't keep joking like that" she snapped "It will confuse the kids" yet Molly really didn't give two shits, she needed something to lighten up her day before she spent it pulling up weeds in a field.

Clementine meanwhile was busy munching on some dried toast, she had barely gotten any sleep last night, thinking of what school would be like today. What she would say to Luis today or how she could get the upper hand on Scott or Lizzie. Or what stupid thing Miss King would do... either way she was tired. Sarah was scribbling away in her private diary last night. Clementine pretended she was asleep but she heard the Hispanic girl enter and begin to write away, she only wondered what on earth had happened between her and Nick to make her update her diary so fast, it must have been something relevant.

Clementine looked up at Sarah as they both smiled at each other, Clementine remembering those moments on the hill last night and how it made her happy just thinking about it now, she would stick by Sarah today in school. Seeing as JJ was suspended for two weeks and then...

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

Frequent and urgent knocking on their front door suddenly seemed to catch the group's attention, Luke looked back at the group as they all approached the door in curiosity.

"Hmm, I didn't think Gertrude was an early bird" Luke muttered to himself, usually the only person to visit their house was Gertrude, seeing as she only lived next door and would come around every so often, but Luke never saw her come around this early.

He opened the door to find 10, complete unfamiliar faces gazing back at him, they looked terrified.

"Is... is erm Sarah in?" one blonde boy asked.

"Yeah" Luke replied, shooting this group a very odd look indeed "Erm, what do y'all want?" Luke made no attempt to cover the suspicion lingering in his voice to find ten strangers camped outside of his house. They all looked over their shoulders nervously as if afraid to be seen, the second Sarah came into vision. The blonde boy yelled "Sarah!" as Sarah smile lit up the house "JJ!" she mused.

"Brilliant you know each other" a black woman responded dryly, and then (before Luke could stop him) a large African man at the front of the group shoved the southern man out of the way.

"HEY!" Luke yelled.

"We need to hole up here a while" was all the man said, as this new group suddenly just seemed to barge right into their hallway, the twin of the man at the front of the group quietly closed the door behind him. JJ greeted Sarah, but Sarah noticed that he seemed unnaturally nervous and one thing both Luke and Sarah picked up about this group was that they were all dressed in their sleeping gear.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Tom yelled, as he burst into the main living area of the house, causing many too look up in surprise "Were hiding here for a while, you know the drill, get those windows covered, doors blocked..."

"What the actual fuck!?" Nick shouted, standing up and approaching the large African american man.

"It's you" Luis growled, glaring openly at Nick, as Nick glared back at him, it was then Nick realised this was the group of ten whose house was attacked by that walker a few days back and if what Trevor said was true then... they had a immune survivor with them. Nick eyes rolled naturally towards Oscar.

"Luis" Clementine said.

"Clementine" he replied.

"Tom, Tim, Oscar?" Eddie muttered.

Oscar waved back at him silently.

"Oh it's you" Stephanie snarled, glaring at Wilbert.

"Hate too see you too" was his grouchy reply.

"What the hell is going on here!" Luke exclaimed, bursting onto the scene, as Tom turned him and muttered "You haven't read the paper yet?"

"Well, no..."

He thrust the paper at Luke, who picked it up, but it was on the wrong side as he saw the cult make the headline on the back page. He shouted (for his whole group to hear) "THE CULT!? WHAT THE FUCK!"

"What?" Clementine sprang up, not liking this news in the slightest.

"That's right, the damn cult are back" Tom growled as he felt free to take a seat on their couch to rest his aching legs.

Luke looked back at him blankly.

"Y-you know about the cult as well?" he asked.

"Erm yeah..." Sarah spoke up, as she looked at the ground "I meant to tell you guys, JJ and his group came across the group as well, but I kinda forgot..."

The two groups looked over at each other.

There was a lot of explaining to do.


	9. Judgement Day

**A/N: Okay, onto chapter 9, now once again I'm in one of those lazy moods so I'll get right on with the chapter, however if there are any more questions about OC's/The plot/feedback/grammar etc that you want answered feel free to PM me as I will answer a PM, for now I'll get on with the last chapter before the dreaded Chapter 10.**

**Also, I'm planning on doing a massive re-write of my past four fics, it may be a long while before it happens, but in these re-write's I will add more character descriptions, some characters who died will live on further, key points and events may change to suit what I think is best. For instance, the whole Cult scenario at the end of GTR is something I felt could have been improved, as well as some character fates and deaths, so I thought I'd give you guys a heads up on that. **

**Anyway on with the chapter!**

* * *

"This is Wellington News, with Molly Harper and Eddie Ramos" came Luke's business like voice-over, as all eyes rested on where Molly and Eddie looked as presentable as possible in front of imaginary cameras.

"Good morning" Molly said curtly, before diving into the latest events that had exploded around Wellington.

"Oscar Williamson, a construction worker and mute man, has been revealed as an Immune survivor of the Walker Virus"

Molly turned her head towards Eddie, who carried on the story as if they were natural reporters on Fox News.

"The information was revealed, after Journalist Stacy Moore, acquired the information from Tim Akastu" Eddie inhaled before continuing "Stacy was believed to have seduced Tim in order to gain the information that Oscar had survived a bite wound he had received the previous day. and despite his friend's efforts to conceal this fact, it has been published in the Wellington Weekly, leading to outrage.

He paused there, allowing Molly to carry on telling the tale they had on their plate.

"In other news, the walker virus has also become airborne" she looked over at her group with this troubling news, before she carried on relaying all the information that she currently knew "The airborne strain is said to affect anyone who comes within 5 metres of the infected. Residents of the Wellington have been warned to stay away from the wall. After a death at the wall yesterday was confirmed to be caused via infection from the airborne strain of the virus, this has led to mass confusion and panic"

"In light of this information" Eddie informed them all "People are angry at Oscar and his group for hiding this information and are currently hunting him down, possibly killing the other group and planning on killing Oscar as well and using his brain and organs to develop a cure to this airborne strain of the virus".

Eddie coughed and rubbed his nose, as Molly turned to face her audience.

"There has been public outrage, as President Schulz has refused to sign a petition helping the poor. Deaths and executions in relation to starvation and poverty" Eddie moodily told the listening audience "This has lead to a riot to overthrow the president, which is currently ongoing"

Molly drew a deep breath before she read out her next bulletin

"and finally, an in depth report of the personal lives of crimes of everyone in Wellington has been published" she took a short breath before plunging back into the story "the report is likely to turn people against each other within Wellington, and the writers of the report are all part of a cult that have shot at many residents in Wellington and tried to kill them. They have excluded their own crimes from the list, leading too many people who may turn on them as well as each other. It is believed the President paid these cultists to spy on the population of Wellington".

With this Molly and Eddie smiled and both simultaneously bowed at the rest of the group in which there was a polite applause. From where they were stood in the kitchen, Molly smiled at the group in a snarky manner.

"So, now me and Eddie kindly updated everyone on the shit going down, have we cleared all confusion?"

There were several nods and echoed "Yes"'s from Clementine and Luis' groups at Molly's words,

"So, in short shit has hit the fan?" Luke asked of Tom.

"Not shit, several piles of shit have hit and broken the fan" Tom growled, his grim eyes locked on the front door as his ears listened out for any sound of anyone approaching the house. The scraping of a foot, the sound of chanting... Tom's attention was fixated on any signs of approaching danger.

"So, what exactly is the plan here?" Rebecca interjected of the group at large, there was a short silence as many pairs of eyes locked upon the largest and most prominent form of Tom. Who seemed to carry the aura of the leader with him, a few people shuffled uncomfortably when they realised how long and loud the silence surrounding Tom seemed to get. Tom eventually coughed and feeling all eyes on him, gave his response.

"We hole up here and hide" he muttered, these words (even if muttered with all of Tom's conviction) certainly fell flat to the rest of the group.

"Yeah" Molly puffed out sarcastically, "Hole up and here and hide and then let that damn cult take over this place..."

"The cult will be dealt with" Maria said to soothe Molly "In the madness out there, they'll all destroy each other. We just need to sit tight and make sure Oscar stays safe"

"Look" Molly began calmly "I appericate your trying to protect your friend and all, but that doesn't mean all of us have to sit here like duck's" her eyes flashed towards the door at this point "We could help get rid of fucking cult, have you've seen what they are capable of..?."

"Yes" Maria stressed, "But..."

"They put us through fucking hell alright" Wilbert grunted grumpily from next to Maria, she flashed him a scorning "Not really helping me here" sort of look, that (for one of those rare times) managed to silence the old man.

"You hardly helped matters back then" Maria reminded him, in which he only grunted once again in response.

"Regardless" Nick piped up "Molly's right here guys, we can't just sit back and do nothing"

"Can we all just... you know" Eddie stuttered "Not get involved with bloodshed for fucking once?"

"I agree" Ana told them coldly, as she directly faced Molly "You are causing trouble, you go out there and get captured or something, they might torture information out of you on Oscar's whereabouts"

Molly simply had to laugh at her.

"You are over-paranoid lady" she guffawed "They don't even know I'm with Oscar, stop being so stupid..."

"Stupid?" Ana growled, as she seemed to square up to Molly, in those few seconds the tension in the air seemed to sky-rocket "You think this is stupid? Is this just some joke too you?"

"Hiding here?" Molly replied raising one faint eyebrow at Ana "Yeah, I think it's a fucking joke"

"We're here too protect Oscar and your group...!"

"Going out there and fighting those fuckers is also protecting the group, to ensure that cult never back to fuck with us again..."

"You're being unreasonable" Ana concluded flatly.

"No you're being unreasonable one here!" Molly ranted "Even if we do kill the cult, you think Oscar there lives happily ever after!? No!? People will still want his immune blood and if we get in trouble, remember you brought him too us! You...!"

"That's enough!" Luke shouted, asserting whatever authority he had.

"Were stayin' put, it's safest for all of us!" he announced, in which Molly seemed to mutter something under her breath, before storming out of the room. Luke yelled her name but she didn't turn back to face anyone. They all heard her ascending the stairwell above them with heavy, sulky feet that seemed to drag on the staircase before a harsh slamming of a door upstairs silenced her footsteps.

"What's got into her?" Clementine thought to herself, a thought she knew she shared with many of the others.

"Sorry bout that" Luke mumbled, scratching his hairs at the back of his head. Seemingly embarrassed by Molly's behaviour before he coughed and addressed Tom's group "You folk are welcome to stay until this all blows over" in which Tom accepted for his group at large.

For now, they were all safe and bundled up in this little house. The same couldn't be said about others...

* * *

Trevor pushed down on the pedal as his car screeched to a halt in front of his house.

His hands gripped on the steering wheel, as he struggled to control his breathing everything seemed out of focus, his palms sliding from the steering wheel as he gazed at his shoes in silence. Gulping down whatever sort of fear and anxiety bubbled in his stomach he pushed open the door and sprinted across the front lawn, it was only then he realised another bright turquoise car had already seemingly skimmed into their front yard.

The front door stood slightly ajar.

"VIOLET!" Trevor roared, speeding towards his house, his whole body was numb with fear, whether or not this was for himself, or his little sister's own life he didn't know. All he knew was that he was horrified when he slammed the front door fully open, only to find his sister stood there. Their local priest had his arm around her neck and a gun pointed at her head.

"TREVOR!" Violet screeched, Trevor pulled his pistol from his holster and aimed it at his priest, but he used his sister as a meat shield effectively.

"GO ON, YOU FUCKING WOLF!" The priest yelled, who Trevor now realised was Father Jordan. He looked completely insane his black eyes seemingly popping from his head as sweat drenched his skin, as Violet meekly tried to free herself but it came too no avail as Father Jordan's eyes locked on the pistol.

"Shoot us both, you had no problem killing one sister, why not another?" he snarled at the frozen redhead.

"You..." Trevor began in horror.

"I know and she knows... everything" Father Jordan growled, directing his eyes towards a copy of the Wellington Weekly on a nearby sofa. "She was busy reading it when I came in" Father Jordan explained "She's a bit upset with you" he finished with a devious smile. Violet whimpered as the priest spoke, but in the new silence that engulfed them she looked up at her brother and finally spoke.

"Is... is..." she stuttered "Is it all true Trevor?"

Trevor felt his pistol shake in his fingers, as a warm feeling rose in his throat, his vision started to get blurry before he could stop himself.

"I never wanted you to find out like this" he croaked miserably.

"Oh... God!" Violet moaned, dissolving into some very loud and very audible tears, her whole body heaving in Father Jordan's grip, Trevor felt the own tears fall down his own cheeks, as he tried to meekly mutter "V-violet..." but this was met with no response as she wept ever louder, making Trevor wince uncomfortably, he'd never felt so ashamed of himself, he felt dirty and unwanted in those moments.

"Ain't so high and mighty now, are you?" Father Jordan jeered at a downtrodden Trevor, "Thinking you could use me to get that Immune survivor's blood samples? I'm not your pawn here..."

"Wait, what the fuck are you on about?" Trevor growled, having no knowledge of conversing with the priest in this way at all.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Father Jordan shouted "You are the wolf! You're the fucking wolf! The Wellington Wolf! You told me never to look at you, but I knew it was you, by your voice!" He finished ranting there, as Trevor glared openly at him "You've lost you fucking marbles!" he spat.

"YOU'VE ALREADY CONFESSED ALL YOUR SINS!" Father Jordan roared "YOU ADMITTED IT!"

"I'M NOT THE FUCKING WOLF!" Trevor bellowed in defiance "I KILLED MY SISTER ALRIGHT!? I MURDERED PEOPLE OUT OF ANGER BEFORE, I WAS JERK BACK IN THE ARMED FORCES! AND I BORDER-LINING NECROPHILIAC AND I LIED TO MY LITTLE SISTER ABOUT IT ALL TOO PROTECT HER! WHICH I REALISE I SHOULD NEVER HAVE DONE, SHE DESERVED THE TRUTH... LISTEN TO ME! I'VE DONE A LOT OF BAD SHIT! BUT NO WAY IN FUCKING HELL AM I THE MAN, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO HUNT DOWN FOR MONTHS!"

Father Jordan gave a dismissive shake of his head and muttered "Lies" however Violet looked up her brother's words were real and raw and she could tell when her brother lied. She had suspected he had been lying for a quite a while now about things, but left him to his own business. She didn't realise how bad the truth really was, but despite everything she had learned, she still loved her brother.

"Now drop the gun" Father Jordan growled, when Trevor refused to move an inch, he dug the barrel of the gun he held inches into Violet's red hairs, making her quiver in fear, as she clenched her eyes shut.

"DROP IT! OR I'LL KILL HER!" He bellowed.

With a defeated sigh, Trevor did so.

BANG!

Violet screamed, unarmed Trevor fell to the floor, a rapidly expanding dark patch was visible underneath his white buttoned t-shirt, he gasped as Violet's whole word seemed to fail. Father Jordan was laughing like a madman somewhere far away as Violet's only heard ringing in her ears...

"ONCE I KILL THE WOLF!" Father Jordan shouted whether to Trevor or Violet, no one of them knew but they could both hear him regardless "MY PAST SINS ARE FORGOTTEN! I DID WHAT I HAD TO HERE! SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, IT'S THE BEST WAY TO PLAY THE GAME...!"

During this rant Violet felt something slide into the sole of her shoe, she looked down to find Trevor's pistol there, he must have slid the thing over to her. With a sudden burst of strength, Violet kicked the deranged priest where it hurt.

"the fuck...!" Father Jordan hissed between clenched teeth, as he fell backwards his grip on Violet loosening, enabling her to reach to the ground and scoop up the pistol on the floor. Father Jordan went to grab her again only to find a pistol in his face.

"I saw what you did too, asshole"

BANG

Father Jordan's went still as the bullet whizzed through his skull, he was dead within second, slumping onto the ground behind Violet. Violet herself dropped the gun in her fingers, that priest being the first man she had ever killed. She didn't even feel sad or remorseful about this fact, she was still numb, she didn't care about anything other than the fact her brother was shot. She turned to face where he lay on the floor, despite his condition he still managed to smile at her.

"W-what are you smiling about?" she croaked, tears falling freely from her eyes as she let her dying brother, rest his head on her legs.

"Right between the eyes" he muttered in pride "That was... pretty badass sis"

Trevor and Violet shared a moment of laughter after this comment that was before Trevor's hacking laughs turned into a fit, in which he coughed up blood. Violet held on tight to her dying brother, as he shook and moaned in her grip.

"Karma's a bitch" he muttered.

"Don't... don't die" was all Violet could utter in response to this comment, once again Trevor smiled at her. She could only think now, "Why he is still smiling!?" as more tears fell from her cheeks and onto her brother's prone form.

"Sis" he called out suddenly.

"Yeah" she sobbed.

"I... whatever I am too you now, a sister murder, corpse fucking, retarded piece of shit! I just... I just want you too know, that... that I wasn't... I was never the wolf. Ever. Whoever the real wolf was must have impersonated my voice and..." he sounded desperate as he clung onto his sister "Please, believe me" he begged.

"I... I promise you" Violet sobbed "I'll find the Wolf, I'll find whoever did this too us and..." she was unable to finish her sentence there as Trevor grunted and shuffled slightly from where he was lain on the ground to his own house, he still managed to smile as he gazed at his sister one last time.

"All this time I've been trying to protect you, trying to hide the truth from you" he uttered "How ironic is it, you can handle yourself. I should have seen that from the start, it's just... funny" and with that he gave one last shuddering cough before his eyes went still and he stopped breathing.

"No" Violet moaned, yet she found herself closing her brother's eyes, before she wept openly onto his corpse.

From outside of the house the real wolf saw it all, Trevor and the priest were dead. The wolf was dressed rather plainly in black jeans and a dark hoodie, the hood up which concealed his face (or most of it), Trevor would be known as the wolf now, no one would believe the rantings of his sister, they would simply see her as the grieving sister unable to accept the fact her brother was the wolf all along.

The wolf knew, the second he ordered Father Jordan to go and get those vials. The priest with such a reputation of being a snitch would grass Trevor up as the wolf as soon as he was free. Sure enough the priest had done so, The wolf heard word spreading around the central town about the identity of the wolf being discovered. The wolf himself hadn't impersonated Trevor's voice, he expected Trevor to be framed as the wolf henceforth clearing his name. Then the wolf himself would either deal with Father Jordan or let him live, his rantings for Trevor being the wolf (if kept alive) would have certainly convinced the population Trevor Moore was the Wellington Wolf.

But now with the Domesday report out there, chaos had broken loose. Both the priest and Trevor were dead which saved the wolf some trouble. He was still hoping Father Jordan would get the vials for him, but that was not meant to be. So he went and retrieved them from Stacy's desk herself, the vials were simply sitting there surrounded by two corpses, how Father Jordan had missed them, he didn't know. Maybe he thought they were normal vials of blood or something, or maybe he was disobeying the wolf on purpose.

However the wolf knew, these vials wouldn't be enough. Oscar Williamson's house and been destroyed in a fire, but he and his group and fled beforehand, examining the smouldering wreckage of the house. The wolf managed to find a half burnt note that came in handy to him, it was defiantly written by Oscar and it explained how he was once in an asylum and that made a cure by using immune people brain stems. He didn't know how Oscar had escaped as the bottom of the note had been burnt away. But now, the wolf clutched the note in his fingers. Ready to find out where Oscar really was and retrieve organ tissues from the man and find this cure and end this mission.

With Trevor out of the way, the police force would be disorganised, chaos would reign. The cult would cause mayhem and kill all those they believed to be inferior to themselves. The wolf had worked with them for a while, he hated them and they hated him. Their arrogance was going to be the death of them, once they were out of the way the wolf's name would be clear. Father Jordan's purpose was to clear the real wolf's name and frame someone else. and Trevor being framed/killed would put the police force into shambles, allowing more chaos to reign. In the madness the wolf could obtain the cure with no one paying attention to him, this riot would be the perfect distraction.

But he had to find Oscar, before someone else did.

He turned away from the Moore house, yet he couldn't help but mutter one last thing.

"You should have played the game smarter than that father"

and with that he was gone, walking towards the riot in town.

* * *

Scott didn't know what the hell was going on.

One minute he was marching outside of the central hub, his house-mates and friends crowded around him. Rather than turn everyone against each other, the Domesday report had only united them to kill this damn cult once and for all. How dare those assholes spy on them? Listing down their own crimes while acting all high and mighty and omitting their own. Many people surrounding Scott had been chased by that cult at one point, hunted down like foxes... their faces shone in anger.

and then, outside of the central hub, the cult had appeared. Wealthier citizens who brandished guns from the top of their houses shot down at the rioters. Some of the rioters had guns as they fired back, but the crowd shifted, people screamed and shouted. Scott felt himself get shoved to the left and then too the right, he fell to the floor as bullet's ripped at the concrete next to him. The horrible squelching and pit patting of the bullets as they shot someone above Scott, made him wince in fear. He felt pain... someone's foot scraped against his head...

His head felt woozy... blood was in his eyes... someone stomped down on his hand, he was being crushed here! He tried to rise to his feet but was knocked to the ground once again, just in time as a bullet whizzed over his black spiky hairs.

With no other option he had to crawl to safety, in the madness he didn't know where he was going, only that he was moving.

"SCOTT!" someone screamed.

Scott turned to see Lizzie, bruised and bloody lying a few feet away from him, she looked about as terrified as Scott imagined himself to be.

"OVER HERE!" Scott yelled, Lizzie made a few small movements towards him, but a dozen hands and feet, and lots of people falling over prevented her from making much progress. Gritting his teeth together, Scott reached out his arm and was able to pull Lizzie close to him, he turned to face where he thought he could see an alleyway between dozens of scampering legs.

"OKAY!" He roared over to Lizzie "WE NEED TO HEAD ON OTHER..."

and then Scott felt gunfire near his form, something sharp scraped across his arm, Lizzie fell limp in his grip, a hole in the middle of her head signalled where she had been shot and killed. Scott gazed at her, for a few seconds that contained an eternity.

Lizzie.

Dead.

No, she was alive a second ago! What... what just happened!? What the actual fuck just happened!? He couldn't process it, he was still holding on to Lizzie's limp form as if she was still alive. She couldn't be dead, not like that. Scott hardly knew her, how was she so athletic? why did she seem so different from the other girls? She can't just have died and cut all of Scott's curiosity short, no. He still had to learn so much about her, they needed to go to school together when this riot was over and hang out and...

"AH!"

A distant screaming, a resounding bang that made many people duck in fear, Scott was suddenly snapped out of his sudden grief and scrambled forwards, letting go of Lizzie's body. He had barely crawled forwards a few steps, when he turned around to get one last glimpse of Lizzie's body. But it was already obscured from view, probably being crushed by the crowd or torn apart by bullets, he gulped down a lump in his throat and crawled onwards, he found that phantom of an alley. It was empty, stumbling through the thing and away from the roaring crowds around him...

Until that was, someone grabbed onto his collar.

"I know you" someone growled into his ear, Scott looked up to see a group of thuggish looking men surrounding his pathetic form, "You knew them kids, in Oscar's group didn't ya?" came a question from the same man, Scott didn't know.

"I... i don't know..." Scott whimpered.

SMACK

He felt woozy, before he realised he had been punched in the face something trickled from his nose, the men seemed more threatening than ever.

"I never hung out with them!" Scott yelled in panic "That freak JJ and his friends hung out with that Clementine and Sarah..."

"Who?" The man breathed down his ear.

"The... the girl with the cap, quirky one... African american, quite small... and the Hispanic girl, with black glasses and missing her left arm..." Scott explained to them, hoping at least one of them would recognise the two girls.

"I've seen them, I think" another man muttered.

"Where?" another man harshly asked him.

"Their part of Luke's group, You know young guy, southern accent. Works on the fields with us, if this punk" he jabbed a finger at Scott at this point "is telling the truth, than I've seen him with those two girls quite a few times"

"Than where does this Luke guy live" the man who was holding Scott let the grieving boy go, as he continued to speak "It sounds like Immune boy and his gang may have holed up at that house..."

"Let's tell the others, someone's got to know other group members or Luke and know where they live" another man told them all and as soon as they had threatened Scott, they were gone. Leaving Scott alone in the alley, none of the departing group even offered Scott a glance as they ran back into the fray, Scott himself stumbled up the alley. His arm throbbing and bleeding from where someone had shot at it earlier, his head woozy, his nose bleeding...

Despite his physical state, he was in much worse mental shape.

He was still grieving for Lizzie, the girl he wanted to know so much about. He guessed now he would never know, that's how cruel life was.

and he had possibly just grassed up the location of the immune survivor and gotten that man killed.

He felt awful.

* * *

Clementine sat silently on the couch, listening to the distant screams and explosions of the riot, being sat here in this silence was unnerving for many, some members of the group spoke quietly amongst each other. Clementine didn't know who to speak too, if she spoke to Luis she would most likely provoke an argument, Luke had gone after Molly upstairs and Sarah was busy talking to JJ, however she soon felt someone squeeze onto the couch next to her, to see the African american woman who had argued with Molly.

"Hey" the woman said.

"Hey" Clementine echoed, both of them felt awkward at this introduction.

The woman coughed and extended her hand to try and break the ice "It's Ana, sorry about kicking off like that earlier"

"It's fine" Clementine replied, reaching out to shake Ana's hand "Clementine and don't worry about Molly she has a temper"

"So I've seen" Ana noted flatly, Clementine's eyes were automatically drawn to the 5 rings on her fingers, four silver one's and one gold one, all located on her one hand, there was even a ring on her thumb.

"Luis said I should thank you" Clementine began automatically "Said you dealt with the cult last time"

"Last time I was lucky" Ana muttered "I took them surprise, it's how I first met the group here. Saved them from where they got caught by the cult. Me and Oscar came across them"

"So, how long have you been travelling with Oscar?" Clementine asked.

"Years now" Ana muttered, trying to recall the time they spent together out in the wilderness "Been mute the whole time, but he has a heart of gold. I'm not letting anyone touch him, whether he provides a cure or not".

"It must be weird" Clementine mumbled "Him, keeping this secret from you for so long"

"I can understand why" Ana replied "Barely a day or two after it's been revealed and look at Wellington, they're all killing each other over this cure. I get that people are scared of this airborne strain but that doesn't mean we have to become monsters to get a cure" Ana cast her opinion on the matter, as Clementine nodded. Her eyes still on the rings, as Ana faintly laughed at her.

"Yeah, it's unbelievable isn't it?" she asked "At your age you can't imagine being married five times, can you?"

"I can't imagine being married once" Clementine uttered "Boys gross me out"

"You're just like me when I was a kid" Ana mused "I thought all boys were gross too. When I got to my teenager years I discovered they were still gross, but... that's what made me like them" she muttered to Clementine's horror.

"How?" Clementine muttered.

"Because, boys... they can be gross, untidy and lazy Clementine but you'll soon just see, that's how they are. Boys probably say girls are too bossy, uptight and gross as well, but opposites attract"

"That doesn't make any sense" Clementine told her.

"Not at your age, but soon it will" Ana muttered, as Clementine pointed at the golden ring, "What's so special about this one?" as Ana gazed at it fondly.

"Trent gave to me" she muttered "He was a policeman we found each other in the apocalypse and I fell in love with him, so we agreed to get married, but... it didn't end well..." her face sunk and her sentence trailed to a halt, Clementine understanding that Trent must have been killed by walkers.

"Jordan and James" she pointed to two silver rings "They died too, Jordan was my first husband, a club stabbing killed him and James... I loved him but he died in a car crash, he was my third husband" she pointed to her index finger "Silver one here, it was from Oliver, my second husband he cheated on me, so that relationship ended".

"Your track record is awful" Clementine said as Ana laughed.

"It is, and my fourth husband Lee. He was a nice guy" Ana mused "But I got together with a friend and cheated on Lee. He ended up turning up as a maniac, I knew Lee would be mad if I cheated on him, but I never expected him to kill the state senator I was with, he got carted off to prison just before this all started..."

Ana suddenly noticed Clementine get very quiet, as she uttered "Lee... Lee wasn't a maniac"

"Sorry" Ana muttered, as Clementine had to try and clear her shock. She knew the second Ana started speaking about Lee, which Lee she was on about and that too her great surprise Ana was Lee's ex wife. The one he sometimes mentioned, Clementine never expected to see Lilly, Molly, Christa or Kenny again, but Lee's ex wife was someone in a billion years she never expected to appear. She always imagined what Lee's ex wife would look like and it wasn't like this, she wasn't called Ana. She was simply Lee's ex wife, a woman who had made Lee sad and was an enemy to Clementine even though she never knew the woman.

"Lee Everett" Clementine muttered "Was the greatest man I ever knew and you cheated on him" she growled at Ana.

"You... you knew him during all this shit?" Ana said in shock.

"He helped me too survive, he was like a father to me" Clementine said and too show that it was real to Ana, she pulled out Lee's old photo she kept on her, Ana gazed at it and muttered "Fuck" before she turned to face Clementine once again.

"I didn't know Clem, I... fuck what are the odds?" she asked of the 14 year old.

"Very low" Clementine replied "But were here now and you did a bad thing..."

"Well no offence, but he killed a guy right in front of me" Ana began.

"But you cheated on him!" Clementine yelled in defence of Lee, her voice rising dangerously and her rage growing, no one dared criticise Lee in front of her.

"I..." Ana began before she sighed "Did... did he mention me at all?".

"Not much" Clementine said "and never by name, but I remember one time when some guy held me hostage. The guy was going on about all the bad things he had done including about his murder of the state senator. Lee... I heard Lee say about how he couldn't imagine the pain he caused you, he was sorry for what he did" Clementine stressed as Ana looked at the ground.

"I never knew he cared about me that much" she muttered.

"Well he did" Clementine snapped at her "and you clearly don't"

"I do... well did!" Ana snapped "and if I could go back and change it all, I would! But I can't and as much as I get that you respected my late husband, you need to understand that he wasn't perfect..."

Clementine had enough of the conversation from there, she made a show of standing up and muttering a tense "I'll talk to you later" before departing to the other end of the room, leaving Ana hanging before she collapsed back into the folds of the sofa.

* * *

"So..." came another voice that snapped Clementine out of sulky stupor, she looked up to find the black haired boy Brandon was addressing her.

"I heard you and Ana" he told her "and I'd just like to argue that all boys aren't gross"

"I'll believe it when I see it" Clementine told him, something about his light tone made Clementine like this guy from the get go. He must not have heard the part about Lee in Ana and her's conversation, because he seemed focused on the girl talk. He sat to next to where Clem was situated on the floor.

"I change my socks and underwear on a daily basis" he argued.

"Yeah, once every month probably" Clementine counter-argued.

"Hey! Twice a month is my daily routine" Brandon shouted humorously, Clementine felt herself smile lightly, no doubt he was doing this to get her's (as well as his own) heads someone else. So they wouldn't constantly be lingering on the riot outside.

"You'll never impress a girl that way" Clementine informed him.

"The girl I like, doesn't seem to mind it" Brandon muttered truthfully, his eyes became distant, as Clementine (who was curious and seeing how she hadn't spoken to Brandon much) wanted to learn more about him.

"Is the girl you like... in our school?"

"Yeah" Brandon said, he eyes briefly resting on where his sister was gazing out of the barricaded window before, flying back towards Clementine once again.

"But it's strange" Brandon told the 14 year old "This... this girl I like I don't think she knows I like her at all"

"Then go and tell her how you feel" Clementine encouraged him.

"It's not that simple" Brandon told her, "She's... she's part of a... a really popular gang. It's just awkward and it almost feels forbidden, like it shouldn't happen, y'know?"

"Yeah" Clementine responded, she knew exactly what Brandon was on about because she felt the exact same way.

"The person I like... it feels wrong to like them" She told Brandon.

"Oh, he had a bad boy or something like that?" Brandon mused lightly to her, as Clementine sighed and finally let this fact off her chest.

"Who said it was a boy I was talking about?"

"Oh" Brandon gasped in shock, falling back a bit before he regained himself, he stared at Clementine and told her "I erm... I didn't mean anything bad by that, I was just... a bit thrown off that's all. I'm not like erm... against that or anything" he scratched his ear at this point, his cheeks burning in embarrassment "Hell if anyone's against that sort of stuff it would be Wilbert. His about as racist and homophobic as you can get..." Brandon laughed there looking over at the grumpy old man who had grown so used too.

"I've got these feelings now, it's still a bit weird" Clementine informed Brandon "I still think boys are gross, but I can start to see where Ana's coming from. Some people you just... you start feeling different towards them. Like you love them... and not in a childish way, but in a different way" she told the listening boy sitting next to her.

"Diagnosis, puberty" Brandon offered an humorous answer, as he and Clementine chuckled themselves hoarse at his comment. Brandon seemed like an alright guy after all, they both had something in common. Brandon was falling for his own sister and Clementine was developing these feelings for the girl that made her feel happy. But she couldn't admit she liked Sarah... it was weird as she was still so innocent and Sarah wanted her prince charming that she may have gained in the form of JJ in the future. Clementine didn't want too ruin that, she doubted Sarah felt the same about her anyway, this thought made her sad.

But...

_Her and Sarah were friends, right? _

* * *

"I fucked up Oscar"

Oscar turned around to find it was Tim who had addressed him, the unnoticed African american man stepped forward and sat himself next to the mute man.

"It's all because of me" he muttered feeling sorry for himself "If I hadn't thought with my dick and thought with my head, then you'd still be safe" he told Oscar who offered him a look of sympathy.

"Hey dude's!" came another voice, as Eddie made himself comfortable next to the pair of them, "What's happening here?" he asked.

"I'm... I'm apologising too Oscar, for everything" Tim mumbled sadly.

"Yeah, you really fucked up dude" Eddie told him bluntly, something about the blatant lack of care in Eddie's voice, made Oscar chuckle silently, Eddie noticed that and was glad to know he could be a comedian to someone and lighten the mood. Oscar went into his pocket to retrieve a note before he realised that he was out of paper and didn't have a pen on him.

"Out of paper?" Eddie asked, observing Oscar closely.

Oscar nodded, Eddie seemed to get him without words. Deciding on what to do, Oscar placed his hands on Tim's shoulder's, Tim looked up at him as Oscar decided to play some charades in order to get some messages across to Tim and Eddie.

He mouthed the first three words, in which Eddie easily picked up as "I'll forgive you..."

Oscar then held up his index finger, Eddie translated this gesture as a "If" in which Oscar nodded, impressed by the bearded man's skills at charades, Oscar then bent his leg backwards and managed to faintly tap the back of his foot against his butt.

"You're gonna kick my ass?" Tim asked in horror.

"No, he says he'll forgive you, if you kick ass" Eddie told the African american man, he turned to Oscar "That's right isn't it?" Oscar nodded, his face shone with a smile, which showcased to Eddie that Oscar was impressed with him. Tim went quiet as Eddie turned to Oscar "Man, I swear we're in sync or something like that" Oscar shook his head and instead pointed to Eddie's beard and then tapped his own head.

"The beard?" Eddie muttered in confusion, looking up at Oscar, the mute man made the same gesture before Eddie gasped "Oh, the power of my beard is allowing me to read your mind!"

If Oscar could have cheered he would have done, but a nod and a hearty Hi-Five showcased Oscar's excitement regardless.

"It must be!" Eddie concluded stroking his facial hair before he turned back to Oscar "Don't worry about the riot dude, you're staying alive. You're too much fun too lose".

Oscar patted Eddie on the shoulder to show he appreciated that, while Tim had to smile at how quickly these two young men were becoming fast friends and he would not let anyone harm Oscar or his group at large. He would make sure he never fucked up again and he would keep to Oscar's word.

He would kick some serious ass.

* * *

"How did it come to this, huh?"

Maria sat next to Rebecca on the living room table, Rebecca turned to face her, from previous gossiping the two were faint acquaintances and now here they were once again.

"That little one is your's then?" Maria said pointing at AJ, who (along with Lilly) was currently being entertained by Stephanie, while Nick and Luis seemed to be talking to each other.

"Yep" Rebecca replied.

"His got your hair, that one" Maria told the proud mother, gazing at AJ, as Rebecca had to give her son even further praise "He is going to be a heart breaker when he grows up, my little man"

"Yep, his got very striking green eyes. Must be the boy's father's" Maria mused, as Rebecca suddenly felt another pang of sadness. She had wanted to believe for so long that Alvin Junior was Alvin's son. But the truth was laid bare in AJ's green eyes, he was Carver's son and Rebecca didn't like to be reminded about the fact.

"Yeah..." Rebecca echoed sadly, Maria detected this in her tone and muttered "Oh, but the boy's father must be gone now, I'm so sorry"

"I'm not" Rebecca growled, as Maria recoiled slightly, deciding not to venture further on the topic, she quickly averted her attention to Lilly who was sat next to AJ. The Mexican mother muttered "What about her, is she actually Nick's daughter?" Maria asked as Rebecca shook her head.

"No" she replied "Lilly was the daughter of two of the group who were with us before. But her mother died in childbirth and her dad died soon afterwards, so Nick and Stephanie adopted her"

"Oh, that's awful, the poor girl becoming an orphan before her first birthday" Maria said offering her condolences to the late Kenny and Sarita before she asked "So, is the girl aware Nick and Stephanie aren't her real parents?"

"Yes, she's still a bit confused by it all" Rebecca explained "But for 2 and 3 years of age they are much smarter than you'd expect them too be"

"My Luis was always a smart child" Maria told the other listening mother "By two he'd learnt how to climb out of the crib I'd put him in..."

"That's your son now then?" Rebecca inquired, pointing towards Luis, as Maria nodded "He is a spit of his father" she said, thinking about her late husband as she told Rebecca "Jorge, Luis' father never lived to see his son be born".

"Oh, honey I'm sorry for your loss" Rebecca said.

"Don't be, it happened years ago" Maria shook her off, yet she would still get upset about her late husband sometimes. Rebecca looked over at Luis and sighed "My God he looks like a tough cookie"

"He is" Maria confirmed "His eye... how he lost his eye was awful. But I was there right at the start when I cut off his arm, he was bitten so I had too..." she shuddered at the memory.

"I couldn't imagine doing that too AJ" Rebecca muttered, thoughts of cutting off her own's son's arm were alien to her.

"It was hard, but I had to save my little man" Maria told Rebecca, before she moved the topic onwards "What about the other girls, Sarah and Clementine? Are their parents...?"

"Dead. Yeah, Sarah watched her dad die right in front of her and we first found Clem all alone in the woods" Rebecca said.

"It's so awful, all these kids experiencing all of this and now they'll have this riot to deal with..." Maria shook her head sadly as she and Rebecca continued to gossip on and learn more about each other and their respective groups.

* * *

"So, you wanted to fight with Molly too huh?"

Nick let Luis sit down next to him as Nick nodded slowly, his eyes finding Stephanie and Lilly as he muttered "I'd do it protect my family, I'd want to go out and fight so they don't have to see me..." he paused there. Luis noticed the gun on his holster on his belt.

"Kill someone?" Luis finished for him.

Nick nodded, "I've killed a lot of people, some I really shouldn't have done. Stef's seen some shit but I don't want Lilly growing up to see her dad... well her surrogate dad doing these things..."

"After this riot, I doubt they'll be much people left to kill" Luis droned on.

"Care to be more optimistic?" Nick asked of him.

"Well, if the girl sees you kill someone, she won't remember" Luis informed Nick "She's 2, she's not going to remember this when she's older".

Nick and Luis shared a short laugh amongst themselves, Lilly approached Nick and whined "Dad! I'm hungry!"

"There's snacks in the fridge" Nick told her, the 2 year old seemed satisfied at this, however before she ran to the fridge, her gaze locked on Luis, his one arm and his missing eye. She seemed quite frightened of him as she mumbled "You look like a pirate"

"Arr" Luis put on his best pirate impersonation, however it lacked enthusiasm. Never the less he didn't expect it too scare little Lilly off, she gazed at him for a little longer before running into the kitchen.

"I didn't mean too scare her" Luis said instantly to Nick.

"Don't sweat it, if those cultist fuckers decide to break in here, at least there's a big scary pirate to deal with them" Nick muttered before he turned to the teenager and made the "arr" noise mocking Luis own weak attempt to be a pirate.

"Piss off" Luis muttered, punching Nick in the arm, never the less this somewhat friendly gesture between the two of them, made them laugh faintly, as Nick turned back to face his family again before he spoke up.

"But seriously though, you must have seen some shit" Nick was telling Luis "Musta killed a load of people"

"Yeah, killed a load..." Luis muttered before he paused and suddenly realised, who had he actually killed? He had killed walkers and animals and his best friend as a walker but when had he actually killed a living person?

"You know that feeling?" Nick asked of Luis "When... when you kill someone and just that emptiness you feel afterwards? You watch those shows on TV about murderers and you realise you are one, it's just... it makes you feel so dirty and sick of yourself" Nick explained to a slightly fearful Luis.

"Oh yeah..." Luis mumbled half-heartedly.

"I hope I don't have to kill again" Nick mumbled.

"Yeah... me too" Luis said like a sheep following Nick's words. In all honesty though Luis was hoping he didn't have to kill today, he looked like he had been through a hell of a lot but Luis realised people always seemed to assume he was some sort of zombie killing God. Who had murdered people just as easily as he had killed walkers. They also assumed he was a ladies man, JJ and Brandon seemed to think so, in the eyes of everyone he must have been some sort of badass rogue.

But the truth was, Luis was the opposite to that.

Had he really changed since in the five years of this hell?

Or was he still that moaning, weak 13 year old he once was?

* * *

"Molly, what the hell was that!?" Luke ranted to blonde woman. Molly sat sulking on the bed to her room, while Luke ranted from above her "These people come here lookin' for shelter and you just want to go back out there and put everyone at risk!"

"I wasn't on about everyone!" Molly shouted back, as her eyes found the nearby window "You guys don't have to come with me, but I need to take them down Luke"

"Why?" Luke stressed "We dealt more with the cult more than you did? Why do you suddenly hate them so much?"

Molly didn't reply, instead her eyes found the floor, as Luke suddenly connected the dots.

"What you told me in the field" he muttered "You think this is all Crawford again, don't you?"

Molly didn't reply.

"Molly" Luke began "Wellington and Crawford, there completely different..."

"It really isn't" Molly growled, finally looking up and facing Luke "Those cultists are just like the people who led Wellington, survival of the fittest and all that shit. and this is what I did last time when shit went down. I hid and I fucking ran and because of that they killed my sister... I..." she finished there unable to continue.

"Molly" Luke said again "This isn't Crawford, you're not alone here..."

"It doesn't matter!" Molly snapped at him "If we get attacked and there's no way out of the house... I... know I'll escape in time and live, but what about Clem and Sarah and all you guys? You don't know parkour like I do, I'd have to run again and watch another family of mine die. I can't live with that again, I just can't Luke..."

"Settle down..." Luke tried to soothe her.

"I...should have never grown attached to you guys" Molly suddenly said in realisation.

"Now come on..." Luke muttered.

"I can see it. I can already see how this going to end" Molly mumbled in horror, her voice shaking as she clenched her eyes shut "I'm going to watch all of you guys die, they are going to box us in and slaughter us... slaughter you... I... I need to go out there and fight Luke".

"and what difference is that going to make?" Luke snapped at her, losing his temper once again.

"I probably die fighting, but at least I protect you guys" Molly told him, as Luke shook his head and pulled her closer to him "Fucking hell Jane don't do this to me! Don't you leave me again!" he shouted at a surprised looking Molly.

"Jane?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well Molly then!" Luke ranted, glazing over his mistake but it was one Molly just couldn't ignore. Then again Luke kept on ranting before Molly could bring this point up again.

"We're stronger if we stick together!" Luke stressed to her, "We...!"

"GUYS, RIOTERS ARE COMING!" came Tom's bellow from downstairs "THERE YELLING ABOUT THE IMMUNE SURVIVOR, THEY MUST KNOW OSCAR'S HERE!"

"Shit!" Molly swore her face going white as she flung herself down the stairs, Luke running after her, she had forgotten to bring Hilda with her, tapping her shoulder she turned around to see Luke with Hilda in her hands.

"Forgetting something?" he asked of her.

"Shit, Hilda" Molly uttered, taking her beloved ice pick from him "Thanks Luke, fuck I'd be blind without her"

He simply nodded in response, his large eyes locked on Molly's own as she sighed in favour of him doing this, she guessed she owed him a favour too.

"I won't go off and fight Luke" she told him, as his smile certainly told her, she had something to feel good about today, "I'll stick with your plan, but if things go to hell and they do find us. You understand I'm going kick their fucking asses and don't you dare stop me or do something stupid in the process, understood?"

Luke nodded.

"and erm... Luke" Molly stuttered "If we... well don't get through this then... erm..." she didn't have the actual courage to do it and she convinced herself she wasn't too attached to Luke. Restraining herself Molly simply offered him a hug which he returned as she muttered "Just for being a good friend to me"

"Yeah, you too" he muttered back.

They continued downstairs, to where the rest of the group were crowded around the back door.

"Where too now, then?" Rebecca asked.

"We can't stay on the street, they'll spot on us within minutes" Maria stressed.

"I know someone who will take us in" Luke announced cutting through the group's panicked babbling, as they all turned to face them.

"She only lives across the road, but it's somewhere too hide" Luke informed them all, the members of Luke's group all knew they were on about Gertrude. Although they wondered how the other group would react when they learnt they were going to be hiding the house of an defenceless old lady.

Yet Clementine had to laugh at the thought, "defenceless old lady" did not summarise Gertrude at all.

Sure enough the old lady could hear the chanting of the rioters outside of her house.

_She was ready for them. _


	10. The Parting Glass

**A/N: Dun, dun DUN! Here we are, the big imposing Chapter 10 is here! I won't say anymore other than please don't hate me at the end of this chapter, that is all. Now onto answering you reviewers!**

**Kristal-Dynamite- I'll answer to your points one by one, so for 1) Ana and Molly are two women I couldn't see getting on, Ana is a strong woman but very stubborn and Molly's quite similar. However Molly's temper and her carelessness are major faults of her character and because she didn't do anything truly awful in GTR and sort of became the second comic relief. I'm hoping to expand her role more in RTR and suffice to say something foreshadowed last chapter will happen to Molly this chapter, that will make her character more interesting to write. also I'm glad you Nick/Luis interaction, I imagine they'd butt heads over things but they could also form a surprising friendship.**

**2) The Ana/Clem interaction seemed to be well received by quite a lot of people, but it's also meant to show that although many people (including myself) like Lee, despite Lee's popularity he is still flawed and Clem always paints him out as some sort of saint, so I thought it would be interesting to see her ideology challenged. **

**3) Trevor's death was originally much shorter, but I carried on writing and it seemed to expand onwards and it looks like this story has drawn the first tear from your eye, I wonder how many more it will... (laughs evilly) **

**4) I shall not say anything on this, but I can confirm tragedy is coming.**

**5) Scott will continue to grow as a character and for your character list... you can only see if you're right or wrong, will Eddie live on? Will Molly die? Will Luke follow her and see her as his next Jane? What will happen to Violet? So many questions that I promise to answer this chapter.**

**ffapathy- Nice observations, the wolf did indeed not only get rid of the snitch father Jordan but also the head of the police force which spells trouble for Wellington. as for the wolf and his motives, I've written down a plan of his whole back story and what his motives are and why he killed Loners at first before seemingly looking for the cure and manipulating people, when the time comes you'll understand the wolf's motives and why he has done what he has done. **

**For Scott you can say everything went to ruin for him last chapter, friends probably dead, Lizzie dead, him snitching on Clem's group. Not to mention his injures and still broken arm (I forgot to mention his cast last chapter, I'll have to add something this chapter about it). But I loved in your review how you pointed out that Clem repressed memories of the stranger and she may have done the same to Lee as nothing in my fics is as it seems. Events from Season 1 have been altered slightly (e.g. Stranger surviving, Stephanie and Eddie surviving and getting to Howe's when they didn't appear to be there in game and likely died in 400 days, the cancer survivors also surviving, Lilly, Molly and Christa returning) so with all of this you're right to be curious as Clementine is the only character left who was there for the whole of season 1 and may have repressed certain trauma's...**

**I'm glad you liked the other interactions and for the whole Luke/Molly scene was intriguing to write as Molly (too me) so far feels like she's been there but hasn't really played a part, so in RTR I'm hoping to change that. Also remember that Luke seemed to fall for Jane pretty fast in NGB, I'll try to add more psychological reasons behind Luke's mindset. As Luke and Jane didn't know each other for all that long before Jane died, they didn't know each other long enough to start bickering or see each other's bad sides so too Luke I imagine Jane was his perfect girl and he let her die. He probably saw Jane as "the one" and was traumatized to lose her.**

**catwoman286- I tend to make grammatical errors, I'll try to correct it when I get the time but thanks for pointing it out. and I also found your review on Oscar interesting as it differs from many reviewers think about keeping Oscar alive, and you had a point about them dragging Gertrude into this, thanks for your review!**

**The Rose of Hedylogos- I have a track record of accepting OC's and killing them off and making them villainous, but I will say thank you for letting me use Stacy as she was a great character to write about and her legacy (the report) will certainly affect the story. **

**Chameishida- I see, you are for "Clarah" then? At first (In NGB and GTR) I never would have considered it because of Clem's age but as she is 14 now I decided that her developing feelings for Sarah (Sarah, who has supported her and made her feel happy for 2 years in Wellington) would show how she is no longer a child and that she is slowly becoming an adult. and the rewrite will most be development for characters such as Carver, Tavia, Becca, Anne, Marisol, Nate, Stan, Wyatt, Mike etc... characters I feel could have used more development. However rest assured at least one or two characters will last longer and plots may change up to RTR (but believe me when I say it will take a very long time for the rewrite to come about)**

**okay and thank you to everyone else for reviewing and continuing to support this story and now, onto the big one, chapter 10... The Parting Glass**

* * *

Gertrude heard the knock on her back door, her aged ears also prickled at the chanting of those god-forsaken mindless rioters mobbed outside of Luke's house across the street. Wrapping her knitted shawls around her frail form, the old woman slowly crept over the many rugs plastered on her wooden floor and pressed her ear against the back door.

"Gertrude! Gertrude!" came a hiss that slithered through the creaks in the old woman's back door.

"It's me!" came Luke's voice.

Gertrude smiled, of course it was Luke. She knew it would Luke the second she heard her back door knock, in fact the old woman knew Luke would come knocking on her door the second she heard those rioters marching down the street, demanding the location and death of that immune survivor.

The Wellington Weekly lay sprawled on Gertrude's sofa, she had read the report she was skimming through every name in a shocked stupor. The old woman thought her heart may have given out any minute after learning the woman she said Hi to every day had ran over an entire family with her car. She also learnt that a man she sometimes chatted with was a serial rapist, her local priest had hired hit-men to murder a girl he got pregnant, the Domesday report was appropriately named. Not only after it's 1086 English counterpart.

"That was only for listing towns for tax" Gertrude thought to herself, but she guessed for people living in 1086, whatever sort of scraps of money they had was the most important thing for them. Their livelihood, the thing that kept them going was the money they earned, here in Wellington in 2008 the thing that kept them going was their faith in each other. You couldn't rebuild society if everyone was at each other throats, but now it seemed the "Domesday" report had removed that faith.

Gertrude sighed at the society she could physically and mentally hear crumbling outside of her house, she undid the several locks on the back door, she knew who would be with Luke, not only his own group but...

The door swung open, Gertrude's eyes surveyed over each face in front of her for a millisecond.

"We need..." Luke began his plea, with wide eyes.

"Come on in, all of y'all" Gertrude grumbled, the last three words confirming that she wasn't only letting Clementine's group in, but Oscar's group as well. She heard a sigh of relief escape one of the people behind her as they all stepped into the gloom of her house. It was stained with antiquates, dozens of pictures hung on the walls, of her and her late husband as a younger man. Relics of their married life lay littered the living room, an army badge, necklaces, an old dress etc...

"Gertrude, thank you" Luke began, Gertrude knew the young man too well and knew his "We're so grateful..." two hour speech was vastly incoming, she quickly waved her hand at Luke an indicator for him to shut up, as a distant crashing outside made them all flinch.

"Looks like they're trashing your place" was all the old woman said, brushing a long strand of silvery hair back across her scalp, her watery blue eyes remained locked upon the front door she had put several locks in front of. She could see the new group were curiously peering around her house, not daring to touch anything in case it would upset their generous host. Usually Gertrude would have minded so many people cramped into her house,but seeing as there was virtually no time left, she didn't have any time to get to know these new faces.

They had to act fast, she was an old woman she could see how everything would happen, she had lived a long enough life to understand Human nature.

"Hey" she muttered turning around and facing the new group, seeing as the most prominent member seemed to be the large African american man, his eyes were locked on her and it was he who responded with "Yeah" confirming to Gertrude that this man was the one who lead this group. So it was him she needed to directly speak too.

"Y'all wanna make yourself useful?" she asked of him, before he could reply she had already spoken up once again "If so, then go upstairs, second door to the right. Pick up as many as you can, they all work" with this Tom ran upstairs, flanked by several members of his group. None of them had a clue what the old woman was on about but she seemed to have a solid conviction behind her words, that they would find something upstairs that worked and Tom had a faint idea of what it was.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, approaching the elderly woman "'about something being upstairs?"

Before Gertrude could answer a furious knocking came from the front door.

"HEY!" came a forceful bellow "OPEN THE FUCK UP! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"Hide him" Gertrude uttered pointing a bony old finger at Oscar, the pale faced mute man had already jumped behind a sofa before Gertrude had spoken. With this matter sorted the elderly lady approached a photo of her husband, it showed him when he was a young and handsome man stationed in the army all those years ago. Kissing her two index fingers and then planting them on the photo she murmured under her breath "Give me strength honey" before she lifted herself up once again and faced the door.

"WERE BREAKING IN!" Came the same forceful voice.

"Gertrude!" Luke hissed, aware of the pensioner slowly creeping towards the front door. Rather that turn to face him she held her hand backwards.

"Get back!" she ordered of the group still huddled downstairs, they all looked anxious but never the less obeyed her sharp command. As she swept towards the door she seemed to lift something very heavy from a small dining table. The object looked like a large stick but when Luke got a clear look of it, was it... was it really...?

"Gertrude, is that a...?" Luke hysterical question was cut short, as Gertrude slowly unlocked each lock in front of the front door. The distinctive clicks made whoever was banging on the front door to try and get in, stop abruptly in curiosity. The door opened and the thuggish men were left facing a frail old lady who poked her head outside of her front door.

"How can I help you young folks?" she asked, making herself sound as frail as she could be, no one would suspect her of doing what she was about to do.

"We want to check your house" the man nearest the door growled, flexing his muscles and looking down at the frail old woman he knew he could crush in his fingers if need be. "We know that Immune fuck is in here" he spat to continued effect wanting the old woman to be terrified of him and the power he felt he wielded in his hands.

"Oh" Gertrude gasped, feigning shock as she sadly mumbled "Well then, of course you can check..." she left the sentence hanging, as the door creaked open fully, revealing the RPG she had in her arms that was trained directly on the mob in front of her.

"...in at hell" she finished as her finger squeezed on the trigger.

BOOM!

A trail of smoke that went straight through the legs of the man in front of her, the force of the drawback sent the frail old lady flying halfway across her living room. If the situation wasn't so serious it would have been hilariously comedic to see Gertrude flying across the room after using a rocket launcher. Thankfully Luke softened the old woman's fall, as she flew back right into his stomach, Luke made a small grunt of surprise as he felt the air get knocked out of him, but Gertrude quickly got her bearings, just as an explosion outside occurred.

Clementine remembered the explosives used at Howe's when they fought to gain the place, but this explosion was more powerful, there were a dozen screams, a defining BOOM that shook Gertrude's house's foundations, Clementine felt the shock wave of the blast physically blow her back, as the instant stench of burnt flesh wafted to the 14 year old's nostrils. As she tried to digest this smell her vision became clouded with thin wisps of grey smoke, her ears were ringing as she tried to clear her head.

The slamming of the front door seemed to lessen the stench slightly and the bang it made drew many people back down to earth. Looking up Clementine saw it was Luke who had managed to get to his feet and slam the door shut.

The southern man faced the ground, finally he turned to Gertrude and he wasn't the only one.

"What the hell?" he panted "Was that?"

Gertrude couldn't help herself, she flashed all of them a guilty grin.

"My husband" she began "Always paranoid after the war, stocked up loads of weapons. Rocket launchers, Grenades, Guns you name it... when he was dying he told me one day to use them, to protect myself when I needed too and they have come damn helpful during this apocalypse..."

"So, you carried a rocket launcher and all of your husband's weapons across the Northwest?" Nick inquired.

"I had help" Gertrude replied, "I was with groups before, got to Wellington well before any of you folk, but still I did have more, but many of the groups I was with either died with my weapons or stole them" she left a loud silence in her wake it was still strangely quiet outside, although the sickly scent of burning flesh and tarmac made Clementine feel strangely dizzy.

"Jesus Gertrude" Rebecca snapped, holding a trembling AJ close to her chest "I thought all of those weapons you had stocked weren't... dangerous. and you let the kids touch them and play with them..."

"They weren't loaded" Gertrude grumbled in her defence "At the time" she added with a cheeky grin.

Rebecca didn't seem too amused at this comment, her eyes narrowed in a maternal disapproval, AJ was still shaking due to the force of the explosion and Lilly was silently crying on Stephanie's shoulder. Luis, JJ, Terri and Brandon had followed Tim upstairs, leaving Clementine and Sarah as the only other "Kids" downstairs. Clementine was still numb, Sarah looked shell-shocked, however as all eyes found her, the Hispanic girl seemed to able to speak.

"That... was... AWESOME!" she exclaimed, her eyes blazing in excitement as Gertrude smiled in victory. As she did a door to the side flung open.

"We heard a damn explosion up there!" Tom bellowed, carrying some guns in his hands, he looked at Gertrude for an explanation.

"It was something I always wanted to do" she admitted, unable to help the smile that lingered on her aged face. She was old and probably didn't have much time left, after the exciting life she had lived, she had expected to settle down. But no,her and her husband still found ways to make life exciting for themselves even if they did get married and have kids. and even now... at her advanced age the apocalypse had come and made life dangerous but exciting once again. After reaching Wellington did they expect her to suddenly play the passive, gentle older lady?

No way in hell.

Destroying farm equipment and now this riot, she wasn't going to simply wither away and die, she was going to go out with a bang.

So if she was meant to die, she would die in this riot protecting her neighbours who she had grown close too.

"So, you had guns upstairs then?" Stephanie asked.

"Yep, only 5 though" Gertrude informed the younger woman sadly, Tom already had one in his grip he turned to the group with four extra guns in his grip.

"I've already got one at the ready" Nick told the African american man, pulling a gun from his holster, working as a police officer had it's benefits.

"Shouldn't you police officers be out there?" Ana asked of Nick "You know, controlling the situation or something like that?"

"I haven't heard a word from anyone" Nick responded, it was only then he began to ask himself "Where are the others?" even at the slightest disturbance in Wellington, Trevor would contact him instantly and yet his group barely heard the riot. If it wasn't for Tom's group almost tearing their front door down, they would have probably all been going to work now, only to realise that they were separated and a riot was breaking out.

As Nick pondered on that thought, Tom addressed the group.

"So, we got 4 guns left here" he announced "We need to decide who gets them"

Upon these words, nobody spoke, nobody seemed to know what to do. Of course having the protection of a gun would mean a great deal during these riots, but Clementine could tell (by the way everybody in the room seemed to tense up) that this choice would lead to conflict. The angry bellows of the surviving rioters outside finally seemed to propel Tom to speak again as he realised the urgency of the situation.

"Okay, Oscar" he hissed "You need one, just in case of..."

What happened next, happened so fast that no one could comprehended how it had happened.

Gunfire ripped Gertrude's glass windows to shreds, this spelled bad news for JJ who was standing nearest the window as a glass shard that flew past him, left a nasty gash in his arm. Screaming in pain, the southern boy managed too (with his grandfather's aid) duck to the ground, before any bullets could also hit him and cause worse damage than a cut.

Seeing the damage done to JJ, everyone dropped to the ground, as the bullets from an unknown gun outside tore the adjourning wall to Gertrude's living room, to tattered pieces, as bits of masonry and dried wallpaper fell to the ground like slow falling snowflakes. A layer of white dust trickled on the backs of the group who lay on the ground, Tom (in his haste to avoid the bullets) had only kept a grip on his own. The other 4 guns went tumbling onto the ground, one of them lay directly next to Brandon's head.

Over the roar of the gunfire, Lilly's muffled sobbing as Stephanie tried to press the toddler up to her chest to calm her down and the chanting of the riot outside, Brandon was surprised he could still hear his heart thumping like a jack hammer in his ribcage and knew he had to fight back. Grabbing a gun, his fingers locked around the trigger as he looked up to shattered windows to find some silhouettes there, about to fire back into the building...

"DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" Brandon roared, mindlessly firing back out of the windows, a few figures collapsed in the windows as the sound of bullets ripping through people's flesh made everyone inside of the building flinch horribly, Tom (seeing what Brandon was doing) took charge of the situation and fired back as well, the dreaded whizzing of the bullets as they flew back and forth seemed to be tearing Gertrude's house to pieces.

It was then Oscar looked up.

It was like a still image, more and more figures were crowding around the front windows, arms were tearing through the front door, the savage faces of the rioters filled Oscar's vision. All of their eyes trained on him. Hatred poured from their globes of eyes, as their hands and legs tore away at the defences Gertrude had tried so hard to build. No matter how many bullets Tom and Brandon fired it wasn't enough, they kept on coming. Oscar could see the fear etched onto Brandon's face as his gun clicked emptily and his round fell to the rug strewn ground, he heard the black haired teenager hiss a curse under his breath, no doubt under the fear of being mauled to the death by a crowd of rioters.

The kids were all looking fearfully at the rioters, Lilly was crying hysterically now and Stephanie couldn't do anything to stop her screams. Nick and Sarah approached the pair of them, Oscar watched as the family of four cuddled together, Nick wrapping his arms around them all, as if trying to protect them from a bulldozer that couldn't be stopped. They were bracing themselves for the end, Luke looked sunken he tried to reach where a frozen Clementine was gazing up at the rioters breaking into Gertrude's house. Terri, Ana, Luis and Wilbert seemed to be in-fighting with each other to get one of the two remaining guns in the centre of the room. Gertrude looked on sadly as she watched her house get torn to pieces, JJ howled in agony holding his arm and rocking in the corner, Tim and Maria had retreated in the darkest depths of the room, trying to control their emotions.

It was a picture of the end. All of because of him. Oscar had caused this.

He knew what he had to do.

He stood by his earlier statement, Immunity wasn't a blessing it was a curse, these rioters thought that obtaining Immunity would avoid turning them into walkers. Unaware that they were already more like walkers in those moments then they ever could have realised.

Inhaling Oscar stood on his two feet and sprinted towards the back-door, he undid the locks and as a gust of cold air, slapped on the faces of the remaining group. They suddenly seemed to realise what was happening, Oscar was fleeing.

"NO!" Ana screamed.

The attitude of the rioters changed within a millisecond, from wanting to tear the house apart and killing the residents, they seemed to change their direction. The gunfire stopped, faces vanished from out of the broken windows.

"They only wanted him" Gertrude muttered, her eyes becoming reflective seeing the damage these people had done to her house and her late husband's possessions.

Ana meanwhile gave up her fight for a gun, and sprinted after Oscar on the trail of the rioters chasing him, she didn't care about her own safety in those moments she simply knew one of her oldest friends was in danger and she wasn't letting him die surrounded by a herd of hateful rioters.

"ANA!" Tom bellowed.

"She can't go without a gun!" Luke exclaimed, taking the responsibility into his own hands he scooped up one of the two remaining guns in his hands as he went after Ana. Clementine had time to exclaim "LUKE!" to him before he left the house, in which he shouted back "STAY PUT CLEM! IT'S SAFER IN THERE!" and then he was gone.

"Fuck" Molly muttered, she held Hilda tight in her grip before she too, went after Luke.

"HEY! WHERE'S EVERYBODY GOING!?" Nick shouted to receive no answer, as Brandon also stood up, (gun in hand) and ran after Oscar. Needless to say that Terri was on his tail and Luis (not wanting to be outshone by the siblings in those moments) followed them, despite his mother's protests of "LUIS! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" he swept out of the door without a look back.

"Look" Nick said looking back at Stephanie, Lilly and Sarah "Regardless of whether we go after Oscar or not, I've got a gun I need to do something. I uphold the law here, so I'm going out there..."

"Not without me you're not" Stephanie replied.

"Stay with the kids Stef" Nick urged her.

"I'm not leaving you" Stephanie protested stubbornly.

"and I'm not a kid, can I come with you?" Sarah asked, trying her luck.

"No!" Nick shouted losing his head for a second, before he managed to calm himself down slightly "Look" he stressed "You need to stay here, those fuckers were after Oscar, if you stay here and lie low, you'll be safe"

"I'm not letting you go without me Nick" Stephanie growled "I'm not letting you do anything reckless..."

"So what are you?" Nick demanded "My mother, I can look after myself Stef!"

"You are not going out there without me!"

"LET ME DO THIS!"

"NO!"

"STOP SHOUTING!" Lilly screamed, clearly not liking seeing her parents bicker on this matter. Nick and Stephanie looked ashamed of themselves as they dropped their gazes, Lilly's eyes were watery but she had managed to stop crying. Sniffing the 2 year old clung onto Stephanie's leg and mumbled "Please don't go daddy..."

"I've got too Lilly" he responded, as her lower lip wobbled dangerously.

"But you'll just get hurt again" she mumbled, no doubt she clearly remembered the last time Nick had been shot in Wellington and seeing her father lying in that hospital bed had scared the two year old for weeks. The thought of losing her parents was a terrifying one indeed.

"That's why Mummy's going with him" Stephanie told her adopted daughter "Too make sure Daddy doesn't get hurt"

"No" Lilly muttered, "Not you too Mummy, don't leave me" she stressed, her big brown eyes locking themselves upon Stephanie's own. It took someone with a cold heart to refuse Lilly's request, but Stephanie had learnt a long time ago that she did indeed have a cold heart, as she told the 2 year old "Don't you worry, we'll be back. But we want you too be safe"

Lilly nodded, but she didn't seem happy about this fact.

"You'll have your big sister Sarah to take care of you" Nick said, turning to face Sarah. Now Nick had to accept Stephanie was coming with him, he could at least try and get Sarah to stay. Thankfully for him the Hispanic teenager didn't give up much a fight, as Sarah looked up at him "Be careful Nick" she warned her most trusted male friend.

"Yeah, stay safe Sarah" Nick put on Carlos' Spanish accent as he said this, making Sarah chuckle. Although her father's death was still a sore spot for her, Nick was good at impersonating accents and one day at Howe's he mimicked Carlos' accent perfectly. Rather than make Sarah cry, it made her laugh. Nick still did it on occasion to make light fun of the fact of how over-protective Carlos was of his daughter.

When Sarah finished laughing, Nick stood up and prepared to leave, "See ya later" he promised Sarah.

"Yeah, see you soon Nick" she replied.

Elsewhere Tom turned to Gertrude "Listen, were sorry about the damage to your house"

Gertrude, covering her inner feelings of slight distaste towards this new group, simply shrugged and muttered "It's fine boy, it's fine.." when it most certainly wasn't.

"But thank you for sheltering us" he added, Gertrude accepted this apology, she should have known her house would be wrecked the second she decided to fire a rocket launcher and invite the immune survivor inside of her house. Yet a irrational, hypocritical side of the old woman couldn't help but feel annoyed with the people she had let into her house. But she had to try and conceal that hypocritical side of her, because that hypocritical side is what was driving the rioters to commit mindless violence right now.

How many of them would be acting this way if they knew that their brother or sister, or if a friend of there's was immune? They let their feelings control their actions while not even considering what this must have been like for somebody else. It was this irrational way of thinking, (probably aided with the distrust the Domesday report had brought and the hatred many felt at that now wealthy cult, added to the fear of the airborne strain of the virus) then it was more understandable why most of Wellington's population had seemingly turned into murderous thugs overnight. Gertrude and the Luke and Tom's group had only acted in self defence.

"I'm going to find Oscar and deal with that damn cult" Tom announced to the group at large, he picked up the final gun from the floor.

"I'm coming with you" Maria told him, standing tall "I need to go after my son and I have medical experience, if anyone gets hurt, I can help".

Tom nodded at this answer.

"Were coming too" Nick told him, his gun in hand, Stephanie had picked up a kitchen knife as her form of defence, Tom (with another nod accepted them into the little group he was building up). Nick was ready for justice, while Stephanie looked back at Lilly and Sarah. She really shouldn't have left them, but she couldn't help it. She hated that cult so much... what the cancer survivors had done to her. Watching her and trying to make her into the villain? She couldn't cower and let these cultists become a threat to Lilly, Sarah, Nick and the group in the future. Add this (along with her selfish desire to be by Nick's side) then she was all for going out there and making a difference.

"The rest of you! Stay and guard the house!" Tom ordered.

"I'm keeping watch out the front!" Wilbert shouted "Make sure no more fuckers break in here!"

"Fair enough" Tom told him, not really in the mood to argue with him.

"I'll take care of JJ" Sarah offered, preparing some make-shift bandages as JJ continued to clutch his arm, Tom looked around, Clementine didn't need to say a word but she also grabbed a knife to show (that if need be) she too would protect the others with her life. Tom turned towards where his forgotten twin trembled in the corner of the room, without hesitating Tom held out the gun.

"You... you..." Tim stuttered in disbelief "You're... g-giving the last gun to me?"

"You want to redeem yourself?" Tom asked of him, Tim nodded vigorously as an answer "Then defend this place, watch out for the kids. Defend them with you life Tim. Understood!?"

"Yes! I will, I promise man, I will!" Tim mused, clutching his gun tight in his fingers. More determined then ever not too fuck up this chance he was getting. Tom placed a hand on his brother shoulder and offered him a comforting smile.

"Do you, trust him?" Rebecca suddenly asked, referring to Tim, as she addressed the question at Tom.

"I do" Tom replied.

"Then if that's the case, I'm coming with you" Rebecca said, as AJ seemed torn about whether to be happy or sad about this news. "Listen honey" she said turning back towards her son "Stay inside, do not run off, understand?"

AJ nodded.

"If the little guy is safe here, I'm gonna tag along too" Eddie muttered, now AJ did look disappointed.

"Wait... don't go!" AJ shouted.

"Oh, so you don't mind your own mother going?" Rebecca asked of her son "But when it's Eddie you suddenly seem to care" AJ's eyes seemed shifty as Eddie merely grinned.

"Favouritism in my favour" he mused.

"Shut up"

Rebecca, Eddie and AJ laughed amongst themselves as Rebecca kissed her son on the cheek "Now be careful son" she told him. In which he merely grunted in response, of course he'd be fine! Even at his age, he knew Rebecca was being an overbearing mother. Eddie patted the top of AJ's curly hair, the three year old looked up at him and the pair of them shared a small smile.

"Look after yourself buddy" was about as mushy as Eddie could get. Before he turned towards Tom, ready to move.

Rebecca herself didn't like the thought of leaving her son behind, but she knew Sarah was capable of dealing with wounds and Clem... well back at Howe's and even out the wild north Californian pine forests. Clementine had proven that she could not only look after herself but also the others, Rebecca may have been hard on the 14 year old sometimes. But she trusted Clementine too take care of AJ better than she trusted Eddie or even herself sometimes, too take care of her son. Also Tim was a flawed but good guy (from what Rebecca had heard) he would protect the kids as he had a gun and everybody knew what happened if you tried to break into Gertrude's house with the old woman on guard. The smoking crater on the street should have been a big enough indicator of what trouble could have occurred.

She was certain her son was in safe hands.

Smiling, she was glad for the others, but trusted Clem the most. The little girl (well not so little anymore) had been their gift, something sent to them to save them all...

_"What?"_

_Rebecca wasn't in Gertrude's house anymore, her head felt heavier than it had ever done, she was aware of herself sitting on what felt like a tyre. Her head was bent down low, the mother was draped in a unfamiliar jacket. Looking up at her was AJ, his eyes were still a newborn shade of blue as he was covered in green bundles that Rebecca never remembered putting him in beforehand. _

_"A... AJ?" she muttered barely audible, yet her own words didn't come out of her mouth. She felt her lips move and she heard her own voice (in a much weaker tone) rasp "I love you, baby boy..."_

_AJ gurgled happily and smiled up at his mother, Rebecca was so cold and she had never felt so weak, she briefly lifted her head to see a one eyed Kenny standing there. A gun in his hand, she saw Clementine, Luke, Bonnie and Mike were also stood there. Wait, what was this? Out of everyone why these 4 people with Kenny and herself and AJ? But she also saw them, Arvo, Natasha and Vitali and another man aiming back at Kenny's group... _

_It was so cold and her skin was deadly pale. Everything in Rebecca's body ached, she felt herself shutting down, she was so drowsy... so so drowsy... she just needed to sleep... her world slowly turned black..._

_"Bec?"_

For a second she thought that was the voice of her late-husband Alvin, but she opened her eyes to find that it was only Eddie.

"You alright? You look pale as shit" Eddie told her, Rebecca blinked, she realised she was back in present, back in Gertrude's house. She quickly got her bearings and muttered "I'm fine"

"You sure?"

"I said I'm fine!" Rebecca snapped harshly, causing Eddie to back off, no one questioned her further, but Rebecca turned to Clementine once again.

Had she, just seen her own death? Clementine's second chance was something she never thought about much, but now? Here in all places and times, had she just had some sort of vision? Some sort of vision that matched the description of her own death "The first time around". All Rebecca knew was that what she just felt and experienced, that wasn't just some vision.

That had happened.

But why? Why was she getting this vision now? Why her? and what was the meaning of it all?

With these questions weighing on her mind, the troubled mother tried to focus on the riot laid out in front of her. Although whatever the hell she just experienced had worried her they were much more pressing matters at hand.

* * *

Oscar could hear them, all of the rioters on his heels as he twisted and turned down endless alleyways and streets, trying hard to avoid the impending death that awaited behind him.

"STOP RUNNING!"

"GET BACK HERE YOU IMMUNE PIECE OF SHIT!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU RUNNING FROM!?"

"THERE'S NO WAY TOO AVOID THIS!"

"STOP BEING A PUSSY AND TURN AROUND AND FACE US!"

Oscar had to take their bellows of hatred into consideration, why was he running? Why didn't he just stop and let himself die? he could have saved the world, or whatever was left of it, but no here he was, running away from his destined fate.

He put his excuses down as trying to clear as much space between himself and his group as possible, he ran away so he could save them. He didn't want them all to die, Ana, Eddie, the kids... they were all good people, he was doing this to save them. He kept on running to save them, the further away these rioters were than maybe (if they did catch him and rip him to shreds) then it would take them longer to get back to his group. Or maybe they'd spare his group, they only wanted him after all, but just in case these mindless rioters wanted even more trouble than... Oscar kept on running to save his friends.

But that wasn't the only reason.

Since becoming Immune... immunity was the only thing that had defined him. He no longer had a tongue to defend himself with, he wasn't a person who could speak. He was the catalyst immune survivor, an object to be hunted down like a fox, with absolutely no regard for his life. They way people shouted at him now, the way he was spoken too and screamed at... they had no regard for his life at all.

A part of him always knew he had to die, but they could have at least tried to comfort him. They didn't need to die to create a cure, they didn't have this burden on their shoulders, he did. and now they were hunting him down like an animal, like a pig that had escaped the slaughterhouse and they were all pissed at him because he wasn't the pig that was willing to get slaughtered just too satisfy them. They all forgot, he was a human being and Oscar knew (as he ran) it was a selfish sort of revenge but he didn't want anyone of those rioters benefiting from this cure at all (that's if they even made one).

He wanted the likes of Ana to get the cure, Ana who had always treated him as a human and never the walkers she despised, Eddie who had briefly been his friend, but in those moments they had spent together Oscar forgot that he was "Immune" he was just a friend to Eddie and the kids and the rest of the group who had strived to protect him... he was a human to them. They truly deserved the cure, in fact maybe the fact they weren't actively pursuing it by trying to kill him. Told Oscar they were closer to being cured than any of the "Monsters" behind him.

He ran on, aware of his destination he was immune and that had it's advantages. If he was immune to bites than surely he was immune to the airborne strain as well.

"FUCK!"

"COME BACK HERE!"

"DON'T GO OVER THERE!"

"CHEATER!"

"COWARD!"

Oscar was heading to the wall.

* * *

"AAAAHHHH!"

Molly really wished she didn't have to see what she just saw.

Ana slicing through the rioter who had turned his gun on them, it took Molly to realise he must have been a cult member, he was dressed in fancy clothing and upon seeing Ana's face, his own face scrunched in distaste to somebody who looked inferior to him. Yet he didn't scowl or shoot for long, as Ana slicing her fancy sword through his torso made him squeal in agony as fresh red blood sprayed a nearby wall, as the cultist fell dead on the ground.

"Get you" Brandon whistled clearly impressed, "The walker and cult killer"

Ana managed to smile back at him, but offered no words. Her eyes were locked upon the fleeting rioters in front of her, they seemed to be heading towards the wall.

"Oscar's heading towards the wall!" Ana exclaimed.

"Immune bastard" Luis chuckled "Using the wall to his own advantage"

"We need to follow him" Ana muttered, before they all noticed Tom, Maria, Rebecca, Eddie, Nick and Stephanie running up behind them.

"Wait... up... in the future" Tom panted as a way of greeting.

"Clem and the kids...?" Luke instantly asked of anyone would answer him.

"In capable hands, or else we wouldn't be out here man" Nick replied.

"So, where is Oscar and what is the plan of action here?" Eddie questioned.

"We follow Oscar" Ana instructed.

"Erm, no we don't" Molly spoke up, "We stay here and we fight this cult" this polarised view was met with a mixed response as some people nodded and some people shook their head.

"That's reckless" Rebecca argued "We need to make sure Oscar is safe..."

"Safe?" Molly asked with a raised eyebrow "No one will follow him up the damn wall, he can camp out there and start his own community of immune survivors. He is as safe as can be, we need to focus on ourselves here and making sure that damn cult dies in this riot..."

"Do you still think this is some sort of joke!?" Ana snapped, her temper growing by the second "Were just a handful of people, what difference are we going to make to this riot overall? We could save a life rather than take a dozen!"

"We can't save him!" Molly shouted the truth that no one wanted to hear, particularly Ana. Her temper at Molly flared, she felt her sword shake in her fingers. Everything about Molly, this blonde woman who was way too laid back and sarcastic seemed to oppose everything Ana was and what her ideals were.

"Molly" Luke began "Anyone can be saved, we can't just give up..."

"But we have too" Molly told him, before turning to the group, "Oscar was dead the second that paper came out, I know we tried to save him and protect him, but... what are we doing it for? So we can feel less guilty than the rioters and the cult? So we can say we're better people? Let's be honest here we all want a fucking cure, especially with that airborne strain about..."

"So, you're on their side then?" Ana growled, all she saw was red.

"Why in a million years would I want to side with the cult? The people who stalked and terrorized not only me, but hundreds of others?" Molly sarcastically asked of Ana, the tension between the two women was growing once again. Ana didn't know why she was in such a bad temper, maybe it was because of that girl Clementine giving her an update on how her late husband was such a good person and why she was the villain merely for cheating. After she was trying everything to chase after a man she had a unbreakable bond with and trying to save his life, and Molly was making her out (once again) to be some sort of delirious hippie.

It was all pissing her off and every second they stood here arguing was another second that Oscar was further away from them.

"The fuck with this" Ana snapped "We need to move, now!" she prepared to walk on, but Tom shouted "Ana" sternly which brought the five timed widow to a halt.

"What?" she seethed.

"We haven't decided on our course of action yet" Tom told her, to her great irritation. She shot daggers at Molly "You know" she began "I bet you knew Lee too, didn't you?"

"Lee?" Molly said, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Yeah, Lee Everett, the whole fucking world seems to sing him songs of praise right now! My fucking ex-husband who murdered a state senator just because I was cheating on him with the senator!"

"Really!? Were bringing all this shit up, now!?" Brandon screamed at Ana, who point blank ignored him.

Unbeknownst to Ana, she had screamed all this at the only person in that group who did indeed know and like Lee Everett, learning this new wave of information, Molly's dislike of Ana only grew stronger, she liked Lee too. She knew he had done some shit and mentioned an ex-wife once but... this? Yes she understood Lee wasn't perfect but neither was Ana.

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" Molly lied, as she tried to quickly shift the topic onwards "WERE STAYING HERE AND FIGHTING, I'VE HEARD IT'S YOUR SPECIALITY!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!?" Ana snapped.

"YOU'RE A KILLING MACHINE ANA! YOU'RE INHUMAN! YOU DIDN'T JUST KILL THE CULT, BUT YOU SLAUGHTERED THEM! YOU SLAUGHTERED CHILDREN...!"

"Is there any issue with that?" Terri inquired, shooting daggers at Molly.

"Ana saved us because she killed the cult!" Brandon chipped in Ana's defence. (and too try and get Terri out of this brewing argument, it was scary enough with Ana and Molly arguing).

"How do you even know this?" Eddie asked.

"I took a look at that Domesday report on Gertrude's couch" Molly replied "Just a quick one, but more than enough time to find the woman called Ana I didn't like. The only words I managed to read is about your slaughter of those cultists and kids and it told me all about what type of person you are..."

"YOU WANT TO SLAUGHTER CULTISTS AND NOW YOU'RE BEING HYPOCRITICAL! YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO MAKE MYSELF OUT TO BE THE GOOD GUY HERE! IT'S YOU!" Ana screamed at Molly.

"YOU KNOW! FUCK YOU ANA!" Molly retorted "GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD OUT OF FANTASY LAND AND LET'S FIGHT THESE DAMN CULTISTS RATHER THAN EACH OTHER!"

"FIGHT THESE CULTISTS! I AM FIGHTING ONE!" Ana bellowed.

"YOU WILL TWO BREAK IT UP!" Tom shouted, but even with his authority, Molly and Ana's argument only escalated.

"I BET YOU WANT TO FIGHT, BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING ELSE YOU CAN DO! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SAVE SOMEONE! TO ACTUALLY SAVE SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT!"

"I SAVED SARAH FROM THAT CULT!"

"YEAH! SO WHAT!? I BET THE GROUP HELPED YOU WITH THAT! I BET, BY YOURSELF YOU'RE SOME UNCARING, COLD HEARTED BITCH! I BET THERE'S SOMEONE YOU DIDN'T SAVE!"

Molly's eyes dilated, she was unable to make a comeback to this. Ana knew she had hit the nail on the head.

"I'M RIGHT AREN'T I?" She laughed, before her eyes locked on Molly "YOU DID LEAVE SOMEONE TO DIE!? SOMEONE YOU CARED ABOUT! BUT YOU DIDN'T SAVE THEM, YOU SIMPLY LEFT THEM! I DON'T NEED TO READ SOME REPORT BY THE CULTISTS THEMSELVES TO JUDGE PEOPLE! I KNOW WHAT TYPE OF PERSON YOU ARE MOLLY! YOU ARE PRACTICALLY LIKE THE CULT THEMSELVES, YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SAVING PEOPLE! YOU'RE ARE EVIL AND PATHETIC...!"

This is what set Molly off, to be compared to the cultists, was the same as being compared to Crawford. Crawford and it's residents she did stand up for the weak! She wanted to save people! Why couldn't Ana see that chasing after someone who was already doomed was not going to save anyone? Whereas if they fought and actually tried they could have saved people!

In anger, Molly felt her fists fly into Ana's stomach, Ana double over, as Molly used another one of her bare fists to punch Ana's face. Ana grunted, but seeing as Molly had attacked her, it gave her all the reason to fight back and in those moments Ana lost her cool completely.

She kicked Molly, hard, in the shin. Molly felt the air get knocked out of her, before Ana reached for her curved sword (still stained with the blood of her last victim).

"NO!" Luke and Tom bellowed in unison, but their warning came to late.

Ana was aware of her sword slicing through the air and then it hit flesh.

Blood splattered on a nearby wall.

Molly store at Ana for a second before she felt everything in her sight when completely black, she felt two agonising spasms of pain, her two eyeballs had been sliced cleanly in half. Molly felt the molten hot blood pouring from her empty eye sockets and a second later the pain of being blinded hit her like the force of a hurricane. Never in all of her life had Molly been in such agony. She didn't care how loud she screamed, all she knew was that she was screaming herself hoarse as she felt herself fall to the floor and wither, twitching in agony, as pints of blood escaped from where her eyes once were.

"Oh my God..." was all Rebecca could say over Molly's agonised howls of anguish. All eyes found a pale Ana.

Ana couldn't speak, all she could do was gaze down at Molly and what she had done after losing her temper and she had just criticised her late husband for losing his temper and murdering somebody, now she had lost her temper and blinded a woman for life. Maybe even killed her, she couldn't stand the glares of the group for a second longer. Disgusted with herself Ana fled from the scene and down a nearby alley.

"What the fuck have I done... what the fuck have I done?" she gasped to herself, holding her head in her hands. Before guilt could consume her eyes locked upon the wall and she realised she still had a friend she needed to get too. She couldn't lose another one, gazing at the five rings on her fingers she realised she had lost far too many people to these walkers, cultists... they were all the same too her.

With determination in her eyes (and with no where else to go) she speeded off towards the wall, if there was one good thing she could to do today, she would save Oscar's life. She wasn't going to lose him like she lost Trent, she had tried her hardest to save those she cared about.

She was a perfectionist, yet she had always failed.

But she promised herself, she wasn't going to fail this time.

* * *

Ana had fled the scene, a white faced Luke was the first one to approach Molly "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!" He bellowed in panic when seeing the extent of her injures, she was losing so much blood, in those seconds he was certain she was going to die.

"HELP! MEDIC! MEDIC! Luke pleaded of the sky, he tried to get Molly to stop thrashing around the place, but she only thrashed and screamed ever louder.

"I'M COMING!" Maria screamed as she placed herself next to Molly, however before she could begin to think about treating her wound, there was a crude shot followed by nearby gunfire and something rolled in their direction...

"RUN!" Came Tom's instruction, Luke used all of his strength to practically haul a thrashing Molly off the ground, as he and Maria went one direction just as the grenade exploded behind them, with BANG that sent him sprawling to the ground, he looked behind him to see that the rest of the group had been separated in the madness.

"Hey fucker!" Someone shouted from above Luke, he looked up to see a woman had her gun trained on his head.

"Got some stash pretty boy?" she teased him with, Luke went to reach for his own gun before he realised it wasn't there. He was about to panic before he heard a gunshot go off, the woman above him went limp and fell to the ground. Luke looked up again to see the medic, Maria had managed to save his life and shoot the woman. She looked uncomfortable holding the gun in her fingers and she looked clumsy carrying it, the Mexican woman looked over at Luke before tossing the gun next to his feet.

"I know that must have been uncomfortable for you" he told her, as she approached him.

"It had to be done" was all she said, before she looked at Molly. In the sudden panic Luke had forgot the blonde woman was still in his grip, he laid her down gently as she seemed to be getting weaker and struggling less.

"It's okay Molly" Luke began, his voice trembling "We gotta medic here, hang in there you are a tough cookie, remember?"

Molly's bloodstained globes seemed to turn to where Luke's voice was, her hands wildly locked around Luke's own, she felt him apply pressure which is the best she could ask for at this moment, just to know he was there, even though she couldn't see him.

"L-luke..." she sniffed through gritted teeth.

"What?"

"I... i can't see" she sobbed, well if she had any eyes left to sob with.

"I am so sorry Molly" he mournfully grumbled.

"I... I can't see!" Molly screamed in panic, holding onto Luke's hand tighter, as she kept on repeating that phrase.

* * *

Stephanie's head was woozy but she was aware of something, she had been separated from the group, her and Nick were together and heading down one of the main roads of Wellington, Nick was shooting at distant figures on rooftops...

"Fucking... cult...scum..." Nick grunted from his breath between his shots.

But Nick was conflicted, the riot was completely out of hand, some people were fighting cultists, some were fighting each other, some were looting supplies, some were simply hiding. It was with this realisation, that the riot wasn't all about finding the immune survivor anymore, it was pure anarchy as Nick slowly dropped his gun.

"Stef" he muttered in fear.

"What?" she asked, detecting the fear laced in his voice. Her eyes followed his to see rioters heading in the opposite direction they were heading.

Back towards the house.

"Lilly, Sarah, Clem...!" Nick muttered in panic.

They had an unspoken goal, the pair of them were sprinting back towards the house.

Unaware, that they were already far too late.

* * *

"How is it boy?" Wilbert inquired of his grandson, JJ kept his hold of the bandage Sarah had kept across his wound.

"Sarah says as long as I keep applying pressure to it, it shouldn't bleed" JJ responded.

"Bloody useless" Wilbert snapped "Girl calls herself a medic, she can't even fix that up properly" he jabbed his fist at JJ's wound.

"She's trying her best granddaddy" JJ snapped, defending Sarah.

"Whatever" Wilbert snapped, not caring much about the sour atmosphere that now lingered between him and his grandson. JJ sighed and was about to try and clear the air, but before he could a group of rowdy rioters walked down the street, pointing at Gertrude's house and jeering.

"HEY! FUCKERS!" one of the men yelled from the crowd.

"THAT IMMUNE SONUVA BITCH IS GONE!" Wilbert roared back at them "MOVE YOUR UGLY ASSES SOME PLACE ELSE!"

"OH NO, THIS IS THE PLACE!" The man shouted, he gazed down at the scorched pavement and a few burnt limbs that still lay scattered around, "That old bitch and the group in there murdered my brother here" he growled, "I fled and got myself some friends to take revenge, I also hear there's a lot of nice stuff in that house..."

"Son, you better back the fuck away!" Wilbert snapped, approaching the group of about 10 men, all looked drunk on either alcohol or revenge or God- knows what but whatever glare was in their eyes, it scared JJ. How could his grandfather be so stupid to approach them? only one of the men (a one armed man) had a gun in his good hand. But the other 9 didn't need guns to hurt someone. and Wilbert found this out when the man who had shouted at him, swung a well aimed fist at the elderly man.

"GRANDDADDY!" JJ screamed in panic, running up to where his grandfather lay on the middle of the road, where his nose bled and his head rang.

"Fucking bastards..." Wilbert groaned, but no attention was on him, the group of 10 merely laughed at JJ who suddenly realised he was surrounded by a gang of men, who were much taller and stronger than him.

"GRANDDADDY!" The shouting man exclaimed mocking JJ's southern accent, as the men around him jeered him on further.

JJ was trembling, what to do? Don't break... don't break... don't break... was the only answer that flew through his head.

"Awww" the man mocked "What did you do to your arm little boy?" he asked mockingly, tearing JJ's hand away from his bandage so that blood oozed down his arm, JJ whimpered pitifully but felt a rage grow inside of him at this man.

"COME ON YOU FUCKING PUSSY!" The man shouted, pushing JJ to the floor ( amidst more laughter from his comrades) "COME ON KID! PROTECT YOUR LITTLE GRANDDADDY! DON'T BE SUCH A FUCKING WIMP AND BLEED LIKE A MAN!"these words were the trigger, as JJ stood up, he smiled back at the mob around him.

"Okay" TT told them, "I'll bleed like a man"

and before anyone could stop him TT charged at the skinniest looking member of the group of men, the man tumbled to the ground, before he could regain his bearings, TT had planted his forearm across the man's mouth, blocking not only his mouth but also his nose. The man tried to pry TT's arm off his arm but the boy had suddenly become quite strong, it was only then that the man thrashed more wildly, realising that the blood from TT's wound was seeping into his own mouth and that... there was quite a lot of it! He felt himself gagging...

"Ugh..." he felt himself gagging... he couldn't breathe! He was literally drowning in this kid's blood! He made a few last desperate attempts too reach for safety or get this damn kid off him! He tried punching, kicking... but nothing worked he was getting weaker by the second, this kid... this kid was too damn strong!

The world went black for him, it was over far too quickly, the remaining 9 men looked at TT in complete disbelief at what he had done, unable to move and save their comrade. They all fought he could fight off a skinny twerp, but he had killed heir friend by drowning the man in his own blood. How? How was it possible?

"Raid the fucking house" the shouting man told his friends, as he rounded on TT, he laughed and cracked his neck "Looks like I got some competition here gents, avenging my brother is going to be more fun than I expected"

"Are you sure...?" a man began to his left.

"Go! Kill everyone in that fucking house and get us the loot we need to survive" the man instructed "We could make a fuck ton of money selling that stuff, it will keep us well off in Wellington for a while, all we have to do is get rid of the witnesses" he smiled at TT as the other men proceeded towards the house.

"Let's fight like men then kid" The man told a smiling TT, cracking his bare fists.

The man looked so confident, TT looked at where his grandfather was gazing at him, completely transfixed at what he had just seen his grandson had done. TT couldn't tell whether he was proud, sad or angry. His grandfather's face was impossible to read he simply looked shocked but he could have been hiding a whole range of different emotions.

"Watch this granddad" TT thought to himself "It will be fun".

* * *

Watching the scene from parted curtains, Sarah, Clementine, Tim and Gertrude couldn't believe what they were seeing. JJ had killed a man by simply using his wound, in his eyes Clementine saw that some sort of dangerous glint she had seen when JJ beat Scott to a bloody pulp.

"H-he killed someone" Sarah whimpered, no doubt it wasn't just the killing that had shocked her. But the malicious and almost creative way it was done, Sarah had seen Nick and herself kill people, but she had not seen it done with so much malice. Sarah turned to face Clementine, her face was the simple picture of devastation.

"It's okay" Clementine tried to reassure her, yet she doubted this would have any affect.

"That child" Gertrude mumbled "That child needs help"

"First time my brother came across him" Tim muttered to them all, his eyes never leaving JJ's form "He... JJ... he'd gone feral. Separated from his granddad, he... he restored to eating raw animals to stay alive..."

"Oh My God..." Sarah gasped upon learning this information as she beginning to see JJ in a completely new light "But, but he seemed so nice..." she whimpered to the heavens above her as if demanding an answer to as why JJ suddenly seemed completely insane and unstable to her.

"He is nice" Tim muttered in his defence, his eyes remaining trained on JJ "His heart is in the right place, it's just his head isn't"

"Whose head isn't in the right place?" A clueless AJ inquired of Tim, Lilly and AJ were too small to peek out of the broken window. However when Tim turned back towards JJ and Wilbert. (Ignoring AJ's question) he instead found 9 men approaching the house, all with murderous intent no doubt.

"SHIT!" Tim roared, he promised he wouldn't mess up again.

and he wouldn't.

The first two bullets tore through the fabric of the curtains and hit two men square in the head, as they dropped dead approaching the house. However this action only propelled the remaining 7 men to approach the house at a faster pace. Tim's shot grew more rapid and panicked, causing him to miss several of the men, and then suddenly they seemed to vanish.

Tim quickly reloaded.

"Where did they go?" Gertrude asked, she slowly edged towards the door near too the stairs, Clementine was aware of Lilly hiding behind her, the young girl looked terrified as did AJ who was choosing to cling to Tim's leg. He figured the man with the gun would be the safer option.

"I don't like this" Sarah whimpered, nervously peering all around the house, the curtains swayed lazily in the wind. The silence was absolute, they couldn't even hear JJ or that other man from outside. Luke told Clementine she was safe here, but now this seemed like the most dangerous place to be. Clementine held out the kitchen knife in her fingers nervously ready to strike at whoever came charging at her.

"SHOW YOURSELF" Tim finally bellowed out of fear, suffice to say no one showed themselves.

Clementine was tempted to move, to do something and then...

There a whooshing sound, Clementine looked up to see a wall of fire had seemingly sprung up out of nowhere, as it instantly got to work at eating away at the rugs and the walls of Gertrude's house.

"NO!" Gertrude roared.

_Of all the money, e'er I spent _

"THEY'VE TORCHED THE HOUSE! THEY MUST HAVE BEEN POURING OIL AROUND THE PLACE!" Tim screamed "TRYING TO DRAW US OUT!"

In the madness Clementine noticed (as quick as could be) two figures slide in through one of the windows, Lilly's scream was the only thing that made Tim turn to them in the nick of the time, he fired a single shot, as another man jumped on him.

"KILL THEM! AND TAKE WHAT YOU CAN!" Came a random bellow.

"NO!" Sarah screamed, Clementine saw her Hispanic friend dive forward and tackle a one armed man who was currently on Tim. He turned to deal with Sarah, Clementine noticed that this man had a gun, in fear for her friend's life Clementine was about to move forward to help her.

When she felt a hand clamp around her leg.

_I spent it in good company _

"Oh no you don't missy" Came a sinister growl, three more figures had snuck up behind her! One of the men easily tackled her to the floor and wrapped a large hand around her neck, while the other two grabbed Lilly from both arms.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! CLEMENTINE HELP ME! HELP ME! MUM, DAAAAAAAADDDDD!" Lilly screamed.

Panicking now, as she felt the life get squeezed out of her, Clementine had to get up and save Lilly... she was still screaming. Clementine still had her knife, with a burst of strength she sliced her kitchen knife against the man's neck. She felt the blood go into her eyes as the man's grip went slack and blood poured from fatal wound in his neck.

_and all the harm I have ever done _

Pushing the man off her, Clementine stood up tall, only to find her vision not only blurred by not only blood but the black smoke the flames were emitting, coughing Clementine called out "SARAH! LILLY!" she couldn't see a thing.

Until her foot collided with a still form below

_"alas it was to none but me" _

She peered closer to see the body was of one of the men, it had seemed Tim had his gun back then, as Clementine heard the gunshots now echoing across the room. She tried following these sounds, that was untill Lilly's shrill scream cut her off again...

"HEEEELLLLLLP! HELLLLLLLLLPPPP! AAHHHHH...!" and like that her cries were cut short a horrible choking noise taking it's place, before Clementine could run forward the flames seemed to lick the roof of Gertrude's living room and without warning a section of the celling collapsed with a BANG that sent embers swirling towards her and made dust fill the room.

_and all I've done, for want of wit _

"LILLY!" came another scream, from someone Clementine knew was Sarah.

"SARAH!" Clementine roared lumbering towards her friend's voice. She crashed into Sarah to see her friend was bleeding from the head, pale, covered in dust but still alive.

"C-clem" she stuttered instantly "I... the g-guy with o-one arm I lost my grip on him... a-and he-he has a gun! I don't where AJ is... and I saw Gertrude just leave! She just c-closed ran up the stairs Clem! and Lilly I just heard her, right by where the r-roof collapsed..."

_To memory now, I can't recall_

"It's okay Sarah!" Clementine said to calm her friend down, yet she noticed that she was shaking as well, "W-we'll get Lilly" she muttered over the roar of the flames, Sarah nodded at her, as they approached the slab of the roof, where it had bits of pipes sticking out of it. Clementine peered closer and saw something she never wanted to see.

A tiny arm, belonging to a two year old, lay stuck out from the rubble.

Surrounded by a massive puddle of blood and a few long strands of unmistakable dark brown hair.

_So fill to me, the parting glass_

Clementine didn't know how long she store at what was left of Lilly's crushed body, all she knew was that Sarah's heartbroken cry of "No" had confirmed to her the impossible. Lilly, the daughter of Kenny and Sarita and the adopted daughter of Nick and Stephanie was dead.

_Goodnight and joy be with you all_

"C-clementine..." Sarah sobbed, as Clementine helped Sarah too her feet, both of them were shaking uncontrollably, Tim was firing away in the distance, AJ had fled the scene fleeing up the stairs trying to find Gertrude, but the 3 year old had panicked and attempted to climb out of the burning house by crawling through an upstairs window. The 3 year old had lost his grip and tumbled violently onto the grassy plain of the backyard, breaking his leg in the process as he wept in silent agony, immobilized in place. But he was unnoticed and alive.

Which was more than could be said for others.

"I promised..." Sarah sobbed "I promised I would look after her!" she screamed, as Clementine shook Sarah's shoulders "SARAH! WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING NOW! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE...!" she couldn't finish the sentence as she too found herself dissolving into tears.

At this point Tim was on a rampage, determined to protect the group, he was succeeding, he was shooting anyone who posed a threat.

Yet in this smokescreen he looked up to see the silhouette of Clementine, being approached by the silhouette of a tall figure... with one arm.

The man with the gun!

Tim fired instantly.

Just as Sarah went into hug Clementine, her body seemed to go stiff, Clem looked down to see three or four dark holes rapidly expanding underneath Sarah's clothing near to her torso...

"DID I GET HIM!?" Tim asked running forward, so he could get a clearer look. it was then he saw Clementine and Sarah still standing there, Sarah looked down at her wounds in disbelief. The pain not hitting her, Clementine gazed at the wound before both pairs of wide eyes from the shell-shocked teenagers locked on Tim. In seconds that contained an eternity Tim's gut sank to the lowest depths when he had realised what he had done.

Sarah stumbled, her legs giving way, as Clementine caught her in her arms. Tim didn't want to see this.

"Fuck!" he wept as he found the front door in the burning room and ran outside, he kept on running not looking back, he had fucked up in the highest level. He had even numbly shot the real one armed guy on the way out, but that wasn't going to save Tim. No, he had shot and killed that innocent girl.

He was a complete fuck up.

Clementine couldn't breathe, as tears poured from her eyes, as she gently laid Sarah on the ground...

"Lilly... Stephanie... Luke... Rebecca... Eddie... N-Nick..." Sarah muttered.

_"Of all the comrades that e'er I had _

"You're going to be okay" Clementine lied, the tears squeezing themselves out of her eyes, as she stared down at her dying best friend.

"I... I'm dying..." Sarah admitted, looking up at the smoky celling.

"No. NO YOU'RE NOT!" Clementine screamed, holding her friend ever closer.

_They're sorry for my going away_

"Clem..." Sarah seemed to beg,

"What?" Clem responded instantly.

"Stay... stay here Clementine I... I..." Sarah seemed to gasp for oxygen as Clementine felt her gut turn to ice, no... this couldn't happen. Not like this. Not now. Not ever.

_and all the sweethearts that e'er I had _

"Sarah..." Clementine wept, holding her tightly as she simply couldn't accept this fact. First innocent little Lilly and now... now Sarah. Clementine had gone back to save Sarah from the cult, she remembered what had happened the last time she had lost Sarah. Back in that trailer park she felt that will to live slowly diminish after Sarah's death but this time around she had grown so much more attached to Sarah... she wouldn't be able to handle it even Sarah died.

_Would wish me one more day to stay_

Sarah suddenly seemed to gasp for air, she looked up at Clem and smiled.

"I saw it" she croaked.

"Saw what? Clementine asked.

"What happened, to me in that trailer" Sarah told her, to Clementine's shock "You were right Clem, I saw you leave me, I saw Jane persuade you and Luke to leave me. I was in shock after what happened to my dad... I couldn't move. No one wanted to help me and nobody loved me" she looked up at Clementine at this point.

_But since it falls into my lot_

"Those walkers ripped me apart, it hurt so much" Sarah shuddered at the memory, before her eyes found Clem's once again "I screamed for you Clem, I screamed for my dad and no one came, that was the worst. No one came back for me" she uttered, before her wide smile made even more tears leak from Clementine's eyes.

"But... but you all did" Sarah croaked "You saved me Clementine, I could fight, People... people loved me Clementine. You... you saved me" Sarah mused.

"Saved you?" Clementine couldn't help but spit at herself "I failed... I failed you Sarah..."

"No" Sarah coughed "You... you saved me, you... saved me in every way. I'm... i'm so glad I got to be best friends with you Clem, I'm so glad we got to spend so much time together..."

"I... I..." Clementine wanted to say something like "But I wanted to spend more time with you" but she couldn't muster these words. Instead she muttered a truth that Sarah needed to hear.

"I love you"

Clementine could not have expressed her heartbreak in words, Sarah wasn't disgusted, nor confused by this instead her smile only grew wider.

"I'm glad you do" she told her best friend "I'm glad it was you in the end" she then shuddered as Clementine held her closer, "Please don't leave me" she begged from Sarah, Sarah shakily looked up at Clementine, her eyes were beginning to close by their own accord.

_That I should rise and you should not_

"It's my time" Sarah muttered "But not your's Clem, keep on being positive Clem, there's... there's so many more people that need your help. thank you for everything Clem"

_I'll gently rise and softly call_

"Don't go" Clem begged for the final time.

"Thank you" Sarah muttered.

and with that Sarah moved no more.

* * *

"LILLY! SARAH!" Nick roared as he ran onto the front lawn of the house, there was no sign of JJ, Wilbert or the other man anywhere, they must have taken their fight elsewhere yet Nick didn't know this. All he was focused on was the burning house, Stephanie saw Gertrude carry a bunch of stuff outside of her, trying as hard as she could to save her husband's possessions.

"GERTRUDE! WHERE ARE THE KIDS!?" Stephanie demanded of the old woman.

Gertrude let her husbands possessions fall onto the lawn, safe from the fires. She was disgraced with herself for getting her husband's possessions and saving them than keeping an eye on the kids. But she had no idea where they were in that blaze of a house, so selfishly she saved her objects. She could only look at Stephanie sadly, as in those moments Clementine stumbled blindly away from the burning house.

"CLEM!" She heard Nick roar, Clementine felt numb everywhere, blood caked on her form, her clothes burnt around the edges, she was covered in dust.

"CLEM!" Nick exclaimed shaking her shoulders, "WHERE ARE LILLY AND SARAH!?" Clementine couldn't believe out of everyone it had to be him who she saw first. She couldn't tell him with words, he saw the tears still rolling down her cheeks. Nick's face sunk as he bolted up and ran towards the house screaming "SARAH!"

Clementine stumbled onwards, with no idea where she was going, all she knew is that whether or not Wellington was destroyed by these riots.

She already knew her own world had been destroyed.

Sarah's last words still echoed in her head.

"Thank you"

_Goodnight and may joy be with you all_


	11. A God Complex

**A/N: So that makes the end of episode 1, which I'd call The Parting Glass which symbolises not only Sarah's death but a lot of other things. A lot of people in Wellington slowly began to lose their humanity throughout the first part of this story (the main cast included) so since the end of GTR, the parting glass symbolises how a perfect society has crumbled. But now were onto Episode 2, which I'll call One Way Out, this can symbolise a lot of darker elements but also a lot of positive things too, needless to say this story is called Ruin To Redemption for a reason, despite this Episode 2 will continue right where Episode 1 left off. So expect a lot of dark things to come.**

**Now onto answering reviews!**

**Kristal Dynamite- Fellow brit it's great listening to your reviews and thoughts, a lot of what you've said/felt I'll answer to the other reviewers below, but I did like your suggestion of Molly relying on her sense of smell now that she is blind. I debated with myself for a long while as to whether or not to go ahead and blind Molly. Originally she was only supposed to lose an eye, but I felt that was too similar to what happened to Kenny and like Oscar I wanted to deal with characters who had massive physical disadvantages during the apocalypse. Molly has gone from the near perfect parkour master to being blind... it will be a very interesting development to work with. Anyway thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest- I loved how you seemed to be liveblogging reviewing the chapter and I'm glad there is Gertrude love out there! I also like your predictions as it lets me know what the reader is thinking and who they believe is going to die, although you called it wrong about the deaths, you managed to predict Gertrude's house being burnt down (I like it went I prove people wrong, not in a bad way, just in a way that surprises them so they don't know what to expect next) I also liked that your backing up Molly as she did have a point on things. Either way thank you reviewing my fic!**

**ffapathy- It's amazing to hear all of your thoughts in this chapter. Yep Sarah's death (it may sound cocky of me) but I knew it was going to upset a lot of people seeing how much they'd grown on her in the last fics. Also interesting to see you now have conflicted feelings on the Ana situation. I felt like I made her too villainous in what she did to Molly, but then again in that moment I couldn't see anyone else doing it and I wanted to showcase a major flaw in not only Ana's character but Molly's as well, which is their bad tempers. Nice that you picked up the little detail about Terri and Brandon in defence of Ana, we'll see more of the siblings this chapter and finally thank you for your compliment on Sarah's character I'm glad in the end she didn't just to go to ruin and that her character arc felt completed.**

**Shatteringsoul- Thank you for the fantastic review and picking out a detail I almost completely forgot about, the whole second chance thing with Luke and Clem with the Domesday report! I love it when readers manage to point out a detail I sometimes find myself overlooking, if it wasn't for you guys my fics would be full of plot-holes so rest assured the Luke/Clem second chance thing will be referenced soon.**

**UrbankidCO- Thanks for stopping by to leave a review and your idea on what happened in the original timeline after Clem's death... I won't spoil too much but there might be somebody left who has a flashback revealing more (that's all I'm saying) anyway your DLC suggestion. I don't think I'm on par with Telltale (Season 1 wise- I admit) but I always appericate reviews like your's. It motivates me to carry on writing a story seeing how you guys enjoy it!**

**Guest- That's a tricky question to answer, She loved Sarah, but whether that love extends to other girls will have to be seen, she's still only 14 and Sarah was her best friend for years in this fic series. I've realised I haven't really added much gay characters to the series so far, other than Wilbert and mentions of Matthew and Walter. A lot of straight couples have paired off in my fics and during RTR I wanted to show more diversity in the cast, but without it feeling forced. Anyway rambling aside, to answer your question I don't think Clementine is there yet due to her age and the fact I can't see her falling in love easily, especially after Sarah's death.**

**Chameishida- More tears have been shed I see (I am proud of myself! Hahahaha! I'm joking being evil to my reviewers gets to my head sometimes) Your thoughts on the Clarah shipping matched my own completely, I think in one author's note in either NGB or GTR i told you all "Clarah" wasn't going to happen due to their ages, but quite simply the idea evolved and suddenly there it was. Anyway Sarah's death... along with Lilly's show that this final story will have the most brutal edge of them all. It was hard killing of a character I spent so much time developing but rest assured no death goes to waste in this series, (also a reminder that Clem, Luke, Nick, Rebecca, Eddie, Stef, and AJ) are all that remain from the original group from NGB, 7 characters remain (I wonder how many tears I could shed with their deaths... *laughs evilly*) I'm becoming an awful person writing these, aren't I?**

**and thanks to everyone else for reviewing, sorry I couldn't get around to everyone, but this author's note is already way too long, thanks for staying with the fic for this long and every single review is appreciated and taken into consideration! **

* * *

He was hurt.

He cried.

But he never felt the pain.

He didn't feel his muscles ache in the slightest as he pulled the flattened corpse of his adopted daughter from under the rubble, he didn't feel the embers singe away at his clothes as he stood silently, gazing at Sarah's bled out corpse. He didn't feel his vocal chords sting as he pushed them to their limits screaming Sarah's name. The smoke and the fire that signed and blackened his skin and clothes may as well have not been there for all he cared.

He stumbled out of the house, in a manner that must have been identical to Clementine.

Gertrude had wisely decided to keep out of sight, hiding behind her husband's favourite armchair, the old woman trembling in fear. She knew (from what she had seen) that Nick and Stephanie were a nice couple, but in extreme situations like these, people could change. Half of Wellington had already changed, she had changed. She neglected AJ, Lilly, Clem and Sarah. But she simply assumed in that madness that they were either dead or that Tim was watching them. The guy had a gun, she... she had to save her husband's possessions! There was no way to stop the fire that was tearing through her home, she had to save what was important to her.

Yet, as the elderly lady peered over the armchair, her gut sank when she saw Nick carrying two bodies from her blazing home.

She had valued objects, objects over those children's lives.

What the hell had she done?

Nick didn't seem to hear anything as the midday winter gales slapped at his face, Sarah's pale body lay broken in his own arms, Lilly's flattened form lay planted on top of Sarah's corpse. Stephanie saw him approaching her with the two bodies in his arms.

They came face to face, not a word was spoken, the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the roaring fire behind them. The distant grumbles of the riot and the growing strength of the Michigan Winter winds funnelling down their earlobes.

Stephanie's mouth parted open a few inches, her lower lip started to seemingly vibrate, judging by how fast it was shaking. She looked Nick dead in the eyes and that's when they both started to well up. That's when both sets of tears fell from their eyes, their quiet sobbing and sniffing went unnoticed in the chaos around them. Stephanie couldn't move, her sobs growing louder, a crescendo building in her throat as a feeling of complete emptiness started to wash over her gut. She looked down at her adopted daughter's mangled body.

_"Don't leave me" _Stephanie remembered hearing Lilly's pained plea, the final words she heard from her daughter.

Looking at Lilly's corpse, those words flooded Stephanie's head, they filled her head making it heavy in guilt. Too heavy for the young woman to handle, she gasped in horror before her world started to spin out of control. Her world went black as she fainted. Nick watched his girlfriend fall to the grassy ground in a heap. He couldn't react, he simply dropped the bodies of Lilly and Sarah next to his girlfriend and without even thinking, he was running. Running down the road towards where he could faintly see Clementine still stumbling blindly away from the inferno of Getrude's house.

Clementine only heard Nick's clunking footsteps and ragged breathing at the last few seconds. She turned around to find his hand at her throat.

"Who?" he breathed, his breath may as well have been poison because of the overpowering venom interlaced within it.

"T-tim shot Sarah" Clementine gasped, she had never, never seen Nick look this deranged or angry and Nick was an individual who was almost always angry. Processing this information, Nick didn't even question Clementine's answer, he released her, in which the grieving, shell-shocked 14 year old, staggered away from Nick. Yet she couldn't help but look back at him, as Stephanie seemed to have awakened by the bodies of her two adoptive daughters. Her insane howls of grief made Nick shake violently, Clementine felt her heartstrings get tugged once again.

"I'm gonna kill them all" Nick growled, too thin air or Clementine herself, the 14 year old didn't know.

"The cult and Tim?" she asked.

Nick didn't seem to move at her question, he still shook but his eyes were locked on the smouldering city of Wellington ahead of him.

"THEY TOOK EVERYTHING!" Nick suddenly screamed, causing Clementine to jump "EVERYTHING WE FUCKING HELPED TO BUILD! FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM! FUCK THEM...!" Nick insane chant went unanswered, even as he pummelled the floor with his fists until they bled and even when he grabbed his gun and fired a few shots into the air, no one seemed to respond to rage. Stephanie only screamed louder, Gertrude remained out of sight.

"Kill Tim" Nick growled at Clem "If you find him" he added before he turned back towards Wellington.

"Where are you going!?" Clem dared shout after him.

Nick waved his gun around in the air like a complete madman.

"SoMeOne'S GoT tO MainTaIN LaW AnD OrDer!" he gabbled at her, before he proceeded off to deal with the cult (and possibly Tim) who had ruined the life. Stephanie was too lost in grief to stop him, she remained bent over the corpses, while Clem stood as still as statue.

It was just like Kenny, she had saved Kenny the first time and helped him build a family only for him to lose that all further on down and line. The bearded man had snapped and become a worse person than he was during her first life and now the same was happening to Nick. She saved him and helped him build a new family and now he had just lost half of that family and had snapped and was most likely going to kill several people before getting killed himself. Just like Kenny, Nick was heading down the same road.

But Clementine couldn't stop him, if Sarah was gone she thought "What's the point? Let the world burn, let everyone die" she couldn't get her thoughts out of this depressing cycle as she became aware of herself stumbling away from the burning house once more, away from the flames and Stephanie's anguished cries and from the body of the person she truly loved... she was standing right next to Sarah! Why couldn't have she have taken the bullets for Sarah!? Why did she, the typical pessimist have to survive over Sarah? who was a one and only gift of positivity to the group? To society?

She felt anger bubble inside of her, yes, if she found that cowardly piece of shit Tim she would kill him. Him letting the information slip to that Journalist had helped this riot to start and now (in his own mess) he had killed Sarah. All of Clementine's compassion had been sucked out of her in the void of Sarah's death, but even if she was in sane mind, a dark part of her would consider killing Tim. He had endangered the lives of everyone across Wellington, he had killed Sarah, most likely he had killed Oscar as well and put his group, her group and Gertrude in danger.

He had to die.

Maybe, with Tim's death, Clementine would feel a little better.

* * *

"ANA STOP!"

"ANA!"

Ana kept on running, even though she knew who was calling her name. She couldn't face them, not after what she done. She had aimed to kill a woman, an woman she may not have liked but she certainly did not deserve the mauling Ana had given her. Ana didn't want to turn around to face the enormity of her crime, she didn't want to hear what her allies had to say about the incident she simply wanted out.

"ANA!" came the scream once again.

She tried running faster, but she couldn't outrun those two, no the Roger Twins were the fastest in their school apparently.

"STOP!" Brandon yelled, skidding in front of the African american woman. Ana screeched to a halt and locked eyes with Brandon for a second, before she found herself drawing her bloodied curved sword on one of her oldest friends.

"Get out of the way Brandon" she growled.

"Your not going anywhere without us Ana!" Brandon retorted, Ana really wanted to slap him. That boy was too good-hearted for this world and too loyal, like a puppy you simply couldn't shake off.

"MOVE!" She screamed at him, more for his sake than her own.

"No" came a flat voice from behind Ana "We're not letting you go like this"

Who else would have a flat voice like that? Her and Brandon's voices seemed to blend into the environment around them, the desperation, the panic and the fear... it was all there. But Terri... no that girl always seemed to be thinking, she never seemed to be caught up in the events of the present. Ana knew there was a vulnerable human being under Terri's ice cold shell, but reaching that human required a lot of time and effort. At this current time and location Ana was unwilling to donate both of those things to Terri.

"She's dead, isn't she?" was all Ana said.

"We don't know" Terri replied "We got separated"

The conversation seemed to draw to a natural halt, before Ana turned at the sounds of approaching footsteps from the alley the three of them were currently situated within. Ana turned her head to see the panting form of Luis stumbling down the alley, no doubt the one armed teenager was struggling to keep up with his comrades.

"Ana" Terri stated, her words had a way of diverting Ana's attention back towards her.

"Don't do this" she seemingly seemed to be begging of her friend now, her voice quivered with some emotions. This caught Ana by surprise it seemed as though when Terri opened up to her all those months back, she had seemingly started to get emotionally attached to the widowed veteran of the apocalypse. But despite the outpouring of emotions, Terri's personality seemed to remain intact by locking eyes with the cold hearted girl, Ana knew that the teenager already knew what Ana was planning. and it went beyond that of... "get to the wall and save Oscar" answer.

"I never liked it here" Ana admitted, as Luis caught up with the twins. The panting teenager didn't say a word as he used the nearest wall to support his weight and regain his breath.

"Me and Oscar" Ana spoke on not looking at anyone directly as she continued to speak "We kept alone for so long and survived together for so long... now were in here, in a society and everything we feared would happen has happened" she sighed there and looked back at the wall.

"It's not over" Terri told her "There's always the chance to go back"

Ana shook her head in dismissal.

"No" she told the trio of teenagers defiantly. "I'm not like you" she muttered turning towards Terri. The two young women held each other's gazes before Ana spoke up once again "All this time I used to think I was a survivalist, I used to think I'd always put myself first, but..." she looked down at the rings on her fingers, her thoughts lingered on Trent, Oscar and her current group.

"I slaughtered all of those cultists, to save you guys"

"You fought to save yourself" Terri counter argued, to no effect.

"I killed all those walkers, I put myself in so much danger all to save Trent" Ana numbly recounted.

Terri had counter argument for this.

"and now I'm going up the wall to save Oscar" she muttered "I've put myself in danger so many times, too try and save so many people. I've lost so much and I can't lose anymore. I... I do still care" Ana was surprised to find her vision was starting to get blurry as she herself came upon this realisation, "I didn't hurt Molly because I'm a villain like everyone thinks, it's because I care too much. I just wanted to save Oscar and she was holding me up, I..." she sniffed before she found her shaky voice once again "This is my last and only chance to save someone I care about and nothing is going to get in the way of that..."

"I know you've lost way too many people" Brandon told the determined Ana in front of him, as Terri's brother dared venture into this argument "But you have us! There's still a future for you...!"

"Not in these walls" Ana told him curtly "and certainly not with this group"

and with that she turned her back on people she once considered friends, a silent tear fell down her cheek as she sobbed "Well, I guess this is goodbye"

"Ana...!" Luis started to yell.

Without any warning Ana sprinted towards where Brandon was still stubbornly stood in place, she raised her curved sword and only at the last second did Brandon dive out of the way. With her path now clear, Ana made a beeline for the wall, not looking back once on the group she knew she would never see again.

Using his single and fully intact arm, Luis helped Brandon to his feet. Terri's eyes remained locked on Ana's fleeting form, before the African american woman turned a corner and vanished from her sight.

"What the hell was all that about?" Luis asked.

Terri gulped down a lump in her throat, as Brandon was pulled to his feet. None of the siblings answered Luis' inquiry instantly, Brandon could tell (despite his sister's mastered pokerface) that she was upset about Ana's departure. All he had to do was mutter "Come here sis" and that was more than enough for Terri to hug her brother, clinging to him tightly, as Luis' awkwardly looked on.

"I thought Ana was different" Terri mumbled into the fabric of Brandon's t-shirt, "I thought she was stronger, she..." Terri felt herself gulping down another wave of tears that threatened to pour over her eyelids as she quietly muttered "She... she was the closest thing to a friend I had"

"You've got us" Brandon told her, yet it was easy to see why Terri was upset. Having a friend in her brother didn't compare to having an actual unrelated friend. Maria, Terri and Ana were the only three girls of their little group. Seeing as Maria usually never saw eye to eye with Ana and due to the age gap between her and Terri, the kindly mother never really understood nor approached Terri much. Ana and Terri however seemed like they could be friends, two female friends in a group dominated by males. For a long time Terri had longed for a female voice of support, a strong friend she could rely on. Someone who was stronger than her own meek mother was and someone who could stand up for herself.

But no, that mother figure of Ana was gone. Terri would simply have to be strong for herself.

"Hey, so erm, where is Ana going?" Luis asked once again.

"Isn't it obvious" Terri replied, parting from her brother's embrace she turned to Luis and gave her answer:

"She and Oscar... if they somehow survive the events of today, they don't have a future here in these walls" she inhaled before giving her final conclusion.

"They are running away"

The sounds of approaching rioters, soon caused the trio to flee in the opposite direction, as they ran Terri had to hide her disappointment with Ana. The curly haired teenager promised that no matter what, she would not simply give up on the group, in the way that Ana had done.

* * *

To Scott everything was a blur.

More streets, more rioters, more gunshots and explosions, the once arrogant teenager stumbled through it all, expecting to blown to smithereens at any second. He had no destination, Lizzie was dead, it was likely all of his friends and house-mates were dead too. He was like a walker itself, simply stumbling along and waiting for someone to put him out of his misery.

The cast around his arm had grown dirty, with blood and grime, his nose still bled, the bullet wound in his shoulder seemed to have stopped bleeding. But it would leave a nasty scab no doubt. Everything hurt and Scott just wondered why the hell he was still alive. "Any second now" he miserably though to himself, stumbling through another seemingly war-torn street, waiting for the first bullet to rupture a vital artery, or for the first grenade to turn him into a pile of smoking limbs. Yet none of this happened.

Instead Scott suddenly found himself tripping and stumbling over fresh green grass, an open space... a large building in front of him.

His eyes adjusted to the waving american flag above him.

He was at Wellington High.

"School" he wheezed aloud, if the riot hadn't occurred today, he would be there right now. Experiencing another day with Miss King and the likes of Luis, Clementine, Lizzie... but Lizzie was dead and it was likely the others were too. Scott knew he had only been at school for a few days, but he could already tell the routine made, would be one that would be stuck too for a while. A whole life at school... gone before it had even started. Even if school somehow started again, Scott knew it would never be the same.

and he wouldn't be the same boy that walked through those doors on the first day.

He whimpered and approached the building, he found the main entrance within seconds. However when he tried to tug the door open, it remained firmly in place.

"What?" he muttered.

He tried pushing and pulling on the giant wooden doors, but they wouldn't move an inch. He couldn't see inside of the school, but he had to wonder. Who the hell had locked the doors? The doors to Wellington High were usually open and he imagined people would be sheltering in there today.

With this thought in mind, Scott rapped his fists against the main entrance and bellowed "HEY! LET ME IN!"

There was no answer, Scott tried hammering on the door once again, before a harsh laugh from his left caught his attention.

"There's another one!" came an excited shout, Scott turned to find an gang of sinister looking teenagers approaching him. There had to be about 6 or 7 of them at most, but what made them so intimidating to Scott, was the fact all of them carried guns. Scott felt as though all of the air had been sucked out of his body when one of teens raised his gun.

"People like you" the leader of this small bunch snarled "Don't deserve to live"

and with that, he open fired, littering the wooden entrance with a pattern of bullet holes. Scott had dived out of the way without a second to spare. He expected to die at any-time during this riot. But to be gunned down in this fashion... his survival sense had kicked in. As he ran, he suddenly realised who the teenagers behind him were and what was truly going on.

For starters, nobody just shot at you for no reason. Scott knew that these teenagers however intimidating they may have been, were not cardboard cut out villains of the moment. They were shooting at him for a reason and that reason was... they were cultists. Scott saw them around school, huddled in their group with their fancy clothing and stuck up noses. Scott had hastily named them the "Snob Society" a name that stuck with his own little gang. Lizzie seemed to think it was a good fit. But because they had only been to school for a few days, Scott hadn't actually spoken to the "snob society" nor had he got to know any of them. Or even let them know who was in charge at Wellington High.

Well, now he was one having his ass handed to him.

One of the teenage cultists had yelled "There's another one!" and Scott realised, as his hand moved over lumpy dents in the wall, which he realised were bullet holes indented into the wall. The bullet holes were surrounded by smears of blood and bloody hand prints, the crimson red clashed horribly with the innocent white marble wall.

Suddenly, Scott wasn't trampling on grass anymore, the ground became crunchy and saturated.

He knew what was below him, but he had to look regardless of how much it would traumatize him.

Corpses. The bled out corpses of his fellow classmates... he recognised a few of them as members of his gang. Some of them were younger children and their parents, some of the corpses were of teachers themselves. Scott gulped but was surprised to find that he didn't vomit or cry like he expected himself too. He guessed the madness and gore of the riot had temporarily numbed his senses. He jumped over bodies as he heard someone reload a gun behind him, he dared look over his shoulder to see about 4 guns trained directly on his form.

"FUCK!" he screamed in fear, using his good arm, he propelled himself around the corner of the building, he felt two bullets whiz centimetres past his back. Panting heavily he looked ahead of him. Only to find a long stretch of the wall ahead of him and several cut down bodies, who had (no doubt) tried to escape before they were shot down. Scott was a fast runner, but in his shape there was no way he'd make it. The cultists were approaching, he could hear their steps. They sounded _excited _as if they were predators hunting down a particularly tasty prey.

He supposed he had been an complete asshole during his brief stint at Wellington High. No doubt these (I'm so much better than you) cultists, would see him as a primary target. Someone who had to be annihilated for Wellington to survive. Well, the Domesday Report may have revealed a few things, but it also revealed the cult were in Wellington. Now they were exposed they weren't only fighting to eradicate "the bad people" but they were also fighting for their lives. Because they were vastly outnumbered, Scott knew the cult would be defeated at the end of the day. Although he doubted that himself, or many others would live to see that glorious sight.

"Come on then assholes" Scott muttered, turning back and ready to give a brave last speech.

Yet a squeak of "Hey! Hey! Get over here!" Certainly caught his attention, it was coming from behind the large root of a nearby tree. It seemed just about big enough to conceal a person, it was then Scott realised this was the spot JJ had knocked two of his teeth out and broken his arm. If he didn't move now, this would also be the place he would meet his maker.

Determined to live and throwing away his brave last speech, for now. The burly boy dived behind the tree root and crouched down low. Next to him, he saw none other than his white faced teacher Miss King.

Neither of them said a word, Scott heard the cultists emerge from nearby, he held his breath in fear.

"Where did he go?" one of them asked the obvious.

"They're going to check here" Scott thought in his head, bracing himself for the end. It was the only place in sight that could conceal him, of course they would check behind this large root. But then again, he didn't even think of checking behind this root until he heard Miss King from behind it. Holding his breath, Scott could only pray for the best.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the murderous teenagers look behind the tree, all he had to do was turn around now... and it would all be over. Yet to Scott's sheer relief he turned back towards his group and muttered "Must have fled the grounds"

"Fuck!" a girl swore "He was one of the biggest dicks in this school, I can't believe we didn't kill him"

"He was in bad shape anyway" another girl said "He won't last long out there"

"Well then, let's wait for the next set of assholes to turn up" came the voice of the boy who seemed to lead them "Remember half of these people are assholes, our parents said shoot first, ask questions later. It's for our own safety..." his voice trailed off as he lectured his group, Scott realised that they were walking away and preparing to gun down their next victim.

"What the hell is going on?" Scott snapped at Miss King the second he was certain those teenage cultists were out of sight.

"I... I don't know!" Miss King squealed "I turned up here and th-the school was locked! From every door! Those... those cultists turned up and started gunning down everyone who tried to get in. People tried breaking the windows and forcing the doors open. But the cult made sure no one got in... I... I was lucky enough to hide behind this tree root. Because me and some of the others turned up for work as per usual, when that horrible report came out and now... and now this riot has just... oh god..." Miss King sobbed, the British woman seemed to be overcome with emotion as she hugged herself. Scott didn't know what to say.

"I-i tried to warn them" she sobbed "Parents, kids, pupils they all came here looking for shelter, but someone has locked themselves in... the cult aren't even bothering to kill the person or people inside. They're using it too their advantage, likes bees drawn to a honey-pot. It's awful..." Miss King wept, sobbing into her hands.

"If it's so awful" Scott hissed back at her "Then why haven't you run off yet?"

"They'll spot me!" Miss King squeaked "I'm not taking that chance!"

"Yet you risked your life to save me?" Scott inquired as Miss King nodded her head.

"Well usually the cult were right behind the others, so I couldn't say anything without..." she gulped before continuing "But you looked gormless out there Bob, you had a few seconds lead and I decided to try and save someone..."

"Bob!?" Scott angrily asked.

"Oh sorry love" Miss King apologised, "Terrible with names you see, you were... Scott right? Admittedly you're not my favourite pupil..."

"Yeah, yeah" Scott waved her off impatiently before he caught sight of a large object next to Miss King.

"Miss" he piped up "Is that a chainsaw?"

Miss King looked down at the object.

"It was here, when I got here" she explained "I think our caretaker was planning on cutting down the tree in near future, due to complaints about it blocking the view..."

"Well at least were not complete sitting ducks" Scott remarked to himself, yet the use of a chainsaw would not doubt draw attention. But if the time came, Scott would rather go out fighting than cowering behind a tree branch.

* * *

_"So, what you gonna do, Granddaddy boy?"_

_TT growled menacingly at the man in front of him, the man's fists were held defensively up to his face. Both of them wore the boxer's pose. There were no guns, no knives and no blades in this fight to the death. The burning house behind of JJ became more and consumed in flames, TT watched as the intruders started to pour into the burning house._

_For a few brief seconds, JJ resurfaced, as the safety of his friends became his number one priority._

_"Sar...!" he began to shout, before a fist connected with the side of his face, JJ felt himself tumbled violently to the ground. "DANG IT!" he cursed to the high heavens above. Spitting out blood from his mouth, he had taken his eyes off that asshole for two seconds and this was the result. But before JJ could even gain his bearings, he felt a heavy weight on his stomach, as two anchors of pressure suddenly seemed to diverge to his eyes._

_"Not... that... tough... are...ya?" the shouting man, panted. Digging his thumbs into JJ's eye sockets, JJ felt himself panic and struggle against this man who was clearly much stronger than him. All the man needed was a few more seconds and JJ would find his eye's crushed and himself certainly dead._

_"JJ!" he heard his grandfather shout in panic. Wilbert was still dazed on the ground and now he had to watch his grandson get mauled to death._

_In those moments, TT resurfaced, he wouldn't break here and his grandfather had showed some genuine concern for his well-being. A part of both TT and JJ wanted to impress their grandfather. How on earth would Wilbert finally offer praise to the pair of them, if they died within the first ten seconds of this fight?_

_TT located the man's forearm and with a powerful thrust bit down on his wrist. The man screamed in pain as his hands flew from TT's eyes, TT continued to apply pressure, until the man's skin cracked and blood rained down his hand._

_"GET THE FUCK OFF!" he bellowed, finally he swung the demented TT from his bleeding wrist._

_TT fell to the ground, looking up to see the enraged man charging at him like a bull. With a plan in mind, TT sprang up and steadily jogged down a nearby alley, the bull of the man hot on his heels, as the man bellowed "GET THE FUCK BACK HERE! COWARD! YOU FUCKING COWARD!" yet TT didn't slow down, then again he didn't speed up here. He made sure he was only slightly ahead of the man, so the man would carry on chasing him and exerting himself to the fullest._

_"JJ!" Wilbert shouted again, the old man had promised his late son he would protect his grandson. Even if it cost the old man his life. Cursing his aching bones and the new bruise on his face. The lanky elderly man managed to push himself to his feet._

TT smiled.

He was cornered, avoiding the noises of the riots deliberately, jogging down the dizzying streets, the narrow allies as the man followed him. Finally they were one of the narrowest allies in Wellington and the man was exhausted. Panting heavily the man laughed and pointed a large fist at TT.

"No...where to run now!" he bellowed in victory.

If he only knew how wrong he was.

TT sprinted at the man, the man (predictably) raised his fists to his face. TT had to wonder how stupid or drunk this man really was, did he think he was planning to box the man to death? No. TT had a much better tactic in mind. His grandfather always used to say that large men were only powerful when they stood tall. Bring them to their knees and they were nothing. A blob that lacked the stamina and agility to get up and fight back. This advice certainly came in handy when walkers started pouring into Wilbert's farm. TT didn't expect his grandfather to be that strong to bring walkers to their knees.

Now, TT was going to same to this man.

He ducked under the man's legs and finally, fully exerting himself, he kicked the man at the back of the kneecaps. The large man instantly fell to the floor, before he could fight back, TT had already stretched the man's arm out, he lifted the man's thumb.

"What are you...?" the man began to ask, before TT stomped down on the thumb, it bent backwards instantly, the bones in the man's form jolting out of place. With the thumb bent backwards and bone sticking out of the man's hand. The shouting man no longer shouted, he screamed and he panted in agony, as more blood began to litter the alley floor.

TT raised the next finger, before the man could say a word.

STOMP!

"ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

The man screamed in agony, two of his fingers bent back, he withered on the ground, he wanted to bring his crippled fingers towards his chest. He could cradle his injuries, yet TT's foot was locked in place, the man couldn't lift his hand.

The same process occurred with the man's tallest finger.

STOMP!

A satisfying crack echoed throughout the alley, TT smiled manically.

"STOOOOOOOP!" the man begged for mercy, yet TT only repeated the process with the man's last two fingers, despite him pleading of TT to stop. The crazy 16 year old was deaf to his pleas. The man was struggling to breathe, he was exhausted from chasing TT down so many allies. Phlegm rained down from his nose, tears leaked from his eyes, sweat soaked through his clothes and blood and vomit cascaded down his chin. The man could feel his body going into panicked overdrive. He felt it go into shock... he couldn't take anymore of this agony.

"Second hand!" TT shouted, pulling out the man's good hand, with the force of a lion. The man screamed "NOOOOO!" in protest, but TT was simply to strong for him, although the man could now pull back his crippled hand to his chest. He was panicking about the mutilation he was about to receive.

"WHY!" The man screamed "I-I FUCKING GIVE U-UP! ST-STOP THIS! I-I'LL C-C-CALL T-TH-THE GUYS OFF! J-JUST ST-STOP!"

TT smile only grew wider, he leant down next to the man's ear.

"No" was his damming answer "You set the house on fire, you've probably killed Sarah, Clementine, Tim and that kind old lady who gave us shelter" he paused there before continuing "Also, you hurt my granddad, I don't take kindly to sinners" his final 6 words being his most grim, TT prepared the man for his second round of torture.

TT got to the third finger when the man died.

TT didn't know whether he suffered a heart attack due to his body overworking itself, or whether some other factor had killed the man. Yet his yells were replaced by choking noises, before he went still. TT checked his pulse, there was nothing there. A thin trail of almost black-ish blood leaked from the man's still parted mouth.

"Disappointing" TT muttered, turning away from the man, he found his grandfather staring at him.

"What?" TT asked of his staring grandfather, no doubt the old man had followed him here and had seen everything. Would his grandfather tell him off? Would he be displeased?

"Boy" Wilbert grumbled "I worry about you sometimes"

"So you should" TT muttered, finally facing his domineering grandfather head on, he found the courage to tell his grandfather the full truth.

"It was me granddad" TT told him "All those months back, I was the one who poisoned you in the woods" with this threat now made, TT knew that Terri couldn't blackmail with it anymore. and right now, in his murder crazed state TT didn't care what his grandfather thought about him. Wilbert's brows furrowed, he certainly seemed angry, but he seemed to be waiting for his grandson to explain himself.

"You never let me go hunting" TT growled "You controlled my whole life granddad, I was sick of it. I was sick of you! I would have killed you, but I lacked the courage to go all the way... I just hoped you'd learn your lesson. Which you never did" TT explained to a seething Wilbert.

"I promised your dad I'd take care of you" Wilbert began, his voice curiously calm for someone who looked so angry "I told you when this thing started boy, I wasn't going to the best guardian. I know I haven't been, for you to end up like this..." he sighed before he spoke up once again "I knew what path you were going down boy, I wasn't as blind as those asshats in our group thought I was. I didn't want to believe you'd go that..." he looked at the man's body and back towards a crazed looking TT.

"...feral." Wilbert finished, before his aged eyes locked on his grandson's once again "Look, I wasn't the best carer in the world, I bloody well know that!" he exclaimed "But I protected you the only way I knew how too! I ain't seen much love and affection in my life boy, look... I'm sorry. But I don't want you poisoning me again boy! I can't stand the thought of failing to protect the only person left the world I want to protect..."

"Grandaddy?" TT muttered, stunned at his grandfather not only saying "I'm sorry" which was a rare statement. But also from how honestly his aged relative had opened up to him.

"JJ" Wilbert muttered solemnly, refraining from using the term "Boy" for five minutes. "Despite all this, I..." he got no further. Because it was then a huddle of people appeared near the end of the alley and threw a circular explosive in the Jefferson's direction.

"NO!" JJ roared, hearing Wilbert calling him JJ, rather than "Boy" had made JJ come back to himself, when he realised who he was. He cared about his family, he was John Jefferson, a boy who wanted to protect his family. He wasn't a cold blooded killer, like TT. He was JJ, a boy now horrified by the thought of an explosive about to "break" him.

But when JJ faltered, his grandfather would be there for him. Wilbert wasted no time in scooping up the small explosive and chucking it back towards the group that had thrown it their direction. It exploded right above their heads, Wilbert saw them scatter and he figured he'd even got one or two of the fuckers.

"How's that for protection?" Wilbert turned to his grandson for an answer.

"The kind I want, thanks Granddaddy" JJ muttered gratefully.

The Jefferson's smiled at each other, ironically in all this death and destruction, the one thing that was being repaired right now, was the relationship between this dysfunctional pair.

* * *

"You're gonna be fine Molly..."

Molly whimpered as she clung onto Luke's hand, Maria had applied all the ointments she had on her, she had given Molly antibiotics to deal with any infections and the Mexican woman had done her best to clear the blood from Molly's wound. Right now she was applying layers of bandages across where Molly's eyes had once been.

"It stings..." Molly moaned like a child.

"It's gonna be fine Molly..." Luke repeated.

"Stop saying that" Molly snapped, as Luke went quiet, after a minute of unnerving silence. Luke muttered "Well, is she gonna be okay?"

"She'll live" was Maria's instant assessment "But the side effects are quite obvious, she'll be blinded for life and she'll be in pain until the wound closes..."

"Just... just thank you for saving her" Luke told the Mexican woman gratefully.

"It's my job" Maria told him, before he eyes became distant "Oh Ana..." she mumbled "I never thought... I mean, I never saw eye to eye on her on many things, but I never expected her to do something like this..." Luke looked at her, Maria let the shocking news sink in. He allowed the middle aged mother to regain herself. A cold gale funnelled down the currently empty alley they were situated in, a discarded copy of the Wellington Weekly rolled by like tumble-weed.

"We need to find a shelter" Luke said, casting a nervous eye around the surrounding alley, "It's not safe here"

"Yeah" Maria echoed, as Luke turned to Molly and muttered "Can you stand up? We need to move..."

"Might... might need a bit of help.." Molly mumbled, leaning on Luke for support, as he helped the blind woman to her feet, Maria's eyes couldn't help but be drawn towards the paper. It was creased and from it a few black and white faces stared back up at her. But at the corner of the page her eyes were automatically drawn to the two pictures on the top corner of the page. Their boxes (for some reason) had a red outline around them, Maria saw it was his face. Luke's, along with the little girl in their group, Clementine.

Luke Harris

Clementine Marsh

These two names were nowhere near each other alphabetically, so why on earth were they on the same page and outline in red? Skimming over the list of crimes the pair had committed (Maria refused to read the report, she wasn't going to judge people on what they had previously done) her eyes found two identical printed words of text, in both Luke and Clementine's report.

**_"Given a second chance, more crimes committed in pre-life" _**

The text was highlighted in bold, so it was obviously there too draw attention. But what it read, it couldn't be true. A lot of the disturbing crimes on this list had been proven to be true, but "a pre life" and a "second chance" what sort of rubbish was that? Were Luke and Clementine simply meant to be the jokes of the Domesday report? The little girl and the kindly man, accused of a crime so ludicrous everyone knew it had to be a joke? That's why it was highlighted, to draw attention to the jokes of the report, the people most likely to be innocent from more serious crimes. Maybe the cultists had a strange sense of humour, yet Maria couldn't help but ask Luke about it.

"Luke, there's something about you and that girl... Clementine in this report" Maria stated, looking down at the paper. Luke (with Molly still leaning on his shoulder) picked up the copy and read the information there. His face turned scarlet as he mouthed "Shit..."

"Second chance? Pre life? What's that all about?" Maria couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing" Luke replied causally, his face returning to normal, as he took a deep breath and controlled his voice "Me and the group we just pissed off some cultists when we had to face them. We helped destroy their main base, so they probably have a special grudge against us, or maybe it's some sort of joke" Luke theorised as Maria nodded.

"Yeah, I was thinking it must be a joke or something..." Maria's mind was made up, the mother passing the whole thing on as a some sort of strange joke. Yet Luke was still pale, how on earth could he have forgotten that the cultists knew about his and Clementine's second chance? That phrased it eerily, but in a way that would make people more intrigued. "Why is their text in bold? What's with the red outline? What second chance?" would be the questions they would ask. Molly was dipping in and out of conscious right now, as Luke and Maria helped carry her to a nearby building for shelter. So Luke couldn't discuss his fears with her. Besides they were more pressing matters at hand.

Hopefully, everyone would think like Maria if they had read the paper.

If not, then Luke had some explaining to do.

* * *

It didn't take the Wolf long to find Oscar.

Following the crowds and the people screaming his name, the wolf had to wonder how stupid were these people? Didn't they know you had to get Oscar's brain in order to create the Immunity vaccine and not rip him to shreds and take a few samples of blood?

It didn't matter, Oscar had wisely chose to head towards the wall instead. Many of the rioters weren't brave enough to follow him.

"Are people really this stupid?" The wolf thought, pulling a face mask from his pocket, he strapped it around his mouth and looked up at the wall and the tiny form of Oscar who was running up the staircase to the top of the wall. Maybe people didn't have face-masks like the wolf did, or maybe (in their minds) they feared being close to the wall so much, a 5 metre radius had become a 50 metre radius.

Maybe Edith's death had done it, it had convinced people they could turn if they went anywhere near the wall.

But that morning Edith was right next to some walkers, as they were still growling in the moat. She had gone out too greet and inspect landfill workers, who had returned from their daily dumping of rubbish) she must have gotten infected there and later turned when on the wall.

The Wolf took his first step towards the wall.

It was also his first step, on the final phrase of his mission.

Getting the cure, once and for all.

* * *

"AARRRGHHH!"

There was madness, there was insanity and then there was Nick.

The man was beyond angry, beyond any form of pain. Wellington had taken Sarah from him, he was going to take something from Wellington. He was going to take a big chunk of Wellington down, when he saw the first cultists on the roof, he open fired and didn't stop until the roof was littered with bullet holes and the cultists were, quite simply, overkilled.

Nick moved on, shooting anyone who dared point a gun in his direction, anyone who yelled at him. Decimating anyone and everyone that got in his way, he hid behind alley corners and shot and foes who hid behind bins or on roofs. At one point he noticed some of his targets getting shot down for him, a puzzled Nick turned around to find a chunk of men and women directly behind him, trailing their guns in the same direction as him.

"Where too next?" a man shouted at Nick.

They were all looking at him.

It was only then Nick seemed to realise how many people he had killed. Were they cultists or not? In his insanity Nick didn't care, he had shot through so many people it was a blur to him. It was only in that moment that an overwhelming sense of guilt and panic overtook Nick's gut, what the hell had he done? Would Sarah have wanted him to do this? His fingers and arms ached like crazy... how many shots had he fired? Why was he so wet? Was that blood on his face and hands? His ears were ringing?

"Well?" the man asked again.

How long had these people decided to follow him? They must have seen him in his police uniform and decided he would be the one to lead them all to the centre hub to take down the president and the cultists. Nick suddenly realised he was only a few streets away from the centre hub? What? How the hell had he come so far? How many cultists had he killed in his wake to get here? Was he... was he actually (by some means) leading this riot? Giving it a direction again?

"Next street" Nick told them automatically, the words didn't feel like his own. He watched in surreal disbelief as seemingly hordes of people obeyed his order, it was too surreal to him. He needed to sit down and actually... actually think about all of this!

In the crowd, Nick spotted two familiar faces.

"Man" came Tom's voice from above him "What's up with you? You... killed kids back there! Families and all sorts! They may have been cult scum but fuck..." Tom's words felt like a wave crashing into Nick's gut. He couldn't face Rebecca now, but he simply had too.

"Nick" the word was like ice, he had never seen Rebecca look so furious with him "What the actual fuck was that?"

"I... I don't know what came over me" Nick admitted honestly, he didn't even remember half of his murderous rampage and that's what made it scarier for him. His memories were a numb montage of running and shooting, the faces of his victims, he never remembered.

"No, something came over you!" Rebecca roared "Was it Stef? Did they kill her Nick? Is that why...?"

"No, it wasn't Stef" Nick admitted, he knew Rebecca didn't want to hear the next part, but he had to tell them.

"They killed Sarah" he uttered lifelessly, Rebecca gasped at this news "But... but she's at the house! She's safe!" Rebecca squealed.

"No" Nick muttered again "Me and Stef went back to check, they set the house on fire, I pulled Lilly and Sarah's bodies from out of the house".

"Oh My God!" Rebecca seemed to hyperventilate, as he shook Nick by the shoulders.

"AJ!? CLEM!? WHERE ARE THEY NICK!? ARE THEY...!?"

"Clem's alive, I couldn't find AJ" Nick told her honestly.

Rebecca was gone, sprinting back towards the house. Tears pouring from her eyes as she called out her son's name, no. He couldn't be gone. He simply couldn't be...

"Tim was there! fuck!" Tom exclaimed, as he too, turned on his heel and prepared to sprint back towards the house.

"Tim shot Sarah" Nick told him.

Tom paused for a second and turned towards Nick.

"What?" he asked, even though he heard the raven haired man clearly.

"Clem told me, your fucking brother shot Sarah" he growled, Nick stood up and faced Tom.

"There's no way he would!" Tom argued in his brother's defence.

"Clem, has never lied to me. I trust her. Maybe it was accident, your brother is good at fucking things up..."

Tom didn't want to hear anymore, he punched Nick across the face. The lanky man fell to the dirty floor of the alley, holding his aching nose, as an angered Tom proceeded to sprint down the alley and back towards the house.

"I'LL GET TO HIM FIRST!" Nick yelled after him "AND I'LL MAKE SURE HE DIES SCREAMING!"

Tom resisted the temptation to punch Nick again, as he ran out of the alley and past the streets littered with bodies, that psychopath behind him, had most likely gunned down with little to no regard for their lives. He... he had to be lying. But another half of Tom, knew, that somehow, the news was true. His brother had shot and killed an innocent girl, most likely by accident but Tom couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of anger.

He gave his brother one last chance to redeem himself.

and he fucked up, not just badly, but it was the worse fuck up he could have possibly achieved. Tom's hands shook, he didn't know what to do if he were to find his brother. He simply could not forgive him again, but all he knew is that he had to find his twin before Nick did.

* * *

"Here!" Luis yelled triumphantly.

He used his remaining hand to point at the form of Wellington High, Brandon's face lit up "We can hole up there for a while, until this shit blows over!" he exclaimed to a still sulking Terri. When she simply nodded at his statement, his face softened in sympathy.

"Sis" he called out to Terri.

"Hmm" she said turning to him, as Luis went to go and open the main entrance to the school.

"There's nothing you could have done about Ana" he told her, as she smiled up at him. Her older brother always had a way of knowing what was wrong with her and saying the right things to help her feel better.

"I know" she replied to him, "Let's just get in that school, we can settle down in there and talk about all of this" Brandon nodded at her words, because out here there was a constant risk of being shot down or blown up. Approaching the marble white walls of Wellington High, it was Terri who noticed it first, Luis and Brandon's eyes may have been locked upon the main entrance, but Terri noticed the bodies on the ground and the smears of crimson red against the white walls.

"Door's locked..." Luis could be heard moaning to Brandon.

"GUYS!" Terri shouted, she rarely ever sounded anxious but too hear her yell so suddenly, nearly gave both Luis and Brandon heart attacks. The reason she had yelled is because she saw a slight movement out of the corner of her eye.

"WELL WELL!" came a yell, as Luis and Brandon turned around to see a gang of teenagers approaching them, all with guns in hand "Three in one" the boy at the front told them, as he raised his gun.

"RUN!" Luis roared, he ducked in the nick of time as guns fired, the one armed boy was already sprinting away from the scene. Brandon however wasn't as lucky, despite being a fast runner than Luis, two of the bullets caught the black haired boy in the hip and he instantly doubled over and clutched where he had been shot.

"BRANDON!" Terri screamed, never in all of her life had she felt raw fear like this. She ran towards her brother, as another bullet soared through the air and landed straight in his back, Brandon roared in pain before he collapsed onto the grassy plain below him.

"OH MY GOD!" Teri squealed, she grabbed her brother's arms and screamed "BRANDON! GET UP! COME ON GET UP!"

The cultists were reloading their guns.

"LUIS!" Terri screamed "LUIS COME BACK HERE! HELP ME! HELP ME MOVE HIM!"

Luis turned around, he probably could have run back in time, but seeing the cultists with those guns... something inside of him snapped. He only hesitated for a moment before he sprinted the hell away from where Brandon lay on the ground and from where Terri was struggling to pull her brother to safety.

"GOD-DAMMIT LUIS!" She screamed, before she turned her attention back towards her brother. He was heavy... too damn heavy...

"COME ON!" She panted in pure desperation, Brandon was the only one who understood her, her only link with sanity. Everything she had done to save him, all those years with her uncle and her father. She had endured them to save her brother from them, she always looked out for him as much as he looked out for her. She wasn't going to leave him, she never would. Even if it meant her own death.

"Sis... you've... you've got to go..." Brandon muttered, blood seeping through the cracks between his teeth.

"and your coming with me" Terri panted, as determined as could be, she was not going to leave him. This wasn't a movie, she wasn't falling for that old cliché of self sacrifice thing. She couldn't imagine a world without her brother, she either moved him, or she would die with him, that was as simple as it would be.

"Damn sis..." Brandon muttered weakly, coughing into his hand, he and Terri shared a smile. and in those last moments suddenly Brandon was hopeful, he would get up, he would survive with his sister. She truly was an amazing person, despite everything she wasn't going to give up on him, even when he was in this state. They had promised each other long ago, that they would stick together no matter what. Maybe... maybe that was why he loved her.

"Yes! Come on!" Terri yelled in glee, as Brandon began to move of his own accord, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain that rang through his body.

"Thanks for not giving up on me s..." he began to say.

BANG!

Brandon's head slumped, his body went still. Terri looked down to see a bullet had gone clean through her brother's skull.

Brandon Rogers was dead. A fact Terri Rogers accepted in that second, she couldn't deny the evidence right in front of her, but that didn't stop her "No's..." of denial, that didn't stop her shaking him vigorously as the teenage cultists approached her, clicking their guns and preparing to fire the next set of bullets.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Terri's inhumane screech of grief, echoed across the school grounds. Even the cultists hesitated for a few seconds and these few seconds allowed a horrified Terri, to run screaming from where her brother's blood drenched her clothes and just get away... away from it all! Why couldn't that bullet have pierced her skull instead!? Why couldn't they have died together!?

She ran around a corner, before a hand clamped itself around her mouth, she fought against the hand she knew was Luis'.

"Shut up! Get down! and stay quiet!" he hissed at her.

Terri didn't obey this order at all, she thrashed wildly, as Luis dragged her behind a tree root, where Scott and Miss King watched the grieving girl in a silent sort of horror. Terri punched and kicked at Luis' form, but the one armed Mexican boy was immoveable. He took all of her hits without showing any signs of weakness, as Terri let tears cascade down her cheeks. Her brother was gone, he was dead!

There was no time for grieving, the cult were approaching. Suddenly, Terri didn't want to cry anymore, she wanted to make them suffer. Revenge was the only thing that clogged her mind.

Luis, the coward who had fled and the cult of teenagers who had killed her brother.

_"I'm going to kill all of them"_ she thought too herself.

* * *

"Mr. President...!"

From the darkest depths of the central hub, one of cultists (covered in his allies' blood) yelled for his name, in the shadows of the building, the president himself responded.

"What?" he snapped, he sounded more annoyed than anything else.

"WERE SUFFERING MASS CASUALTIES OUT THERE! WE HAVE TO EVACUATE! WE HAVE TO LEAVE WELLINGTON!"

"Pah" the president cruelly snorted at the cultists suggestion, "You can leave, I'm staying here"

"We can help transport you...!" the cultist begged.

"No" The president responded "If you really are the most elite in my society, you'll go out there and you will prove it! Are you fucking cowards!?"

"No..." the cultist whimpered "But..."

"But nothing" The President, concealed in the shadows harshly told the scared cult member "Fight, or fucking flee for all I care, but I'm staying put right here".

The cultist couldn't think of anything else to say, he left the room. Whether to flee or fight the president didn't know, however the president did know what the next stage of his plan was.

"Wolf gets my cure, The cult die for me...and I..." he mused to himself, before pulling a sharp knife from out of his pocket.

"Become God" he muttered, his eyes were bulging in insanity.

He plunged the knife into his gut.


	12. Gone To Ruin

**A/N: Okay this chapter should be the final part of the riot, other than that thanks once again for sticking for this story and onto answering reviews!**

**aoe lockdown and shattering soul- Thanks for your kind reviews and I'm glad you continue to enjoy this story despite it's dark and bleak moments.**

**JustSomeGuy23- It's fine you don't have to apologise, the fact I made you so angry concerning the story is actually an achievement for me and shows my writing is affecting people emotionally which is exactly what I wanted to achieve. Also regarding the character deaths, yeah it was sad and like you said no one is safe in the walking dead world. Lilly's death is mostly Stef's fault as she could have easily not followed Nick and stayed with the kids, however this is starting to reveal a major fault in her character. From going to wanting to be alone to becoming almost too "clingy" to Nick, her guilt and anger at herself and the cultists will be explored more this chapter.**

**catwoman286- Interesting view on Gertrude, she's a tough cookie but still does have a vulnerable side, also on your review on WrItInG LiKe THis to show insanity is something I've always done but I appreciate your honesty on the matter and glad that you think my writing is good enough to show this, without that type of writing. As for the to and too thing, I'll try to work on that. I'm glad you are liking TT and Scott despite their flaws and the ending... a lot more will be revealed this chapter.**

**Kristal-Dynamite- Well fellow brit your going to need a lot more holy water this chapter, I wonder if you can predict the deaths this chapter and I'm glad your loving the characters still!**

**ffapathy- I'm glad you pointed out Clem's dark mindset, she watched Carver die but then again so did everyone else, Josh was in blind anger and she didn't relish in killing the stranger, it was more of (let's get it done and over with) but I wanted to connect the dots. The only time I noticed Clementine get this dark was (during the original timeline) where she killed Arvo. Some could say this was in blind anger but I think there was something more malicious and cold about her killing of Arvo and in the canon episode 5 I felt like she was going down that dark road. Note this all occurred after Sarah died, so now Sarah is gone, we can expect to see a much darker Clem. Brandon's death was meant to be somewhat unexpected as he still had his little incest sub plot going on. But like Lizzie not all plot points can be resolved due to the massive cast, but Brandon's death will not go to waste.**

**Also about there being no walkers yet, I'll explain that this chapter I know why there aren't any walkers about but I've forgot to mention it with so much going on.**

**Chameishida- Glad your still loving the story and as for your LIS question, I think Clem would overuse her power very quickly, she could constantly rewind while interacting with the likes of Tavia or Troy and actually try harder to comfort them over their insecurities and maybe even try and get them on her side, I think Clem would play it tactical had she been given the rewind power. As for Luke I imagine he'd rewind after sparing Vince on the lake and then shoot him,saving the group being separated and Wyatt and Mike's deaths. **

**Okay I'm sorry I can't get round to everyone but rest assured I appericate all of your reviews and now onto the next chapter!**

* * *

"AJ!"

Rebecca screamed her son's name at the top of her lungs, grief and horror propelling her forward as she scent of burnt wood flooded her nostrils. She turned a corner to find Gertrude's house, it was a smouldering pile of blackened wood and masonry that had fallen in on itself. Sickly looking grey smoke oozed out of the wreck that was once Gertrude's home.

"AJ!" Rebecca screamed once again, the curly haired mother sprinting forward like an Olympian. Running past burnt and torn of limbs that lay on the blackened gravel and past the smears of blood on the side walk, Rebecca reached the front lawn and her eyes dilated at the site that was laid out in front of her.

Sarah and Lilly, their corpses lay on the green grass of Gertrude's front lawn, a red hole was indented in the middle of their heads to ensure they wouldn't be coming back. A blooded piece of glass lay next a lifeless looking Stephanie. Her eyes had red patches around them, her strong blue iris' looked completely dead as she gazed at the corpses in a depressing silence, after all the screaming she had done. After all the anger at the people who killed Sarah and Lilly had faded and after all the grief dried up on her tongue. In her silence she let the overwhelming sense of guilt consume her.

_"Don't leave Mummy" _

Lilly had uttered those words at her, but Stephanie had the coldest heart imaginable. She left her daughter to die, she left her daughter to die alone, terrified and in that fire. While she was off busy babysitting a grown man who could have looked after himself, she loved him so much, but her stupidity had blinded her. If only she listened to Nick in the first place and stayed with the kids... than maybe things would have been different. Maybe Stephanie could have saved Sarah too.

But no. They were dead because of her. Nick would be fine, even though he was being reckless, Stephanie just knew he'd be alive because she knew she'd have to face him. Well, she was going to do that herself.

"STEPHANIE!" Came a demented screech, Stephanie was shook out of her stupor and looking up at a weeping Rebecca.

"Alvin..." she sobbed, her lower lip quivering.

"I don't know" the raven haired woman mumbled sadly.

Rebecca stifled a cry of anguish, she didn't give Stephanie a second glance as she passed the grieving woman and the corpses of two innocent girls. She wanted to find her son's body in the wreck of the house, she wanted some sort of closure.

Meanwhile, Stephanie managed to rise to her feet, did she really delude herself into thinking she was a good person and a good mother? No. Nick would blame her for this and Stephanie could hardly blame him. He deserved better, someone who would make him happy.

Stephanie was going to find him and end this relationship.

As Stephanie stumbled away, Rebecca's eyes adjusted to the shiny objects laid out on the front yard. Gertrude couldn't hide anymore, the elderly woman peered from behind an old sofa. For a few seconds her watery blue orbs locked with Rebecca's brown one's.

"Gertrude" Rebecca muttered "Did you save your possessions, rather than watch Alvin?"

Gertrude felt herself nod, it was as clear as day that Gertrude had tried to save her possessions. It didn't take Rebecca long to clock on what had occurred here. Although Gertrude couldn't help but add (in her defence)

"Rebecca" she gasped "I couldn't find him! I...!"

"Save it" Rebecca growled "I'll find my son's body, then I'll deal with you"

Gertrude knew (being a mother herself) a mother's wrath was lethal, with a saddened expression on her face. She watched Rebecca wade through the rubble of her blackened home, looking for a part of Alvin's body. Yet as Rebecca searched she approached the backyard and she saw a familiar form and heard the faint mumble of "Mum... Mum..." she soon became aware of two, crystal clear green eyes peering up at her from out of the grass.

"ALVIN!" she roared, she ran over to where her soot covered, injured son lay prone in the grass. AJ coughed as Rebecca squeezed the life out of him.

"I thought you died!" she squealed, hysterical tears dripping from her eyes.

"I.. I...ran... out of the house..." AJ babbled, relieved at finally being found and upset himself from all that had occurred "But I fell and hurt my leg mum! I couldn't move! I thought...!"

"Ssssh" Rebecca soothed her son, she placed his head on her shoulder and rocked him gently. The 3 year old sobbed onto his mother's shirt. His leg still throbbed horribly in pain and everything he had experienced that day had scarred the little boy for life and he still don't know his friend Lilly was dead. Or that Sarah was dead.

"I'm never leaving you again..." Rebecca wept, why on earth had she left AJ at the house? Next time she was certain AJ would be by her side at all times.

Gertrude watched the reunion with a small smile on her aged face, maybe because she had just been spared Rebecca's wrath. But also because out of all this death and misery, at least something had survived all of this horror.

Also watching the scene from a distance was Tom, but the African american man's expression was more grim. He could see Lilly and Sarah's bodies, by the looks of it Sarah had been shot. So, Nick was telling the truth and if that was the case then... he must have shot and killed the Hispanic teenager.

He had to find his brother. Before Nick did, yet he was unaware of one 14 year old girl who was also hunting down his twin brother.

and Clementine was getting closer to finding Tim.

* * *

Why did this always happen to Eddie?

He always ended up separated from the main group and ended up playing some sort of lackey when serious shit went down. The rebellion at Howe's he got shot within the first minute and spent the whole rebellion passed out and trying not to bleed out while his friends went to go get him meds. Which resulted in Shel's death, "great going there Eddie" he spat to himself shortly after the rebellion.

During the raid to get Sarah back from the cult, he and Rebecca had fled to Wellington with the kids. He didn't get to kick any cultist ass, he was simply sidelined and tasked with the easy job.

and now, during the riot Eddie found himself alone and sidelined once again, running through the alley's of Wellington, passing torn up bodies (all shot in the head so they wouldn't be coming back) it seemed that despite the chaos around Wellington. Some semblance of common sense survived, or maybe it was simply fear of the airborne strain of the virus, that had caused many people to shoot corpses in the head, or for any they weren't sure, bodies were blown to smithereens. Cultist, Rioter, Bystander, whoever you were in this riot it was second nature to ensure that you made sure no one came back.

To many hardened survivors who had flocked to Wellington, this was merely of their second nature. Eddie was glad not to be dealing with walkers, especially with all the human threats around, Eddie tried to convince himself he was missing out on the action, when the truth was, he was scared of it.

He wasn't only scared of dying, but also of fucking up once again. Maybe it was in his nature to be sidelined as he didn't fare well with a gun. First time he shot Nate's friend causing the insane man to chase him across the country and then the second time he had shot Vitali in a panic. Leading to widespread panic, the group being stranded in the middle of nowhere and all the events that followed. Maybe the first time Rebecca had handed him AJ it was a message to him "You're not the action man you think you are, you are the stupid comic relief of the group. Now stay out of the way and don't fuck up again".

To Eddie this thought was depressing, but maybe that was the truth. He wasn't the man he wanted to be, he wasn't a gun wielding badass, he was a guy that was (deep down) scared to wield a gun.

With these depressing thoughts in mind, Eddie ran out onto a street, to find a small crowd gathered around a house, the crowd seemed to be cheering. But not in a malicious manner. More in a genuine manner that signalled there was something to celebrate, an intrigued Eddie approached the crowd to see what the hell they were cheering about.

"Hey, what's going on?" Eddie asked of a nearby woman.

"You don't know?" The woman asked turning to face him, as the bearded man shoulders slumped, the woman smiled at him before continuing to explain.

"The wolf's dead!" she exclaimed "They caught him! Turns out it was the chief of police the whole time!"

"That Trevor guy?" Eddie inquired.

"Yep! The woman mused "and he was a...!"

A shrill scream cut off her sentence, someone Eddie instantly recognised as Violet was screaming "NO! NO! HE WASN'T! YOU'VE GOT THIS ALL WRONG!"

"Violet" Eddie muttered in horror, his gut sinking in sympathy, for the teacher he had taken a fancying too a few days prior.

"You know her?" the woman asked, as Eddie slowly nodded "Ah, well you should probably go comfort her at some point, the poor woman's in denial. She never knew her brother was the Wolf, she's lost her other sister as well. Apparently Trevor tried to stop the Domesday report from being published, so he shot his own sister dead! Can you believe that? What a monster..."

Eddie wasn't paying attention to the scandalous news the woman was telling him, his eyes locked on where Violet was sobbing on the ground. She was being held back by some big men, she looked as if she was trying to run back into the house. As Eddie saw the body of Trevor being removed from the house (amidst many boo's and hisses from the crowd) as Violet wept ever harder. Eddie went to approach her, but he already saw sympathetic crowd around Violet's sobbing form. They whispered encouraging words in her ears, trying to comfort her and make her feel better.

But Eddie knew, it was just like the school playground.

It was false. They didn't care about Violet at all, they were simply trying to make themselves look better in public.

Eddie realised then, any action man would have swept in and offered his shoulder for the girl he had a crush on, to cry on. But Eddie was no action man, he didn't want to offer any false sympathies or make himself look good in public.

Maybe he was finally accepting what type of man he was.

But he was going to wait for the aftermath of all this to talk to Violet.

He had to check that his group were okay for a start and ensure this riot would die down and that everyone would be alright. The Wolf was dead, so that surely had to be the first sign this madness was drawing to a close.

Right?

* * *

"You want to kill me, don't you?"

Terri's eyes turned towards Luis, with murderous intent.

"Yes" she replied honestly.

Luis turned back towards the sky and inhaled, he knew the second he left Brandon to die, that Terri would somehow survive this and that Terri would put a bounty on his head. and now here he was, crouched behind a tree root with a girl who wanted to kill him, a bully he never liked and a completely helpless teacher. Between them all they only had one chainsaw and seven murderous teenagers merely feet away. Added to the fact Luis had just watched a friend die and he had no idea how everyone else was fairing, he could certainly say he was at his lowest.

But he was also furious at himself.

He had snapped and fled like a coward and now Brandon was dead because of that.

"We are so fucking screwed" Luis muttered sadly, letting his thoughts be known.

"Why have you always got to be so negative" Scott snapped at him "We'll be fucking screwed if you don't keep your fucking loud, pessimistic mouth, shut"

Luis felt his temper flare.

"You think just by alerting me you were behind this puny root!?" Luis growled "That I owe you something? We're doomed regardless and it doesn't change the fact you're a pathetic bully..."

"Give me a fucking break!" Scott retorted "Lizzie's dead, all of my friends are probably dead! I've walked through fucking hell to get here, only to discover some fuckers have locked themselves in the school leaving us to die! I don't need some drama queen cripple, making me feel any more down than I am already am!"

"Call me cripple" Luis snarled "One more time..."

"Or what?" Scott counter argued "You'll do what? Punch me and break my arm like that insane friend of your's?" Scott laughed cruelly at this "I don't think a useless cripple like yourself can do anything, other than run and leave your friends to die".

"Scott!" Miss King squeaked, knowing Scott had made a low blow.

"Fine, if that's the way you see me" Luis retorted, before anyone could so much as move, Scott had stood up tall and (rather than punch Scott with his good arm like everyone expected him too) Luis reached over for the chainsaw. He lifted it before chucking the object at Terri's feet.

"Here" he told Terri "You heard Scott here, I'm useless Terri. You want me dead, so pick up that chainsaw and get your vengeance for Brandon" Luis crossed his arms (well arm) over his chest and shut his singular eye, as he awaited Terri to gut him like a fish.

"But... think of the noise it will make!" Miss King hissed over to Terri, before she suddenly realised the error of her words and why Scott was looking at her so oddly.

"I mean... don't even think about doing it!" Miss King babbled "It's wrong to murder your classmate" her mini lecture left an unimpressed silence in it's wake. In the silence Miss King hung her head in shame while Terri looked down at the chainsaw, before looking back at Luis. She knew what the Mexican boy had in mind, either he was really expecting her to finish him off.

Or he was hoping for Redemption.

Her thoughts lingered to her deceased brother, despite feeling completely lost without him, she knew that he wouldn't want her killing his friend just for fleeing the scene. However Terri wasn't as forgiving as Brandon once was, but a tiny part of her could forgive Luis. On one condition and he knew what that condition was.

"You're looking for a chance to prove yourself" Terri muttered, handing the chainsaw back to Luis "Then go ahead and do so".

Luis opened his eye and wrapped his singular hand around the chainsaw, without much warning he grabbed the shoelaces from his own shoes and began to tie the white laces around the chainsaw, using these laces he then began two wrap them around the stump where his arm once was.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott snapped at him.

"Proving myself useful, for fucking once" was the grim reply straight from Luis. Luis was so sick of himself, he hated the fact he was all talk and no action. He hated himself for not living up to his intimidating appearance. All of the self-loathing he harboured for himself... it was going to end today. Today would be the day he finally started to help rather than hinder people with negative talk.

"Your planning on fighting those freaks!?" Scott nearly screeched in disbelief.

"What the hell else have I got to lose?" Luis questioned of him, it was true. His mother was probably dead at this point, Oscar and Ana were likely dead, Brandon was dead. Wilbert was in a feeble condition physically and JJ mentally. Tim was in hot water with everyone, other than him and Terri the only person he could possibly see surviving this was Tom. and there was every chance their gruff leader was also dead too, so what if he died too? He'd rather die with everyone else that die a useless, pessimistic asshole.

Without another word to the others, Luis leapt from out of cover, the chainsaw still attached to his stump of an arm.

"Are you just going to let him do this!?" Scott asked, clearly appalled with where Terri sat not even glancing over the root, a small smirk was plastered on her features that made Scott even more disgusted with her. He never liked Luis, but was she actually _happy_ about the high chance of her friend dying?

"Either Luis kills them, or they kill him" Terri muttered as her smile grew wider "Regardless of the result, I'm happy"

"Jesus..." Scott muttered, completely lost for words. He thought he had it bad with his groups, but the relationships between Terri's group must have all been as toxic as a cobra's bite, for all this to occur.

"His... his acting like that guy of that horror film..." Miss King muttered (trust her to be as blank as ever) "You know the one with the zombie people in and all that...?"

"Evil Dead" Scott told her, as she nodded. Scott always quite liked that horror film and always loved seeing Ash become a complete badass by attaching that chainsaw to the remains of his arm. Now, suddenly he was being presented with a scene like that in real life and the tension Scott used to feel while watching horror films was amplified times one thousand.

Luis crept up to the wall, he took a deep breath and did something he never thought he'd find himself doing. His mother always used to pray to God or to his father whenever the situation got tough. Luis never knew his father and always presumed his old man to be a good for nothing criminal. Yet Luis simply couldn't help it, growing up with a religious mother and on the brink of death, he found himself uttering a short prayer.

"Dad" he mumbled under his breath "If Mum's right about you, don't let me die here, I... I don't want to go just yet" and with that Luis inhaled deeply, steeling whatever inner courage he had. Now it was the time to do or die, to kill or be killed. If he was right about his father... than he imagined he'd able to see the bastard himself in hell, if he was wrong then he lived.

Luis pulled on the chainsaw, it revved to life almost instantly.

"GOD-DAMN THING AIN'T WORKING!" Luis bellowed in a feigned voice of panic, this certainly got the cultists attention. He could hear their excited footsteps as the sprinted over the grass towards the prey they thought they had lost. Luis knew what drew these sadists in.

The sounds of the weak, the sounds of those who were inferior to themselves, whether or not they were simply scared teenagers, killing everything hostile to protect themselves. Or mass murderers, one thing remained in common for them all, his allies, the cultists... everyone. They all underestimated him, they all thought he was weak. Luis had been lying to himself for the longest though, he had convinced himself that he was strong, he had boasted about it and tried to persuade others to see the world from his "hardened" perspective. Unaware that he was wrapped up in his own egotistical cocoon.

They would be on him in "3..." Luis counted under his breath.

"2" This was it.

"1"

"Hel..."

VROOM

Luis felt his heart leap out of his mouth as he swung the working chainsaw at the mass of cultists in front of him, for a second there was nothing. He had hit them at full force as well, his useless arm swinging with as much force as he could muster. So why couldn't he feel a thing?

Then he heard the sound of the blades of the chainsaw tearing through flesh, he found his vision blinded by a torrent of blood that completely blinded him, the cultists screamed as Luis felt his chainsaw get stuck on something, he applied more pressure and he was aware he had cut through something... His feet slipped because the ground was drenched with blood, but Luis couldn't see a thing. His one eye was stinging and clenched shut, all he knew now is that he was roaring in fear, a fear that could have easily been mistaken for a battle cry.

From the black abyss above him, Luis heard a gun click near his face, using his free arm he grabbed the person's wrist and swung his chainsaw at them.

A girlish high pitched scream, emitted from above the chainsaw wielding Mexican boy, he felt her arm hit the ground with a thump and the felt the spray of blood that dampened his facial hair. Grunting and thrashing wildly to get to his feet, his free hand clutched on a leg, whoever it was tripped and Luis' chainsaw found itself embedded in whoever this person's was, stomach. Feeling someone's innards get caught in the blades of the chainsaw made Luis feel strangely sick, he tugged the chainsaw away from the clearly deceased person below him.

For the next couple of minutes, Luis felt himself tear through flesh, the cultists (he heard) kept on slipping over the blood on the ground. Losing their guns in the process, their panicked curses and scrambling for their weapons made it easy for Luis to find them in this bloody blindness, it was only when he felt his chainsaw cut through an ankle that Luis was finally able to wipe the blood from his eyes and see the damage he had done.

6 Cultists lay dead, limbs missing, stomach's torn open, bled out white. The leader was currently looking up at Luis, blood dribbling from his mouth as his lower lip quivered in fear. Tears squeezed themselves from his eyes as he held the stump (where his foot once was) in agony.

"You... you... monster" he weakly muttered to Luis.

Then, with his wide, fearful eyes clamped shut as he fell backwards, whether he had died or passed out in shock didn't concern Luis. All he knew was that this was over.

He turned around to find Scott, Terri and Miss King behind him.

"Well" Scott said after a short silence "That's that"

Miss King didn't utter a single syllable, the British woman merely whimpering under her breath. Her face a sickly shade of green.

"We better pick up their guns" Terri instructed her voice as cold as ice as she surveyed the bodies "To make sure they don't come back and to protect ourselves" without any hesitation she reached down and grabbed a gun from the pools of blood surrounding the bodies. Luis watched in a numb disbelief as she and Scott put down the torn up cultists for good. Miss King made one futile attempt to reach for a gun before she fled the scene and vomited behind the tree root.

"Now, I'm going to see whose in that school" Terri muttered, not even glancing in Miss King's direction.

"How are you going...?" Scott began.

Terri responded by simply shooting a nearby window, the glass shattered and Terri hauled herself up and proceeded to enter the building.

"By the way" she called back "Thank you Luis" and with that she left the trio of them outside. Luis vaguely realised Terri's "Thank you" meant he was off the hook. He was alive, he had killed the cultists, he should have been happy that he was alive. That he had succeeded and he had proved to himself that he had what it took to survive. But... he just felt empty.

The winter winds chilled his blood drenched skin and clothes, he shivered. What that cultist had spat at him, with his dying words had hardly affected Luis at all. He wished he was the monster that he looked like. He wished he didn't feel so empty after proving himself, he wished his heart would stop thumping in his chest. He felt like he had just sang in front of the nation and done a poor job of it. All the build-up, all of his nerves... he had performed and the adrenaline he felt coursing through his veins had vanished quickly. He was left with an empty feeling, a dissatisfaction.

He looked around to find Scott was looking directly back at him, the black haired boy was almost tempted to ask if he was alright, but resisted the urge to do so.

Elsewhere Miss King was still wiping the last droplets of vomit from her chin.

Luis looked around, this...this didn't really seem like the scene of victory he imagined it would be.

* * *

Creeping along the empty hallways of Wellington High, even Terri had to admit there was something eerie about it. It wasn't just because all of the lights were off and the walls concealed all of the noises of the riot outside. It was because of all of the people Terri knew who wouldn't walk the halls again. Although she had only been in school three days, the students who walked it's halls seemed to give it a sense of life. To many people in Wellington the fact the school-system had started once again, was enough to fill them with a new sense of life and hope.

Now, merely days later most of those students who walked these halls were now lying dead. and the hope of a future through the youth had died with them. Terri could almost say the halls felt... haunted. She was never one to believe in ghosts, but something about the heaviness in the air around her... it didn't feel right. All of the bright people who had once resided here had been cruelly extinguished.

Just like Brandon.

Terri gasped and went to lean on some nearby lockers, trying as hard as she could to try and keep her brother's death out of her memory. But the more she tried to ignore it, the further her grief continued to devour her. He... he was truly gone and it had barely been an hour since his passing. He and many others were now lying dead outside of the school, because of the cowards that lingered in here...

Her grief warped into anger in a mini-second.

She made Luis do something he clearly wasn't comfortable with, she could have possibly killed him. But in her grief she didn't care, she just wanted the cultists to feel like she did. To watch them be ripped to shreds, to watch them scream in pain... it was only thing that soothed her soul. She wasn't going too rest until every person responsible for killing her brother were 6 feet under. She had let Luis off her hit list, seeing as he had finally done what had needed to be done. Just like she had taken the kitchen knife from JJ and blackmailed him, just like she had exposed Tim for what he was, the group needed some tough love and she was there to provide it.

Deep down, she did care greatly about the group of people she was with. She had travelled with them for years, when JJ was JJ and not off eating raw meat in the woods he was a friendly and funny boy, he was easily likeable. Although Wilbert was the polar opposite, Terri had to admire his stubbornness on many things, it wasn't often you'd find a man as old as him surviving this apocalypse. Luis had always been gruff, but a very sensitive soul deep down. Maria had always gotten along with everyone and was very gentle and understanding of them all. Tim, a likeable idiot. Tom, a likeable leader. Oscar, the mute comedian of the group and Ana, the stoic bad ass who watched over the group and of course her brother...

She gulped down, with Brandon gone that group now looked like a distant memory, with Ana and Oscar also running away...

Terri was so lost in her thoughts she almost didn't notice them, but she saw them, huddled into an empty classroom.

She didn't recall what they said, but she knew they were 14 of them exactly. She imprinted all of their faces in her mind as they sat there, continuing to play poker, drink alcohol and engage in lewd acts that Terri's eyes had long since adjusted too. They were here... enjoying themselves! As everyone else died outside! She wanted to go in there and gun them all down... one by one right now. But she was beyond angry with these people, she remembered how her growing anger at her father and uncle and how she had spent years plotting their demise.

Now, she was plotting again. Those cultists, even her father and Uncle had taken the easy way out, a simple bullet to the head. She wanted these people to suffer and killing them now... it wouldn't feel very satisfactory.

She watched and waited and eventually made her decision.

She was going to hunt them all down, one by one. She saw who was leading them all. The Headmaster of their school, he appeared so regal and powerful during his speeches to the student populace. Now Terri saw that was a façade, as he watched the drunken headmaster, red faced and laughing like a feeble fool. A true coward in a truly serious situation, he had abused his power, he had taken the keys to the school. Locked all of the doors and barricaded himself and a group of friends and pieces of eye candy, inside. So they could indulge themselves and wait for this whole thing to blow over.

Not even bothering to go out there and help, not one of them.

"We have to look after our own!" was one of the drunken statements the headmaster bellowed towards his friends. He earned a resounding cheer at this, as Terri turned away from the classroom. When this was all over, they would proceed out of the school, sadly mourn all of the dead and pretend they were out in the chaos and were lucky survivors.

Then, they would all start dying horribly, one by one.

Terri grinned to herself, revenge in mind as she found the window she had shattered with her gun and proceeded to crawl back out of it, yet she couldn't help but muster one last thought on the situation.

"Your own people Headmaster" she thought to herself "Were the staff and students at the school, you failed them all. You failed my brother, you failed your duty. Now I'm going to avenge every ghost at this school"

and with that promise of revenge, she headed back outside.

* * *

"Well?" Scott inquired the second Terri had crawled back out of the window.

"Whoever was in there, has fled" was her direct lie. She didn't want anyone else knowing about this, it was her revenge to carry out and her's alone. Besides, she didn't want these people putting themselves in any more danger. She may have disliked Scott, but there was something that she had seen in the gym, when he refused to give up and now in this riot (where he was refusing to die, despite his injuries) that Terri was slowly starting to like about the former petty bully. It was like Wilbert, she didn't like him as a person, but there was a strength about him she had to like, admire even.

"Shit" was all Scott could snarl in reply.

Luis had sat down once again, blankly staring at the sky. While Miss King continued to shiver, hugging herself and hating how worthless she was during all of this. She couldn't even pick up a gun without throwing up... she was truly useless. Sighing she tried to wipe the growing tears in her eyes before she saw a form of a man approaching her. Before she could run, the man held up his hands.

"Hey, I'm not here too hurt you!" he exclaimed, placing a gun he had in his hands, onto the grassy floor.

"I just wondering!" he continued to shout "If you've happened to come across a boy called Luis! About 6,1 or 2, one eye... one arm... Mexican kid..."

"Oh... erm..." Miss King mumbled "Yes! His right here" she told the mysterious man, pointing at where Luis was slumped. Luis (hearing his name) was snapped out his stupor. As he looked up to find that man from the house approaching him, he seemed like the leader of Clem's group... what was his name again? Lucas... or Luke or something like that.

"Hey, Luis?" Luke asked, crouching next to the blood drenched boy "Your mother sent me out to find you, she saved my life and saved the life of one of my friends. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. When she asked me to go and find you..."

"Great, I have a babysitter" Luis grunted. Yet despite his tone, he allowed Luke to help pull him to his feet.

"Alright, I can take you back to your mother, she's worried about you" Luke told him.

"Yeah, she always is" Luis muttered tonelessly.

"Whose this?" came a new voice to Luke's ears. He turned around to find a boy he didn't recognise approaching him and the blonde haired girl he had seen earlier at the house. He had forgotten her name, but knew her and Luis were part of the same group.

"You kids alright?" was the only thing Luke asked of them.

"Been better" Scott mumbled, rubbing his cast.

"Luke" Terri said clearly (she remembered names very easily) Luke's eyes were drawn to her as she continued to speak "So you're with Maria? What about the others? The girl that Ana hurt...?"

"She's fine, Maria's tending to her now" Luke informed her "But what about you guys? What the hell happened here?" he inquired glancing around at the torn up corpses around him "Have you seen any of the others...?"

"Ana's gone to the wall after Oscar" Terri told him "and... and my brother didn't make it" to actually announce it to another person felt unreal. She was still grieving terribly, but she knew she had to accept it. It wasn't healthy to linger in a state of denial.

"Oh" Luke gasped, before his eyes softened in sympathy, he barely knew Terri but he did feel terrible for the girl in those moments.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Luke told her, although Terri hardly knew him, he genuinely sounded sorry for her. Which was more than she could say for the several "I'm so sorry for your loss" speeches, she knew would follow Luke's. She appreciated his words with a small smile.

They prepared to move, Luke had been running around the town looking for Luis. When Scott asked how the hell he didn't get ripped to pieces, Luke replied that the riot seemed to be dying down. The Wolf had apparently been killed and the cultists were dwindling in number, most of the fighting now was occurring near to the centre of the town. Luke (in return) asked about the bloody cadavers that lay on the ground next to the school. Scott explained all to him and how Luis was the one who finished off the cultists.

"Man" Luke whistled, he couldn't help but be impressed "You took them all down? and saved lives? Your mother ain't got nothing to worry about then" Luke told all of this to a barely listening Luis, who slowly detached the chainsaw from his stump of an arm.

"By the way" Luke suddenly piped up, in a more cautious tone "You erm... none of you have read that Domesday report? Have you?"

"Why?" Scott inquired.

"Well erm... me and my group took down a large base of the cult's" Luke explained "They put a little joke in the report about me and Clem..."

"This wouldn't happen to be that joke about having a second chance?" Terri asked bluntly, (having read the report earlier, she had memorised every detail) Luke nodded at her question "Yeah" he advertised with a false smile "Made up a load of crap about me and Clem having a second chance and having a pre-life and all that... it's all rubbish, but I just want everyone to know that and not get suspicious or anything..."

"It's fine" Terri replied stiffly "We have bigger fish to fry at the moment"

Terri's words of common sense seemed to sit well with Luke, his body language seemed to instantly relax, whatever sort of strained smile he had plastered onto his face beforehand, became a much more welcoming and warm one. "Glad to hear that" he mused.

Despite this, something seemed off to Luis, he was certain he heard Clementine mention something about a second chance beforehand, could it have been linked? Even in his numb state Luis knew something was slightly amiss.

"So we should be getting back to Maria now..." Luke announced, before he was cut off by a small voice.

"We... erm..." Scott mumbled up to Luke, quite nervous all of a sudden "We... well, I, don't have anywhere else to go. I could follow you guys, I have a gun. I can help protect you guys..."

"You're more than welcome to travel with us" Luke told him warmly.

"I'll come too!" Miss King exclaimed almost instantly "I'm sorry, I just can't be alone surrounded by all these bodies..." she babbled, casting her eyes back towards the corpses.

"It's fine" Luke told her, using his oldest and most repetitive catchphrase "It's better if we all stick together"

and with that, they were gone, Miss King, Scott, Terri, Luis and Luke headed back towards where Maria was and they would soon be headed towards the central hub.

But little did Luke know, he wasn't going to like what he saw there.

* * *

"OSCAR!"

Ana yelled this at the top of her lungs, climbing up the walls three steps at a time as she looked for her best friend.

It grew colder and more windy the further she climbed, the town of Wellington below her becoming more and more distant. Yet when she looked down, she felt a feeling of elation and freedom. Rather than the usual feeling of dizzying vertigo she would get looking down from great heights. She was truly leaving the burning human furnace of Wellington. She had always felt strange and out of place in that town, she had never belonged there. Neither had Oscar.

Both of them, they never should have joined the group in the first place. Ana remembered how she had first met the group.

An accident.

She had tripped up and fallen right into that cultists camp. She had to slaughter them in self defence and then she had to save the group. She couldn't leave them trapped like that, but looking back on it. Maybe she should have helped the group and then left, but then Terri saved her life from that child who was about to kill her. and since that day Ana had felt obliged to stay with the group and protect them.

It was a mistake. All of it.

Caring for others, joining groups, joining Wellington. Ana and Oscar were not the people designed to live like the majority. Ever since Ana had arrived in Wellington she had felt out of place, the rings on her fingers had taught her the greatest lesson of all. That all the people she loved, she was eventually going to lose and Oscar was cursed with his immunity, he too had to watch, as everyone he knew and loved died around him while he could live.

If Ana could go back in time and change one thing, it would be walking away from Terri's group. Obviously she would have saved them from the cult, but after that she and Oscar should have continued on their own way. They were fine out in the open with the walkers, she was designed to kill walkers. A perfectionist at it and Oscar was also built to survive due to his immunity.

If only they were out there now, as free as birds and surviving each passing day.

Yes, there would be obstacles, a lot of them. But there was more so in this community, or any community or group they would join, Ana had hurt that Molly woman, eventually people would discover what Ana wasn't group material at all and didn't know how to handle social situations very well. Whereas Oscar would eventually be discovered to be immune and that would set him apart from everybody else...

Well now, Ana was going to obtain that freedom. For both of them.

She reached the top of the wall, sprinting over the weathered wooden walkways the African american woman searched desperately for the lone silhouette she knew would be Oscar. No one else had the courage to venture up here.

"OSCAR!" Ana shouted again, casting her eyes ahead of her. The winter winds repeatedly slapped at her face, making her cheeks and ears sting, the rumbles of the dying riot below her did nothing to divert her eyes back towards the burning town. She was going to find Oscar and...

"There!" she hissed to herself, spotting a lone lanky figure, about 20 feet in front of her.

Running forward, Ana once again called out "OSCAR!" and this time the bespectacled man turned to face her.

He was gazing down at the destruction, his mere existence had caused. His eyes were ruby red and tears still leaked from them, wiping his nose, Oscar's eyes seemed to widen at seeing Ana present, here on top of the wall.

"It's not safe!" he mouthed, before gesturing wildly to the air in front of him.

"I know" Ana muttered "But I don't care, Oscar we are getting out of here"

Oscar shook his head vigorously.

"I won't take no for an answer" Ana told him in a grim tone, "Oscar, we don't have anywhere else to go"

"No" Oscar mouthed, pointing towards himself "I don't have anywhere else to go" he mouthed clearly, before pointing back at her and then pointing back down at Wellington. Ana knew what Oscar was saying.

"No!" she growled "No Oscar! I'm not going back there, I'm going with you!"

Oscar slid an index finger across his neck, while looking directly at Ana "You'll die" he mouthed, if he could actually speak. Ana knew he would have a persistent pleading tone.

"I can wear a face mask Oscar" she muttered "It has a five metre radius, I should be fine, as long as..."

Oscar sadly shook his head at her once again.

"Listen!" she hissed, losing her very short temper once again "I'm not leaving you Oscar! Don't you dare argue back to me!"

Oscar let the tears fall from his eyes once again.

"Please" Ana could almost _hear_ the mute man wanted to plead to her. But Ana wasn't going to let him suffer this alone, by the looks of things he didn't even have a plan to survive all this. Maybe camp on top of the wall for the rest of his life, but Ana wouldn't doom anyone (even her worst enemies) to suffer in this apocalypse alone. She knew what it was like, the crushing depression, the endless longing for any form of company, the frightening thoughts that circulated in your mind, always being on edge and having no one to watch your back and every day, the endless fight to retain whatever scarp of sanity you had left.

Ana didn't want a society she just wanted the company of friends, Oscar, Trent... she could cope with them around.

"Come on Oscar" she murmured, extending her hand towards his form "It's time to go"

Oscar looked up at Ana's kindly smiling face, the sun briefly peered out from behind the heavy winter clouds which bathed her in the sunlight for a few seconds, she looked angelic as the strong gales of wind, swept her black hairs in the wind. Oscar blinked and found himself wiping away the tears that still lingered on his cheeks. This mere picture of Ana in front of him, was... was a symbol! A picture of his friend as an angel who had come to save him from his curse. For one of the only times in a long time, Oscar felt a glimmer of hope rise in his chest, he felt himself begin to smile...

and then, a dark shadow crept up behind Ana.

Ana felt someone loom over her, she felt the air behind her cool considerably, without thinking she whipped out her curved sword (still covered in Molly's dried blood) and swung it blindly at the figure behind her.

There was a clank, as weapon collided with weapon.

The Wellington Wolf had blocked Ana's attack, his arms in a perfect cross, two switch-blades protruding from underneath his sleeves.

"So" Ana panted, the effort she was exerting to crush this man was overwhelming for her "The Wolf, I presume?"

The man's face was hidden by his face mask and hoodie, however he nodded at Ana's question.

Ana chuckled, sweat trickled down her forehead, she was strong but so was the wolf. With a grunt from the pair of them, they broke apart and store each other down. Ana could just about make out the icy teal eyes of this man trained directly on her form, he didn't look angry, merely determined.

Oscar stood frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle, his eyes locked on the battle about to explode in front of him.

"It will be a pleasure to kill you" Ana growled to the Wellington Wolf, before she charged forward.

* * *

"She's stable" Maria told Luke, his eyes were fixated on where Molly lay on the ground to the warehouse the group had sheltered in, Miss King, Scott, Terri and Luis sat on the ground. Scott and Terri making small talk, Luis and Miss King were staring at into nothingness, Luis still rubbing the spots where his mother had hugged him too tightly upon reunion.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief, however his eyes didn't flicker from Molly. She kept mumbling "Hilda..." in her dreams.

"I just can't believe she's not gonna be able to see again" Luke muttered sadly to Maria.

"Blindness, is an horrific thing to suffer..." Maria echoed in agreement, as she rubbed her eyes and let her aching arms rest. Luke however couldn't have been more alert, he got up and started pacing around the warehouse, uncertain of what to do. No one this had sunk in yet, none of it. One of the group he was leading was blinded and some of them could have even been...

Luke didn't want to think about it, his nerves were frayed enough as it was.

"They'll be fine Luke" he kept on telling himself, he put his life on the line to protect his group and countless times, it was always him who came out unscratched. While people around him lost limbs, lost eyesight and lost their lives... why couldn't he be the one to go out in an heroic blaze of glory? Ever since he was little he always had that morbid fascination on how he wanted to die, an american hero.

He had watched so many shows when he was kid and heard so many stories, of his friend's fathers who had served in the armed forces. Some of which had died and had continued to be honoured years after their deaths. All Luke wanted to be was a good person, he wanted his death to have some sort of meaning and cement his legacy as a good person. Yet he wondered (with an apocalypse and now a riot ongoing) with so many chances to die, why? Why was it always him that turned out fine?"

He learnt a long time ago, that being the flawless hero he had always dreamed of was much, much more difficult and complex than he first imagined. Even at the beginning of this apocalypse and those days he started rebelling against Carver, he still had that silly little dream in his head. He still believed he could save everyone.

"I'm going back out there" Luke announced to the group, they all looked up at all (excluding Molly) "I've got to go find the others, bring them back here and make sure they're okay. I can't sit around here and wait, it's driving me mad" Luke informed them all and then, before anyone could stop him, or follow him. He proceeded to leave the warehouse and towards the central hub. The riot was ending and that's where everyone would be, he would ask anyone there, if they had seen members of his group.

Luke was being Luke again, stretching himself to breaking point.

Even Maria (who barely knew the young man) sighed to herself and muttered down to Molly's unconscious figure;

"That man pushes himself to hard"

Maria swore she heard Molly mumbled Luke's name in her sleep, almost as if the now blind blonde, was responding to her. However Molly remained silent from that point on, as the riot around them also remained silent. There was no doubt about it.

This riot, had finally burnt itself out.

* * *

There was a resounding cheer, as the last body of the cultist was shot down. Nick was aware of himself being lost in the crowds of cheering, bloodied civilians who had finally earned themselves a victory. A final, certain freedom from the cultists that had killed so many of their friends and relatives, revenge was sweet indeed.

In the mindless celebrations, Luke caught the majority of stoic rioters, glaring directly at him and a few other rioters who had taken things to the extreme. Nick knew what was going to happen now the cultists were dead and the riot was over. They'd imprison him or execute him, for his inhumane actions on this day. Not that Nick really cared, without Sarah and Lilly what was the point? His family was broken, he had to end things with Stef, he didn't want her being dragged down with him. and a part of him resented her for sticking by his side, when she could have saved Sarah and Lilly by simply listening to him. Then again, then Nick might have lost all three of them and if that happened, he wouldn't even be thinking about this all now. He'd be a killing machine, an empty shell of a person.

No future with Stef and his incoming death awaiting him, Nick celebrated in that moment, because he knew it would be the last time he would be able too.

and the riot wasn't over just yet, there was one last figure to kill.

Nick was part of the group that broke into the central hub.

and was part of the group that found the president first. Nick never knew that the president was a wheelchair user, or that the cult had beaten him and tortured him, because the crippled man lay on the wooden ground, unable to move. A puddle of blood around him, as he moaned pitifully and held his stomach in agony, bruises littered the president's face. His wide brown eyes found the stunned group above him, as a few pitiful tears squeezed themselves from his watery globes.

"Please... please help me..." he begged.

* * *

Tom was glad to found his brother first.

He knew Tim would flee to the woods in Wellington, where people used to hunt for food when Wellington was still developing jobs and a stable sort of economy, he and his brother had also been surviving in the woods for years. When this whole thing started that was the first place they had fled too.

It made sense that would be the last place they would flee too.

Tom found Tim sitting on a log, rocking back and forth and sobbing like a little boy. Tom always remembered when they were children and Tim would always trip over something and cut himself. It was always down to Tom to comfort his brother and tell him to be strong.

"But I can't... it hurts so much..." Tim would moan.

Tom could almost imagine, this is what Tim would say now, if he wasn't sobbing that is.

"Hey" Tom said softly, sitting next to his twin brother.

Tim looked at Tom as if his twin brother was something out of a horror film. The terrified former ex-salesman edged himself a few inches away from his brother, before he mumbled into his palms "You've heard then? Haven't you?"

"Yes" Tom replied honestly.

Tim sobbed harder, not saying a word, before he suddenly slammed his fists against the bark of the log below him.

"I'M FUCKING USELESS!" He exploded, a torrent of tears blasting from his eyes as he screamed to the sky "JUST KILL ME FUCKING NOW! JUST FUCKING KILL ME!" his throat stinging and his eyes burning. Tim hated every fibre of his existence in those moments, he just wanted to end himself.

"You're not useless Tim" Tom muttered approaching his brother "You just screwed up, we all do"

"I... I only wanted to help" Tim sobbed "But you..." he turned to his twin at this point "You were... you were always the better twin. Mum and Dad always favoured you. Big, strong son who played in every high school team going, doing your country proud by serving in the army" he sentence was broken with a large gulp before he continued speaking "Whereas... I... I just a fucking wimp. I wasn't a man, I was a mouse! A fucking mouse Tom! All I did was sell shit with a cheesy smile, my only weapon was my charisma..." he informed his brother.

"You were always the better speaker than me" Tom chuckled dryly.

"Yeah" Tim agreed "I was, so when I finally had the group under my leadership. I... I knew it was wrong to leave you out in the dark, but... but a part of me enjoyed it! For once I was the superior twin! For once I could be proud of myself... but I was wrong all along. Your way was always better, and for that Tom, I apologise for everything, everything I put you and the group through. My stupidity lead to all this... I just wanted to help us all..." he explained.

"I know you did" Tom told him "You... you always kept on smiling and leading the group. All I did was linger at the back of the group and even when I lead the group, I was a pessimistic asshole, It took a strength I never had to do that Tim" Tom was smiling at his brother now, but from the corner of his eye. Tom saw a gun shine in the weak sunlight and the rage infested yellow eyes, of the little girl, Clementine. Merely a foot behind the pair of them. Tom sighed, he knew Wellington would catch up with his brother eventually. In some shape or form. He was forgiving, they were not.

"I forgive you Tim"

Tim burst into happy tears, despite everything he had fucked up (yet again) his brother had found it in him to forgive him once again.

He loved his brother more than anyone else in the world in those moments.

Tom's smile slowly faded from his face, Tom knew what he had to do, he always had to be there to protect his brother.

Tim was still in a happy bliss, he didn't even feel Tom's hand's clamp around his neck, or the sudden jolt that followed.

Tim fell to the floor, dead the second he hit the ground. Neck twisted and snapped.

Tom let his large, murderous hands fall to his sides and stared down numbly at his twin who he had murdered. He couldn't breathe in those moments yet he found himself announcing (to the nearby trees) "Is this what the girl would have wanted you to do?"

He heard the girl drop the gun she must have attained from the war-torn streets of Wellington.

"No" she muttered blankly, looking at shock at the scene in front of her and Tim's corpse, a realisation spreading over her face as she gazed at Tom once again.

"Did you...?" she began to ask "Did you do that to protect me?"

Tom was silent for a short while, eventually he turned around and looked Clementine in the eyes before giving his answer.

"I did it to protect him" he stated "What you had in mind girl, that was nothing compared to what other people in that town had in mind. I... I had to protect him from that..."

Clementine watched him pick up her gun and shoot his brother in the head, to prevent reanimation. Before Tom blindly stumbled away from the scene, Clementine heard him sob from the distance before the large man was out of eye shot and earshot completely. It was them Clementine felt the weight of the days events collapse on her shoulders, as her own weak knees gave way and she found herself gazing at the sky, through the thick plant life above her.

After this, she was never going to be the same.

* * *

Ana swung her sword at the wolf, he may have been large but he had the agility of someone much smaller. He easily avoided at the attack aimed directly at his neck and rolled over, his switch-blades constantly clanging off Ana's sword, as she swiped blindly back at him, trying desperately to protect her face and neck.

"Fuck..." she swore, how the hell was this man, so strong and so fast?

She had trained for years in the wilderness, she had set records in killing walkers. She was meant to be the best of the best, how the hell was this man better? Where had he trained? Who was he?

Ana turned to face Oscar one last time, her arms were exhausted, she was at her breaking point. But she would keep on fighting till the bitter end. She guessed she was good at fighting walkers. But she was never good at fighting people, or protecting people. The five rings on her fingers proved that.

She lowered her guard for a second.

There was a slight stinging pain on her neck.

She had barely fought this man for a minute.

"Sorry" she told Oscar.

and then she felt (for a few seconds) complete agony as her head rolled off her shoulders, her vision went black before her head hit the floor. Her headless torso stood motionless for a few seconds, before (with a forceful kick from the wolf) it tumbled over the edge and towards the abandoned construction works below. Her decapitated head still lay facing Oscar, her brown eyes wide open, her mouth opened forever-more, with a thin trail of blood leaking from it. A puddle of blood from the stump of her neck continued to expand from around her form.

The Wolf kicked her head as if it were a football, it fell of the edge of the wall and shattered like an eggshell, a few feet away from her mangled, headless body.

Ana was dead, her brains leaked from her shattered head, so there was no way she'd be coming back.

Oscar couldn't move, he couldn't breathe. Pure, terror consumed him as the Wolf approached him. There was no mercy in his constant steps, yet there was no slow, tortured steps that would prolong Oscar's horror at being kept alive. Yet Oscar couldn't help but flinch as the wolf grabbed his long hair and pulled his neck back.

"Say something" Oscar thought in terror, he didn't want to die in this unbearable silence.

The Wolf didn't utter a word. Oscar got the impression that he didn't have anything to say to him. After all of the taunting he had suffered from the rioters earlier, this silence was unnerving but the Wolf seemed like he was simply doing what had to be done and not gaining any satisfaction in this act. Even if the wolf had to kill Ana to get to him.

Oscar felt the switch-blade of the knife on the skin to his neck, it would be over soon.

This man had the strength to cut through all of Ana's neck tendons and completely decapitate her, while she was fighting. He knew he'd suffer the same fate.

Oscar trembled, her was terrified of death. Of the pain it would bring, a part of him wanted to live, a part of him wanted this curse to be lifted from his shoulders. For a final time, his eyes rested on the green lands beyond Wellington's walls, the freedom of it all. If only he was out there and not here...

"We were doomed the minute we set foot here" Oscar thought sadly.

The Wolf was preparing to strike.

Oscar held his breath, he wanted (in his final moments) to let the Wolf know something. If he could speak, he would tell the Wolf "Please... please use the cure to save those who deserve it" the thought of those animals of people in the riot earlier being cured, while he rotted somewhere was unbearable for him. He knew the Wolf came here for his cure and he only hoped this man of strength and silence wasn't the villain he had been painted out to be. Oscar knew what it was like to be a villain, when he hadn't done anything to warrant the title.

"Good luck" was his last thought, his message being to that of every inhabitant of Wellington. Depending on who you were, these last words were ever genuine or words or angry sarcasm.

and then there was an a short burst of agony, before everything went dark.

_"Freedom"_ Oscar thought at last, he was free of his curse.

The Wolf wasted no time in cutting into Oscar's skull and pulling out his slimy, grey brain, placing the wet organ into a bag he had pre-prepared. Now all he had to do was get this brain back to the central hub and if everything had gone perfectly to plan, the President would be there to help develop a cure.

"Mission accomplished" The wolf muttered, kicking Oscar's mangled body from off the top of the wall.

* * *

Luke reached the crowds congregated outside of the central hub just in time, Stephanie was also planted into the crowd. Watching as the President (battered and bruised) gave a moving speech from his wheelchair. For the past couple of years the cult used him, the weak man in a wheelchair as nothing more than a puppet for their power. The president was forced to obey their rules in risk of them slaughtering him and everyone else in Wellington. He stated how he knew he was a useless coward and if the mobs wanted him dead then they could do so.

But despite everything, no one had the heart for any more murder. The villainous image of the president, there never was one. He was simply a disabled man, bullied and beaten into submission by the cult, like so many of them were. President Schulz was forgiven, with a heart-warming applause from the worn down rioters in front of him. His battered face lifted into one of a heartfelt smile.

"Thank you" he sobbed "Thank you! From this day forward, I will lead Wellington, with the help of many of you! We will rebuild! We will help each other overcome this horror of a riot! The cult have oppressed and tortured us all for too long! From this day forward, we will lead the population into a new and brighter age!"

Applause poured from every member of the listening audience.

_"They're convinced"_ the president thought to himself darkly, however using his façade of a warm, vulnerable leader he basked in his new found popularity and gave his first order.

"Gather all survivors and kill any stray walkers that brains are intact!"

He gave more orders, Luke watched as it was revealed the barbarism of public executions would be scrapped and instead offenders would be imprisoned until a reasonable sentencing was given. and speaking of offenders, the president stated (sadly) that those guilty of crimes during the riots had to confess to their crimes and come forward. Some offenders tried to escape, but many residents of Wellington had simply had enough of murders and psychopaths for one day and the biggest offenders were simply dragged in front of the central hub. Many people there had committed crimes, but were framing bigger fish to get themselves off the hook.

Nick didn't even resist when he felt himself get dragged forward. He knew how hypocritical it all was, they'd look up to him when he was killing things. But the second he had done the dirty work, he'd be thrown to the lions and treated as if he were the scum responsible. Really, it wasn't much different to the cult when he thought about it. Then again he didn't trust himself to be in public after today and to be quite frank he didn't care.

"NICK!" Luke bellowed upon seeing his oldest friend lined up, along with the other thrashing, swearing madmen around him. Luke couldn't believe what he was seeing, he didn't like this one bit. What... what the hell had Nick done to land himself here? He had a short temper, but he was not a cold blooded killer. How had this come to be?

Luke tried charging forward to get to his friend but the crowd blocked his way, as the offenders were lead off, restrained and being dragged along to the still available and intact prison cells at the police station. As Nick was being led off, he saw one woman who had managed to break through the crowds, the woman approached him, he knew who it was, without even looking at her.

"It's over" Stephanie and Nick muttered at the same time.

Surprised, they both looked up at each other.

"You deserve better" Nick told her.

"No, believe me, you do Nick" she replied.

"My life's over Stef" Nick mumbled sadly, indicating the fact he had been restrained and was being led off to prison.

"and it's my fault, I left Sarah and Lilly" she told him "I might not be a prisoner, but I'm as guilty as all of you are"

Nick nodded, too tired to disagree with her anymore. "It was both of our fault's" he concluded, before turning to Stephanie once again "Did... did we actually believe at one point" he said "That... that we weren't monsters and that, we could live a normal life together?"

Stephanie emitted a humourless laugh.

"Apparently" was her response.

Nick also had to laugh, him and Stephanie actually living normally, they managed it for two years... but, it was never meant to last.

Nick was dragged away, and Stephanie walked back into the cheering crowds, she eventually found Luke and before she could stop herself, sobbed her heart out onto his shoulder as Luke simply comforted her. One of his team blind and the other imprisoned and he had a feeling worse news was too come.

As he was dragged along, Nick also felt the first tears fall from his eyes, whatever life he had enjoyed yesterday, it had been destroyed today.

The riot was over.

But so were many lives.


	13. You've Got Time

**A/N: Shorter Author's note today, mainly because I want to promote Catwoman286's work on this fic by dedicating three pages on the TV tropes site towards these fics. If you want go ahead and check them out I know I was impressed with the work done there and I want to thank Catwoman286 for taking her time to work on these pages. Type in No Going Back, Walking Dead fanfiction TV tropes into Google search and it should turn up, for anyone who wants to check those pages out.**

**Got the OITNB feels this chapter, as (the more I think about it) the title to this chapter "You've got time" not only references the song from OITNB, but could also be a pretty good theme song for NGB, as some of the lyrics stuck out for me "Everything is different... the second time around..." also I love the song and listened to it on a loop while writing this chapter, and with Nick imprisoned and with the second chance thing referenced this chapter I thought it would be a good fit to make the song relevant this chapter.**

**Also this chapter will be much shorter than other chapters, mainly because it serves to close the riot arc once and for all, and by the next chapter things will have changed. **

**and finally ffapathy, your long awaited OC, Ethan will be introduced this chapter, but he will be a lot different to what you imagined him to be. (Also I'm glad you spotted the mice and men reference!) **

**Also I will explore the Wolf some more in the oncoming chapters, he is something of a designed "Villain Sue" at the moment but I'm hoping that will change and he will become a much more complex and interesting character. I like mysterious characters but at some point light has to be shed on them and just hope I do the Wolf's character justice.**

**Kristal-Dynamite I appericate your lengthy reviews even if you're sick you continue to read and let your thoughts be known, so I can't thank you enough for this! Also get pumped for LIS episode 4 preview, I'm sure Chameishida will share my excitement for this and as for Game of Thrones by Telltale. Episode 5 is out and that ending decision... SPOILERS, but I chose to save Rodrik (although the majority have seemingly saved Asher) I'll be willing to have a lengthy discussion on anyone wishing to discuss episode 5 and GOT series in general. Although it's a brilliant game I've noticed it's starting to suffer the same errors that walking dead season 2 has suffered. I'm recently thinking of writing a fic related to Game of Thrones game as I've noticed there's barely any fanfictions to be found on the game version anywhere, so I might give it a shot in near future (and hopefully not abandon it like I did my fnaf fanfiction) **

**A short authors note I said, well thanks to TWDRUNNER37, Paradoxilla, UrbanKidCO, Bubbles2k100, aquadestiny'sembrace for reviewing!**

**Okay, glad you all enjoyed last chapter and now onto this one! enjoy!**

* * *

_"I KNOW YOU'VE HIDDEN IT!"_

_"NO I HAVEN'T!"_

_"YES YOU HAVE! YOU STUPID LIAR!" _

_"DON'T CALL ME STUPID!"_

_The 8 year blonde boy watched the scene unfold in his back-garden, his older and younger brother were bickering and fighting over a toy car that the older brother had apparently lost. Henceforth his younger brother had instantly went to accuse him of stealing it. Both of them were however unaware of the real culprit, the middle brother stood watching the argument, a distant look plastered onto his face, he twisted the small plastic car in his fingers. Waiting for his 6 year old younger brother, or 10 year old brother to notice the object._

_"IT'S MY FAVOURITE TOY!" The younger brother screeched, to the equally as furious older brother._

_There was no TV where the three brothers lived with their parents, their house was a crumbling stack of wood and brick, assembled poorly and withered away over the years. Living in a remote Serbian village located near the Balkan mountain range, suffice to say life was tough for many. With the endless wars erupting all around them, the country of Yugoslavia seemed on the verge of splitting. In light of all of this, toys were the only form of entertainment for young boys like themselves. Many of the other kids around had ever been blown to bits, ran away, or joined or were more likely forced to join any rogue groups wielding guns in people's faces. _

_"HEY!" The older brother suddenly bellowed, jabbing a burly finger towards his 8 year old brother._

_Yet, the 8 year old had one fact imprinted into his mind amongst the endless civil unrest he grew up in. His family, despite the hardships they all faced, were happy, they were together because they all had an enemy to unite against._

_"WHY DID YOU STEAL MY TOY!?" The younger brother sobbed, swiping the car from his brother's pale fingers._

_The 8 year old smiled at them._

_"Because I wanted to play with it" was his sinister response "Watching you two argue was funny" _

_The eldest brother's face went red in rage._

_"SCAREDY CAT!" he bellowed towards the true villain in all of this "You're nothing but a scaredy cat! and I'm telling mum what you've done, stupid idiot..." his older brother mumbled, he comforted his younger brother as he muttered at him "Come on, we're telling mum about this" _

_The two brothers walked back into their poor excuse of a house, united arm in arm, while the 8 year old boy remained outside in the cold staring after them. His true motivation had been to get his two brothers to stop bickering and arguing and actually get on for once. Maybe by showing them that there were worse people in the world than each other, they would reunite and realise that they needed to help and support one another._

_"Why did you do that son?" came a sudden question from behind the still staring 8 year old._

_The boy hadn't even been aware his father was watching the situation, yet he turned around to find his father's powerful form a few feet from his tiny one._

_"I wanted them to stop fighting" was his honest response._

_"So, you made yourself the villain?" his father asked._

"Well?" came a harsh inquiry, "Did you?"

"Yes" The Wellington Wolf responded, in his native eastern European accent. Long since dropping the façade of the north-western one he had put one, to impersonate Trevor Moore. Now he was alone, in this dark room in the middle of the central hub, he could shed a tiny bit of light on his true identity. But yet he still had to drag himself out of memory lane and retain his cold demeanour in front of the president. Who had just asked him if he had disposed of Ana Mills and Oscar Williamson's bodies.

"Good" The president commented "Good lad"

The Wolf bared no emotions, he had succeeded in his mission. He wasn't in the mood to celebrate he was simply awaiting what his next order would be. He had put on the persona of Trevor Moore so well, not only impersonating his voice, but also his personality. Manipulating the priest, with a cocky demeanour that certainly wasn't his own, working with the cult to smuggle those walkers into Wellington and attack those most likely to be immune. In the earlier months, he had to prove his loyalty to the cult and the president by murdering those loners that were apparently "leeching off society" according to the ex-walker skinned members. His murder of all those people was to get on the cult's side. They still disliked his murderous nature, but he was simply following orders. That's all the Wolf had done his whole life, follow orders.

"So now you've served me so well" The president mused, rolling his wheelchair back and forth, looking up at the blonde haired man "However shall I reward you?"

The Wolf wasn't too familiar with being "rewarded".

"There is no need for a reward Mr. Schulz" The Wolf told him formally.

"Rubbish!" The president spat, a forced smile spreading over his middle aged face "Tell me... my little Wolf. Have you ever heard of the prospect of Fun before?"

"I am aware of it" The Wolf responded "According to Oxford Dictionary, Fun, is an emotional state of enlightenment where..."

"and this just goes to prove my point" The President mused, scooting his wheelchair around the powerful, towering figure of the stoic wolf. "Listen, you might be the best damn athlete I've ever seen and the best damn guy I've ever known to get jobs done..."

"Sir, really..." The Wolf began to say, but his words went ignored.

"... you got everyone in Wellington to believe Trevor Moore was the wolf. Clearing your own name, allowing you the opportunity to get the brains from Oscar. Now you have not only given me the brains which will, without a doubt and in some time get us a cure to this airborne strain" The president explained "But you somehow managed to predict this airborne strain would happen..."

"I saw it happen in other places" The Wolf answered vaguely.

"Regardless, you've done all of that. Now thanks to you, we have the cure at our fingertips. I got a team of top researchers and doctors left who survived this riot to get to work on finding it. I told them the brain was retrieved from the wall. A suspected suicide and murder between Ana Mills and Oscar. They were friends but they fought... blah... blah... blah. No one will ask much questions anyway, as long as we have the cure, no one will ever give a shit about Ana or Oscar".

"Her group may..." The Wolf began to say.

"Again, no one will care" The President said, speaking over the Wolf, who fell silent. The President must not have considered the tiny minority a threat to him in the slightest way. "I feigned my injures, knowing the cult would all be wiped out so they wouldn't grass on me. The cult would turn on us eventually, but we outwitted them first. Seeing how I imprisoned those who needed to go and played the victim card to the cult, a group of people universally hated by everyone. Well needless to say I have the trust and popularity of the people..."

"Yet these are a series of lies we have to uphold" The Wolf reminded him.

"... I mean all of it, worked just perfectly!" The president mused (once again) over the wolf. "I leaked their precious Domesday report to the editor of the Wellington weekly and even when it was leaked in the Newspaper this week, they assumed someone else had leaked it and not me. The complex plans I made to get rid of them, but that cult had to go. They were going to destroy Wellington, slowly but surely. I had faith that the people would win this riot and they did. Everything went according to plan"

"Yes sir" The Wolf repeated, starting to get bored of hearing the president gloat about his success. Besides the Wolf had heard this plan one thousand times beforehand.

"Now where were we?" The President thought to himself, before he smiled and clicked his fingers "Ah yes! What to do with you, they'll be no more need for anymore murder or your athletic abilities. As my reward to you my little Wolf, you are free to go".

There was a short silence.

"Excuse me?" The Wolf inquired.

"I have the team I need now" The President said "Doctors, bodyguards, a new police force, money managers... hell you name it!" he exclaimed "Everyone I need, after all you've done. I've made you a new identity, got you a big house and..."

"But..." The Wolf muttered a little lost, "Won't you need me too...?"

"Listen Mr. I'm to special forces to even tell you my name" The President stated to the wolf.

"I wasn't actually in the special forces" The Wolf corrected him "I was part of an organisation that I am unable to disclose the name of..."

"Jesus!" The President snapped "Did this Organisation of yours train to you to become an actual automated robot? There are long gone boy! Ain't no reason for all the formalities and no named assassin act"

"I had identities" The Wolf told him "But I had to repeatedly change them".

"Aren't we having an enlightening conversation?" The President muttered "Regardless of who you were, this is who you are now. You're Ethan Hart, you're 27 years of age. You have eastern European roots, you were a recluse before the riot, but have finally began to show your face in public afterwards, your order from now on is to live an ordinary fucking life, understood?"

The Wolf nodded, and mumbled "Ethan" savouring the taste of his new identity. All of his life he had a new identity given to him, the assassin who murdered a family, the murderer of the loners, the cold blooded killer, whatever the identity he was always the villain. Always. and now suddenly he was being given this ordinary identity, living normally was something the Wolf hadn't done in a very long time. He felt out of his depth.

"Are... are you just trying to get rid of me?" The Wolf inquired.

"If I wanted that" The President informed him "I would have had you killed. It's time for you to go and live a fucking life already. I don't need your help anymore..."

"Sir" The Wolf muttered.

"GO!" The president bellowed at him, The wolf couldn't help but feel this was a bad sign. The President had always needed him, he only hoped that due to this recent victory and success of their complex plan that the President wasn't get too big headed and arrogant for his own shoes. However at the president's command the Wellington Wolf walked out of the central hub...

... and_ Ethan, _was born.

* * *

It was surreal.

Clementine thought days had passed, months had passed. Maybe even years. But it had been less than 12 hours.

The House was already too deathly quiet, Luke was passed out on the sofa, fatigue overcoming him completely, the black rings under his eyes more prominent now then they had ever been. Despite his own grief and self loathing he had tried his hardest to make everyone else feel more optimistic, this failed miserably, seeing as they could all tell he was just as upset as they were. His "I'm fine" was now such a paper thin statement even AJ could see through it.

Molly lay in her room upstairs, if being blinded wasn't enough of a blow for her, learning Lilly and Sarah were dead was another crushing blow. Even blinded Molly could just tell by the aura surrounding everyone and the lack of Sarah or Lilly's voices that the news was indeed true. She had went to bed earlier, the house she was so familiar with becoming a maze of obstacles for her. As depressed and as quiet as she had ever been since her sister died in Savannah. Molly lay in her bed feeling like nothing more than a vegetable and everyone knew she would be a vegetable for a long time after this.

As well as Lilly and Sarah's absence, Nick and Stephanie were gone too. Nick imprisoned and the second Stephanie had returned to the house she had packed her belongings and left with no explanation. No one asked where she was going or where she planned to live, but all they did know was that she probably felt guilty as she was partly responsible for Lilly and Sarah's death. Clementine was a bit more sympathetic with the young woman, no doubt Stephanie had left because being here would bring up too many painful memories for her. Maybe she just needed time to recover, at least Clementine hoped so. She hated the fact that merely this morning the Stephanie, Nick, Sarah and Lilly had been a normal united family in the kitchen and now they were all gone, probably for good.

and if this fact wasn't depressing enough then there was AJ, who cried for hours on end due to his dead friends. Rebecca had clung onto her son, terrified to lose him after the experience that had occurred to him today. AJ now had to limp around with a broken leg, while Rebecca, Luke and Eddie went about cleaning their wrecked house. The only good news of the day was that their house was nowhere as badly damaged as they all imagined it to be.

But the bad news far outweighed the good, who cared if Luke had managed to pass the whole second chance thing between him and Clementine off as a joke to the rest of Wellington's population? Who cared if no one really cared about the Domesday's report anymore? After all the destruction it had caused? Who cared if the Wellington Wolf had been revealed as Trevor Moore, the chief of police? and who cared if he had been killed? Who cared if one serial killer was dead when a million more had cropped up in one day? and were all of these brute's really behind bars? Who knows how many of them had slipped beneath the net and were now mingled in with the general population?

Eddie had proceeded to his bedroom early and collapsed onto his bed, still fully clothed. The light hearted man simply had to get away from the overwhelming sense of depression he felt when he lingered downstairs. He tried cheering up AJ to no avail and Rebecca was inconsolable, Eddie was lucky he'd hadn't suffered a fraction of what the others in his group had done today. All he had done (as per usual) was not get in the way and remain shunned on the sidelines. But right now sitting in his silent bedroom, he suddenly realised how quiet it really was without Sarah or Lilly around.

"Dammit" he mumbled into his pillow "I miss you guys already".

The silent static of the unwavering air around him soon filled his eardrums, as he sighed and rolled onto his back, gazing at the simple black abyss above him. His thoughts drifted occasionally to Violet. He silently cursed himself, he really should have just gone up to her and said something to her today. Even if it was just a small, tiny thing he should have let her know that he was there for her. But the more Eddie thought about the attractive teacher the more guilty and angry he felt at himself.

He had spoken to her once... she was going through a hell of a lot right now. They didn't know each other, it was a one off encounter and Eddie had gotten his foolish hopes raised to high once again. Half of his group were dead, wounded or separated and here he was in his bed, allowing lustful thoughts to circulate in his mind as he thought about the attractive sister of the Wellington Wolf. He shook his head and convinced himself to forget about her, for now at least. He didn't want a relationship with a woman he had met one time and she certainly (after today) wouldn't want to jump into bed with him, right after the death of her brother. (Wellington Wolf or not).

"Stop thinking about a damn girl Eddie" he snapped to himself, as he felt his vision get darker... he was slowly but surely drifting off to sleep. After all the running he had done today and all of the devastating news he had to digest, he was physically and emotionally exhausted.

Yet the more he tried to erase Violet's image from his mind, the more prominent it became. Eddie guessed he was just so tired of being alone. Nick had Stephanie (even if those two had now spilt) and Luke... Luke had Jane, followed by his tryst with Kelly and then Bonnie blindly loved him and yet all Luke could do was moan or self-pity himself. Eddie knew he was being cruel to think it, but he just wished Luke would shut up and see what was in front of him right now. The young man had been through a lot, but at least Luke had been at the centre of the action, at least Luke felt had those women to lose. Since the apocalypse had started Eddie had never had a lover to lose, he wasn't the centre of all of the action, he sometimes felt excluded from what rest of the group were going through. Especially since he lost Wyatt he'd... he knew he'd never make a friend like Wyatt again.

A part of him still cursed Luke for not pulling the trigger on Vince there and then, but then again he convinced himself to be thankful for Clementine. If it wasn't for her who knows how things would have transpired? He got to enjoy life with Wyatt at the hardware store thanks to the now 14 year old girl, however short or long that time was. Eddie swore to himself he'd look back and try and remember the good times and try not to dwell on what could have been. Even if those thoughts were overwhelming at times and with each friend lost the situation grew more dire. AJ was still here, along with Luke, Rebecca, Clem...

He felt himself drift into sleep.

_It was hell, Eddie opened his eyes to find a scene of hell playing out in front of him. Wherever he looked walkers were everywhere, they broke in through hanger doors and smashed through walls. Eddie's vision was filling with their rotting, grotesque and warped faces._

_Eddie heard an empty gun click uselessly in his fingers._

_He was surprised to find himself in rather heavy clothing, carrying around a gun with him and if he looked closely. He realised he was in Howe's Hardware, he must have been standing on top one of the shelves with an empty gun in his hand._

_"What the hell?" Eddie wanted to say, but those words didn't leave his lips. Instead he heard himself mutter "Oh fuck...!" in a panic._

_"What the...!?" Eddie thought to himself, he was aware and he had his own mind. But he seemed to have absolutely no control over his body. It moved on it's own accord, the sudden jolting movements, the frantic whip of his head. This... this dream all looked so vividly real, the faces of guards at Howe's that had been dead for years now looked back at him, horror in their eyes as they fired away at the never ending horde of walkers. Or he watched as they fell and were devoured, their screams making Eddie flinch horribly._

_Eddie could feel the perspiration breaking out all over his body, he could feel how horribly his fingers ached (after pulling down on the trigger no doubt) the smell of Howe's had the exact same metallic tang, than it did when Eddie remembered being there last. All of his senses were on high alert, he could feel the texture of clothing he swore he'd never worn before, he could feel the grooves on the gun in his shaking hands. This... this was simply too vivid to be a dream._

_This was real._

_Eddie came to realisation just as something cold wrapped itself around Eddie's ankle, Eddie turned to little to late as the walker flung the man off one of the shelves of the hardware store. Soaring through the air Eddie hit the ground, hard. He physically felt the air get knocked out of him and the pain that shot up through his spine as he landed on his back._

_"FUCK!" Eddie bellowed in pain._

_Through his watery eyes, he saw the figure of a man lying there... peering closer Eddie saw the corpse of William Carver, there was no doubt about it. The corpse was wearing Carver's distinguishable maroon coloured thick coat and it had Carver's build. But Eddie saw that the leader of Howe's face had been completely caved in, bits of teeth and strands of Carver's greying hairs lay amidst the red blob that remained of his face._

_"Holy shit" Eddie thought, that was graphic but apparently what Luke had done to him was much worse. Speaking of Luke, where was he? Where was Wyatt? and Shel, Russell, Becca, Stephanie, Vince and Bonnie? Clem? Nick? Sarah? Rebecca? Anyone? He was in Howe's but he didn't see anyone he recognised now other than Carver's corpse._

_"HELP!" Eddie heard himself plead, it was then he looked up to see dozens of ravenous walkers closing in on him, he made a weak scramble for safety, before Eddie found his vision clogged with walkers, as they reached down and began to bite into his flesh... pulling out his internal organs and literally eating his face. He imagined he'd look like Carver in less than a minute. He panicked and trying to free himself... but the walkers pinned him down and continued to feast on his flesh. It was blinding agony, Eddie was screaming himself hoarse, as pain completely consumed him..._

"AH!" Eddie roared, he bolted upright and saw nothing but blackness ahead of him, trying to calm his accelerated heartbeat and slipping out of his clothes (as they were now drenched in sweat) Eddie rubbed his hands over his bare flesh. His neck, his torso and his arms were all still intact. There was no blood and no agony that he had seen and experienced merely seconds ago.

Since Luke was sleeping downstairs on the sofa, no one was present to be altered by Eddie sudden awakening, after staring at the empty bed opposite of him for a few solid minutes as he calmed himself down. Eddie finally lay back down on his back in his bed, all thoughts directed on what had just happened to him.

Did he just see... what he thought he had just seen?

and if so, why? Why after all of these years, was he getting this vision now?

* * *

"You should get some sleep Luke"

"I'll try"

Rebecca wasn't going to get any better, so (exhausted herself) she proceeded back towards her own room. With a dozing AJ on her shoulder she climbed the staircase. The mother looked far too stretched out by the world and after everything that had happened today, she had a feeling that in the following days and weeks she would be stretched ever further. Lilly and Sarah were dead, Molly blinded, Nick imprisoned, Stephanie gone, Luke in la la land, Eddie out of his depth, Clementine in grieving and her own son injured, Rebecca had a feeling she had to help her broken group back onto the right road. But right now, just like everyone else she was in an awful state of grieving herself.

Lilly and Sarah, those poor sweet angles and the most innocent of the group. So of course they had to be the two who got so brutally taken from them, Rebecca had learnt long ago about how cruel the world really was. But even now these deaths made her weep and made her question whatever faith she had left in humanity, or herself or her own group. The cult had tried their very hardest to break them and it had seemed on their final attempt they had done so, if the cult could see the group now... they would laugh themselves silly and boast they were right all along...

Rebecca was glad the were all dead. Every last one of them, even the kids and despite her earlier tirade at Nick, she realised the man was going through hell. He was trying to rid of the threat once and had paid the price of imprisonment for it, Rebecca (after thinking this whole day through) and mellowing slightly began to paint Nick in a more sympathetic light. Along with Gertrude and everyone she had insulted today, she had left AJ with strangers, she entrusted them, it was as much her fault as it was their's.

Rebecca could only thank whatever God was up there, that her son was alive. He could have easily have been Lilly, but it had seemed (just like her) AJ had inherited the gift to survive against the odds numerous times. The amount of times Rebecca thought she had lost her son and seeing how many times he had pulled through... it was a miracle (although it certainly didn't help with her stress levels).

Rebecca finally placed Alvin Junior next to herself on her bed (she wasn't letting him out of her sight, after what had occurred today) she tried to drift off to sleep. What happened to her earlier, with the whole vision she had, briefly crossed her weary mind. Yet she was too tired to think about it fully and after all the horrors she had witnessed today, she found the incident pushed into the back of her mind.

Downstairs, Luke was being Luke and not getting a single minute of sleep, his eyes were wide open as he stroked his old golden locket in his fingers. His tired eyes gazing at the old photo of his parents.

_"Just stay yourself son, no matter what" _

Luke sighed, clearly remembering some of his father's last words to him. "I don't think I'm the same man I was pop" Luke told the unmoving figure of his father. and that fact was true. The carefree, slightly reckless young man he once was, he was now a self pitying, cranky, nerve wrecked older man. After today of course he was laced with self-doubt once again, he hated feeling completely worthless and useless. He was the leader, he was supposed to die for his group to make his second chance count. But his group had been broken beyond repair...

Nick imprisoned and he was powerless to stop it, just like his first life he couldn't stop Stephanie from leaving, he couldn't stop Sarah's death and one of the kids had died. Clementine was in deep grieving and nothing he could say could make her feel any better, he had to be saved from Maria, who also saved Molly's life and Molly had been blinded right in front of him. What sort of leader was he? First incident in Wellington and this was the result.

"Why me?" Luke asked of the locket "Why was the one given this chance? I wish I could have believed it was a joke like the rest of Wellington..." he spat the self-criticism at himself. This locket also reminded him of Jane and he didn't need to reminiscent on his lost love for longer than was necessary.

"I don't know what the hell to do now" he admitted to the locket, he received no answer, the silence engulfed him as Luke simply felt himself drifting off to sleep. and no doubt he'd wake up to an uncertain future.

* * *

Violet had played the victim all day.

Now she sat in her nearly empty house, (the only other person currently residing in it was her friend Cristina, who had cried for the majority of the time they comforted each other) Violet heard her out, her British friend had been through hell today. Violet nodded and comforted her, now her friend was lying asleep upstairs while Violet simply stayed put, numbed by everything that occurred during this riot.

Just yesterday her two siblings had been alive and now they were dead, taken in the cruellest way imaginable.

Stacy... murdered and Trevor... killed and framed for being the Wellington Wolf. Violet had spent her whole life with her brother, she knew everything about him (well if the Domesday report was true, not everything...) but Trevor hid those things to protect her from harm. How on earth was he protecting her by hiding the fact he was the Wellington Wolf? She shared secrets with her brother all the time and generally saw him as a very honest person, even today he had confessed to all of his lies and murder of Stacy.

_"But would he have done that, if that priest hadn't told you it first?"_ a small voice in her head whispered.

She tried hard not too doubt herself, but she only had her brother's word against evidence from everyone else. But... what was the point? A final ditch effort to delude his sister into thinking that he wasn't the wolf, so his sister could spend the rest of her life chasing down the real wolf she was probably never going to find? Was she really willing to go through with this?

It was then she realised it wasn't just for Trevor, but for Stacy too. The pair of them had been determined to find the identity of the real wolf and by some clever means he had killed them both, leaving her as the last surviving Moore. A poor, shell shocked, innocent girl who deserved so much pity for the situation she was in...

Well, they had underestimated her. She could be the weeping victim, just like Cristina. She could grieve for her siblings for years and never get over it.

Or she could avenge them, Stacy had always done anything she could to gain the truth and now Violet was going to make sure she carried on her sister's work.

She was going to find the Wellington Wolf, even if it killed her.

* * *

The amount of people now homeless in Wellington had reached a staggering peak, the amount of houses destroyed in the riot today... the officials were still counting the exact number.

Wilbert, JJ, Luis, Maria, Tom and Terri sat huddled together in the school gym at Wellington High, one of the several centre's set up across Wellington to help deal with the people without a house, giving them shelter, food and supplies and sleeping bags. Terri sat slightly apart from the rest of the group, her gaze locked on the headmaster of the school, he was posing as a saint by offering the shaken Wellington residents food and water.

Terri could have vomited, she wanted nothing more than too completely destroy him in those moments, but she was going to wait and give that man the worst possible death he could imagine. She wondered if fantasies of his death would somehow fill the hole in her heart that her loss of her brother had caused.

Maria watched Terri, a look of sympathy plastered over her face.

"Luis" she uttered her son's name as he turned to her "Please go speak to Terri, you are her friend..."

"She practically sent me off to die today" Luis retorted, grumpily gazing at the ground.

"She is in a very dark place Luis" Her mother seethed to him "Maybe not tonight then, but if you ever get the time please speak to her"

"Can't you do it?"

"Luis, do not take that tone with me mister"

"I'm asking a genuine question here..."

"Luis" Tom growled, entering the foray "Don't argue with your mother. Let's face facts we've all been through a lot today..." he sighed as Luis fell silent. All of them no doubt thinking about their lost allies. Maria looked up at Tom, no one knew what to say when he revealed that he had killed Tim. He stood in front of them all and said it as clear as day, he mercy killed his brother so he wouldn't be killed by the Wellington's angry mob for this. Maria offered him a few words of comfort but nobody knew what to say to him. Or how to talk to him about all of this, 4 of his group had died and he certainly felt like a failure of a leader right now.

"Traitors..." came a growl from nearby. Maria, Luis and Tom turned to face whoever had said that word to them, to find a young man with a sour face glaring at them. He quickly turned away and walked off in another direction. It was as clear as day the rest of the Wellington's populace was giving them a wide breadth and if Oscar or Tim was still alive no doubt they'd be ripped to shreds by this point. But seeing as the immune one was dead and the president had promised a cure from his retrieved organs and blood (amidst widespread applause) the remaining group of 6 had been spared the crime of hiding an immune survivor. But that didn't stop the petty jabs or childish isolation they were suffering.

"Fucking punk..." Wilbert growled under his breath, the old man had been very, uncharacteristically quiet today. He didn't even have an insult to throw Tom's way after he revealed he had killed his brother. After the pair returned from wherever the hell they had been, they hadn't muttered a word about where they had been or what had happened. Wilbert simply commented that they had "survived" while JJ hadn't muttered a word, he seemed particularly sunken after he had learned about the Brandon, Ana, Oscar and Tim's death as well as Sarah, that girl he hung around with. Right now JJ was the only member of the group curled up and fast asleep.

"Oscar's fucking dead" Luis hissed under his breath, "They all got what the fuck they wanted, why can't just leave us be now?"

"Because people are fucking asshats, with no backbone, that's why" Wilbert answered, some of his earlier insulting gusto returning to him.

"You know old man, for once I can relate" Luis muttered to him.

"Bout' fucking time" was all Wilbert could mutter back. Over the sea of sunken faces, Luis spotted Scott staring directly back at him, he sat on a bench, looking more worn out that Luis had ever seen him.

"I've heard that boy has lost all of the people his lived with" Maria told the group, following her son's gaze.

"So have a lot of people" Wilbert grunted "Don't make him special"

"Wilbert" Maria snapped "Have a bit of sympathy for him, please".

"That asshole is the one who provoked my grandson into breaking his arm" Wilbert replied "This experience might sober up that, bullying, pansy piece of shit"

Almost as if he could hear Wilbert, Scott dunked his head to the ground and gazed lifelessly at the ground, Luis felt a twinge of sympathy for him. Scott had been through a lot today and just because the pair hadn't gotten on in school, it didn't mean Luis could hate him forever. He and Terri would be long dead had it not been for Scott and Miss King helping them behind that tree-root. Luis guessed he owed them, which was strange he'd never imagine he'd feel more warmly towards someone he considered a non-survivalist at all and a bully... but riots did strange things to people.

"But look at all of this" Maria suddenly mumbled, gazing at the broken and wounded people laid out in front of her "Did... did hiding Oscar really lead to all of this? Are we really the culprits to blame for all of this?" she asked of anyone who would listen, it was at her words that Tom finally seemed to stir to life.

"No" was the single word he boomed to his listening group "No Maria, you're a smart woman don't think like that. Don't any of you think like that!" he commanded, even Terri turned her head back towards him in interest as he gazed upon the five people left to lead, the five people left who he had been through so much with.

"Oscar and Ana are dead, but quite frankly the explanation we got for their death was bullshit"

Now this was a fact the universally agreed with, there was no way Ana and Oscar had fought leading to both of their deaths, no doubt someone had followed them on top of the wall and murdered them. Or maybe it was a group of people, as long as the president had the cure now though, no one seemed to care how the cure was obtained. As long as they had it and as long as they wouldn't die, who actually cared about the back-story about it's retrieval.

"Hear, hear!" Wilbert exclaimed in support of Tom (which was a very rare occurrence).

"Folk around here think they're going to get a cure!" Tom shouted "They think this is the first step towards a brighter future! They're wrong, because the humanity they all lost today... it's the first step towards Wellington's collapse. I used to have hope for this place, but now... now I know this place will fall. No matter how long it takes it will fall, and were on our own here! When Wellington falls, I ain't lettin' no one else die, I ain't lettin' us get fucked over by everyone else all over again! We'll survive this shit, we always have and we always will!"

Although only 5 people cheered him on, Tom knew he was going through a tough time at the moment and this show of support gave him all the confidence he needed to lead his group.

Through hell and all that followed it.

* * *

"In"

Nick was tossed into a dingy cell, a steel like bunk awaited him along with a small toilet, the lanky man had already changed into his orange jumpsuit that was a common prisoner get-up. The irony of it all, arresting so many people only to end up as the arrested guy, he could tell the other inmates would give him crap about this.

Nick hands curled into fists, maybe he'd spend however long he was stuck in here, beating the shit out of some assholes to take his mind of the overwhelming grief he faced. He'd not only lost Lilly and Sarah, but his freedom, his future with Stephanie and the chance to speak and reunite with his remaining friends, as well as his job and income and reputation.

He was amidst the ruins, he had sunk to rock bottom.

"How long am I gonna be in here?" he inquired of the guard behind him.

"As long as the jury and judge decide, but ain't no doubt about it boy... You've Got time"

and with that he locked Nick inside of his cell, Nick watched him depart and gazed out of his small cell and into the corridor. This was it, he was a murderer, he was a criminal, he was doing time. He was nothing but a prisoner now. Ever since Luke had chucked him in the pen so long ago... he should have known this was coming. That all of his crimes would eventually catch up him.

"Well, do your fucking worse" Nick beckoned of any higher force listening.

Because really, how much worse could things get?

* * *

Clementine watched as a group of men helped carry Gertrude's possessions over the front lawn of her garden, the old woman stared mournfully and the smouldering remains of her house. Clementine had no idea where they would move the old woman, but the 14 year old knew she would miss the elderly woman. Along with her wit, stories and sweets she occasional hand out to Clementine and Sarah...

It was night-time, Clementine crept away from the window and felt the tears welling when she saw it. Her bed and opposite of her bed, Sarah's. Her half of the room was still decorated with posters of old-boybands and girly stickers, along with photos of the group she had plastered wherever she could. Her large collection of books still lay scattered exactly where she had left them this morning. A spare pair of her black glasses still lay haphazardly on her edge of her messy duvet. Sarah truly was gone... in those moments the true reality of life without Sarah hit her, as the 14 year old felt her cap slide off her head as she launched herself onto her own bed and cried into her pillow.

Life without Sarah... was already shit.

and everything was changing, Clementine didn't want it too change, she wanted Sarah back. She wanted Gertrude next door, she wanted to wake up tomorrow and head off to Wellington High once again.

But, there was no time for the past now...

...Only the uncertain and bleak future, laid out ahead of them all.


	14. How We Live Now

**AN: Okay onto next chapter, also about me saying I was going to start a new Game of Thrones Fanfic, that idea eventually just fell flat in my mind as I couldn't think of anything to base this fic around, as great as the forresters are. However that doesn't mean I haven't started a new fic, as I have based on Life Is Strange. As much as I loved the new Game of Thrones episode the latest episode of Life Is Strange simply blew me away, it was hands down the best episode so far and after it I started tying and well... you can see my new Fanfic Life Gets Stranger by clicking on my profile. (Also up for discussions for anything LIS related and don't worry Chameishida this author's note will be spoiler free, although I should warn you the A/N in the first chapter of my new fic is not) The plot to my new fic will deviate greatly from the game and instead focus on Max and lots of the side characters we see at Blackwell, in a psychological and physical fight for survival in... (three guesses what) **

**Chameishida- The wolf is Molly from the future, that theory made me laugh and once again thanks for your reviews and you are right about the flashbacks revealing something about Clem's timeline or the first timeline itself and I'm glad your liking Violet more than that she has a purpose other than just "love interest" for Eddie. and you drew an interesting comparison between Clem and Luis' group, despite their more major losses Luis' group still has their spirits up while Clem's group spirits have been crushed completely despite their home being in better shape and losing less group members than Luis' group. All in all thank you fellow LIS fan!**

**ffapathy- Again sorry about the Josh- Ethan mix up, but yep Ethan Hart is now your OC and some of the characteristics you gave your OC will be present with Ethan I also liked how you pointed out that "Luke's I'm fine being such a paper thin statement even aj could see through it, was a good line as Luke's trademark "I'm fine" has been dragged throughout the whole trilogy and seeing the effect of these consistent words growing thin to everyone (even AJ) is almost like a symbol of how the series is coming to an end. I also liked the highlight on Eddie's character and his growth throughout the series and Clem asking him how to cope with the loss of his best friend as it would make for an interesting conversation between the pair and give Eddie a more active role, now there are only 8 of the original group left (7 if you count Molly out and 6 if AJ is also excluded, cause his a kid) also thanks for your honest words on Tom's speech falling a little flat, I'll try to justify it as Tom simply being in such a lost place after his brother's death his become fully committed on survival, despite all the odds against them,**

**santiago . poncini 20- Poor them indeed**

**Kristal Dynamite- Glad to see your feeling better and I loved your theory on the group developing PTSD, as I imagine many of them would and I liked how you explored for a deeper meaning in the story, Clem and Luke second chances and the whole supernatural theme certainly serve a purpose and I like to keep it open ended and even if everyone does die (not that I'm saying they will or won't) you can be guaranteed that everything will come to serve a purpose and it's great the story gets you thinking into the deeper meanings or interpretations and messages behind this fic which goes beyond simply a group of people trying to survive a world gone to hell.**

**AquaDestinysEmbrace- Yep you spelled it right and thanks for reviewing on my LIS fic! I'll be sure to answer your review next A/N in LGS as the postive feedback it's receiving so far is encouraging me to write on and add more momentum and characters to the story. Also you mentioned GOT has a tiny fanfic fanbase, but I was also surprised by how small the LIS one is too! I thought they'd be a lot more for the popular game but that doesn't appear to be the case. **

**and finally Paradoxilla, I am indeed a OITNB fan (just started watching season 3 and loving it) and as for Stephanie you'll have to wait and see. At the start of this chapter, you can say a lot will have changed since we last saw our protagonists...**

**Also Micidonalboss your OC Edward Fyre will be introduced this chapter, although he will be the last OC introduced, henceforth from this point on we won't get to know a lot of new characters well so the group can only get smaller (laughs evilly)**

* * *

**_11 Months Later_**

**_WELLINGTON WEEKLY: YOUR DAILY DOSE OF WELLINGTON'S WELL-BEING!_**

**_5 screws per issue Editor: Robert Allen November 30th 2009_**

**WELLINGTON REMEMBERS!**

**_It has been a year, and yet many residents of Wellington including myself still feel the pain of the riot that took so many of our loved one's from us. I myself lost my son that day and as a personal message from all of us here at the Wellington Weekly we continue to wish you safety and good health during this difficult time as the anniversary to the riot approaches._**

_The riot was sparked by the revelation of the "Domesday Report" along with members of a homicidal cult, encountered previously by many residents of Wellington. Infiltrating the wealthy 12 per cent of the population and imprisoning and torturing the president, to meet with their demands. When this was unveiled, the cult went on the offence and a large scale massacre of many innocents occurred. _

_Adding fuel to the fire was the discovered immunity of resident Oscar Williamson, along with the growing panic of an airborne strain of the virus which was responsible for the death of popular guide Edith Jules. Williamson was killed in the riot and his tissues were recovered in order to hopefully bring about an immunity to this airborne strain of the virus._

_So, nearly one year on, what has progressed? The Wellington Weekly investigates._

_"Well, I can reveal we are very close to obtaining a cure!" Alfred Schulz, The President of Wellington revealed, speaking to the paper for the first time this month. He also went onto to reveal "Our test subjects are showing positive signs of immunity and resistance from not only the airborne strain of the virus, but also the common strain"_

_"You see, the virus is unlike any pathogen observed by scientists before, it is believed to target to brain. So using tissues from Oscar's brain in order to prevent the spread of the virus and reanimation is a crucial step in ensuring the cure's success"._

_"If all goes well, we shall have the cure within the next month or two" _

_Despite this uplifting news, scenes from around Wellington have been much more dire, Wellington's population before the riot stood at 4,782 whereas after the riot it stood at 1,293. The loss of nearly 3,500 people during the riot was a fact many couldn't seem to digest._

_"They were just bodies, bodies everywhere! This really isn't a surprising statistic" Irene Peters, 61, a local nurse said._

_"When you realise how many people really died, it really makes you appericate being alive that much more" Terry Underwood, 42, a gym teacher at Wellington High said._

_"At least there's more food to go around now" said Wilbert Jefferson, 78._

_and ever since that day the population has been slowly decreasing, the Domesday report after effects, have led to several "Revenge Murders" a worrying trend that has run rampant across the streets of Wellington, it's believed over 40 people have been murdered in past 11 months due to this. and many of the murdered have been caught and executed via the electric chair._

_"People say it's horrible, but I think it's necessary. How the hell do you just expect to carry on living normally, with a rapist or a paedophile living next door? A lot of us have kids to raise here, I ain't letting them grow up around that scum" said Local father Brett Matthews, 29._

_"We should have just burnt every copy of that damn report, what we were doesn't matter. It's who we are now and the society were trying to rebuild is what matters" said Gertrude Overbeck, 82. _

_The most notorious murder, is believed to be the nicknamed the "Cub-Cut Throat" who has believed to have killed 12 people. William Cecil, Headmaster of Wellington High believes the nicknamed Cut- Throat Cub is targeting him and his friends, as of last week only he and Crystal Evans are what remains of their original group of 14._

_"We were just sheltering from the riot, at my house, we didn't do anything wrong, we were just as scared as everyone else!" Crystal said _

_"We have no idea who this Cub is, but whoever they are they are deranged and they need to be brought to justice" William Cecil said "We're appealing for any eyewitnesses or anyone who knows anything about our friend's death to come forward and give evidence to help catch this cub"_

_The Cub is named after Trevor Moore, who was labelled the "Wellington Wolf" an insane necrophiliac who killed at random. Moore used his high position to avoid detection for years. But eventually during the riot he was discovered for who he was and killed._

_"I don't think any murderer, not even this cub can generate as much fear as the Wolf did" Student Edward Frye, 17, said "Moore always seemed like a figure you could trust, the betrayal was shocking but what was even scarier was just the lack of motivation for his murders. A lot of the motivation for murders today is revenge, the people you get the short end of the stick, well you usually see it coming. But back during the days when Moore prowled the streets, no one knew who was going to be next, people stayed inside due to raw fear. I think it's a blessing that the Wolf was finally killed"._

_So with the notorious serial killer deceased and a cure on the way, things may be looking up for Wellington, Despite the town's ongoing problems we here at the Wellington Weekly believe that a brighter future lays ahead of us all. Of course we will all remember the tragedy from a year ago. But we shall look back and since that day we shall have learnt out lessons as a community._

Rebecca sipped on her cup of coffee, her eyes a blur as she read down to the bottom of the article, before she turned to page 2.

**AIRBORNE VIRUS, GETTING STRONGER?**

_**Officials have put up a 10 metre radius fence from the wall, after the continuing controversy of the death of schoolboy Carl Epson, 14 last month. Epson was believed to have only been 8 metres from the wall but died and reanimated regardless. Epson was put down by police at the scene. Some argue that Epson suffered a brain aneurysm while others fear the growing range of the airborne virus may be to blame.**_

_Forensics found no traces of Epson suffering an aneurysm, although others still argue that Epson was in poor health before his death and another illness could have responsible for his death. Regardless official have now set up a 10 feet metre no go zone from the wall, all while pressure to produce a cure mounts on the President's shoulders..._

"Jesus" Rebecca muttered, she wanted to believe that poor schoolboy had suffered a simple accident too, but if the airborne virus really was extending it's range. They'd all be doomed within a few months, she wasn't happy that Oscar Williamson had been killed in such a brutal manner in order for the populace to get the cure. But if what was done, was done than quite simply it had to be used for the best. Rebecca has stashed away as much screws as she could muster over the past eleven months. She knew what those officials were like, corrupted to the core. If the cure ever did come out then it would come with a heavy price no doubt, she wanted to make sure all of her group were covered.

Well, all that was left of it.

Rebecca cast her saddened eyes around the empty living room, Clementine and AJ were at school and she was home alone for the day, she sighed and looked back down at the paper. Hell, even if they all got infected by the airborne strain today, at least she had lived to be 40.

Rebecca smiled, today was her birthday she had reached the big 4-0 at long last and she was strangely happy about it, about lasting this long and after all the glum scenes for the past year. She wanted tonight to be something of a positive scene for once.

Yet as her eyes flickered around the silent and empty house around her, her positive smile slipped from her face.

Compared to her birthday last year, this year's celebration was going to be a lot more miserable.

* * *

Luke sat stiffly in the visitation area in Wellington's rebuilt prison, swinging his head around and tapping his feet nervously against the floor, so that his legs jiggled up and down. His palms lay interlocked on the table in front of him as he didn't dare rest his eyes on any other visitor or inmate for more than a second.

"Come on Nick" Luke thought to himself.

Ever since he had first started visiting Nick here, he was surrounded by what was left of his group and the surrounding tables around him were filled to the brim with visitors and guests and then the trails came along and those seats had slowly been emptying as one after the other, the prisoners were sentenced to death via the electric chair. The President had done one thing right, at least these executions were no longer being viewed in public. Although death was more discrete for the condemned inmates, it didn't help ease Luke's mind as the day of his trial approached.

He had dressed up smart and gotten his remaining group to do the same, Luke always remembered the courtroom being unusually full that day. The residents of Wellington taking up all the rows of seats behind Luke, it made the young man sweat like he had never done before, were they all there to jeer off Nick to his death like they had done with so many other prisoners. Clementine kept her eyes on the ground, barely registering anything, yet she knew when the bellow of "guilty" smashed into her eardrums, she would feel that numb ache of grief course through her veins once again. After everything she had done to save Nick and Sarah and after all they had been through and all they had survived... just to die like this? Clementine simply retreated further into her still grieving shell.

Rebecca had been trying to shush a moaning AJ, yet even AJ (at 3 years old) was oddly serious during the trail. In fact the infant had never been the same since Lilly and Sarah's death. He got shyer much more easily and hid behind either Eddie or Rebecca's legs whenever a passing stranger went his way, when his school reopened 3 months after the riots. He feigned sickness for a week to avoid going, it took a visit from Violet Moore herself (to Eddie's great delight) to convince Rebecca she wasn't a mass murderer and that she would take care of her son and so slowly (through tears and tantrums) Rebecca finally and reluctantly let AJ go to school once again. Although according to Violet's reports he didn't interact much with the other children.

Eddie sat next to Rebecca and AJ, seeing him in a suit and tie was the only thing to momentarily draw the group out of their grieving shells and quite simply laugh themselves hoarse at how awkwardly Eddie simply stood there trying to look (in his own words) "Dapper". Clementine even mustered a smile managing (with a camera they had brought months back) take a picture of Eddie in a suit. It was (so far) the only picture Clementine added to the group's gallery of pictures, starting from photos of the cabin group, to the photo of Lee and then photos of them in Wellington... it was basically the first picture she had taken since Sarah's death.

Even with all the grim seriousness of the trial, Violet had passed Eddie, she took one look at him and told him "That really doesn't suit you Eddie" and Violet was smug enough to think they (the group behind Eddie) were laughing at her "suit" pun. Eddie turned as red as tomato and tried to muster any words she could utter to Violet, but she wished them all a "See you later" and a "I hope he comes out as innocent, I really do. My brother always used to say that Nick was a good man and loyal officer".

"We appericate the support, thank you" Luke muttered back to her.

Violet departed, she appreciated that Eddie's group were the only one's not to scream "LIES!" or "MURDERER!" whenever Trevor's name was mentioned in conversation.

Molly wasn't present with the group today, after the first month of lying like a vegetable Molly simply couldn't take it anymore and asserted that her blindness wouldn't hold her back. She was delighted to discover she could navigate the house by using her other senses which were sharpened considerably after losing her sight. She could hear the others around, she didn't even realise it before, but every single one of the members of her group had a very distinctive odour about them. Even if they entered a room and didn't say a word, Molly would know instantly who it was.

She could also tell by the touch, whether it be the slim arms of Clementine or the muscular build of Luke... Molly really thought she was ready to function without her sight.

and then she wondered outside, stumbled into the road and got hit by a passing car.

Molly had grown overconfident, she forgot that her group's house was a tiny controlled environment. Where outside influences such as the noise of the wind and the chattering of wildlife obstructed your sense of hearing. Molly only heard the car at the last second, it was suffice to say Luke felt responsible for it afterwards and would probably apologise to Molly for a millennia before he could forgive himself for allowing her to wander outside. The driver of the car happened to be a father taking his young son to school that morning, they couldn't be blamed as they only saw Molly at the last second.

The doctors told Luke it would take Molly months to recover, if she was a vegetable before than she didn't know what the hell she was now. Trapped in a body cast, there would be no permanent injuries or scarring from the accident, but being fed and hydrated from a drip unable to move all day and night and having her waste disposed of by the others... Molly had never been at her lowest. She insisted that everyone head off to the trail that day and that she wasn't going to shit herself and could be alone for a few hours. Although not happy with the thought the group allowed her that request, the only thought that kept Molly going, that kept her from attempting suicide was the fact she wasn't stuck like this forever.

"You'll get better" she kept telling herself, when overwhelming thoughts of depression however were too much sometimes. She loved travelling, she loved the independence of it all and exerting herself to the limit and seeing such great sights. Now she was blind, immobile and completely dependant on others, she was trapped in her own personal hell.

At the trial itself, Luke's mind kept flickering from Molly and then too Nick, if he didn't make a passionate plea for his friend's innocence than he was as good as dead. Nick had come back for him when Luke had given up back in the forest, back when he had battered and bruised by Kenny. Luke would never forget that, he and Nick were meant to be best friends and Luke and Nick had saved each other's lives so many times during this apocalypse, Luke was going to help a brother to the very end.

Nick was eventually brought out, he kept his gaze on the ground as the charges against him were read out, after about 10 people were called up to testify against him. Their accounts of him being a dangerous madman made even the level headed Luke angry, Nick was a lot of things but he was not the devil he was currently being portrayed as. After hearing their accounts, the witnesses who stood to defend Luke were called up to the stand.

The first person who was called up, was someone none of the group expected to see at all.

"Stef?" Nick dared mutter under his breath, looking up at his ex-lover. Luke and the group were also surprised, since Stephanie had left their house. None of them had seen or heard anything from her. Luke had even tried asked around town once, but no one had seen or heard of Stephanie, Luke digested the image of the group member who had been missing to them for months now.

Her hair was tied up into a bun which was a very rare look for her, as she usually let her messy black bangs, fall down the mane of her back and the straggly look of her hair was gone. It was smooth and silky as could be, an unusual amount of make-up was plastered onto her pale face and she wore very expensive looking clothing. Luke always had visions of her being homeless or a stripper down the seediest parts of Wellington's streets. Yet even if she was a stripper or an escort she had seemingly done very well for herself, or she had a very well client.

"She looks fancy" was all Luke could mutter under his breath. No wonder people didn't recognise her as she looked completely different, scrapping the girl next door look, for the more professional one.

Stephanie began to speak as the group all looked dimly on, she told them all that Nick wasn't a bad person and had treated her as well as he could have ever done. She went onto describe how he had not only lost his adoptive daughter, but Sarah as well and that despite his rampage he had saved many lives in the process and helped to bring down the cult. Yet even though the words she used were heartfelt, not once did her eyes lock on Nick. Despite him gazing directly at her, nor did she look at her former group either. She had what she had to say before leaving.

Luke had tried to search for her once again after the trial, but he was unsuccessful.

After that Luke's group stood up to defend him, one by one their passionate pleas were heard, when Clementine had finished saying what she had to say. There was a call for even more witnesses, now this was a surprise.

It turned out they had more allies than they had previously thought.

A bunch of random strangers who had followed Nick into the foray had backed him up, which brought a smile to Luke's face. Thank God not everyone in Wellington were hypocritical bastards, as well as this they received other forms of support. The new editor of the Wellington Weekly Robert Allen (who had lost his son to the cult, during the riot) defended Nick. (Although he seemed to verbally slaughter the cult more than defend Nick). To Clementine's great surprise Scott stood to defend Nick despite barely knowing him. As did Miss King and Mr Underwood (the gym teacher at Wellington High) another student named Edward Fyre also stood to defend Nick, Violet defended the former police officer as did Gertrude.

But that wasn't all.

"LUIS AGERZ!" Came a bellow.

Clementine was shocked to see that Luis' group were also on hand to defend Nick. Following the riots they hadn't had much contact with Luis' group. Rebecca still gossiped to Maria about the latest updates (and Maria who had now become an official nurse in Wellington) had come over to check on Molly after her accident. It had seemed Maria's group were quickly able to get themselves a new house in the aftermath of the riot and were bouncing back from their losses in a better fashion than Clementine's group, they still seemed to have spirit about them. Whereas Clementine's group did not.

Even a none-hopeful Nick was touched by the amount of support he had received, he had spoken to Luis once, but it had seemed that friendly conversation had riled up the one armed boy to defend him and the rest of his group didn't seem as bad as he perceived them too either.

Nick had overwhelming support, he was beginning to get hopeful once again. Luke was touched and he was certain in his gut Nick would be freed, Rebecca had tears streaming down her cheeks. After all of this misery they had suffered, Nick would finally be free, they had support behind them, Rebecca cried happy tears, finally, finally things were going to improve!

and then the jury gave their verdict.

All of them announced Nick as guilty.

* * *

Back in present day Luke watched as a downtrodden Nick slowly plodded towards him.

To say Luke's once again growing faith in humanity was dashed was a massive understatement, he was furious at the verdict. Even though it wasn't the usual execution, a life sentence was certainly no improvement. Nick simply gave up all hope upon hearing the verdict. He thought he was always ready for the worst, he always thought he could brace himself for bad news. But no, the world always had to be as cruel as it possibly could to him. It gave him a tiny shred of hope and managed to rip it too shreds once again, this was the final step to complete ruin the young man. He had no future now and no life, he'd spend the rest of his life rotting in a cell in prison. A slow death sentence... he would have preferred the chair in all honesty.

Rebecca and Luke were furious at the verdict, but just about everyone else was like Nick, they shook their heads, accepted the jury's word for it. They knew it was wrong, but what could be done about it? They left the central hub with a heavy heart and a twisted gut, but life would continue for them. They tried to defend that man and they had failed. Luke's faith in the president began to wane, as he began looking into other cases and going to the trail's. Rebecca and Molly told him not too, that it would only hurt him even more, but Luke was too stubborn to be swayed.

He went to the central hub and sat through many trial's, the defendant's received support just as Nick did, but each all of them got either life sentences or the chair. Luke had come to the conclusion that the trial's were a mere illusion of justice, the president wanted these criminals wiped off the face of the earth. But rather than outright slaughter them he was being more sly about it. Luke did sympathise with the president and what he went through with the cult, but he guessed that gave the wheelchair bound man a more hardened view on the world. He must have wanted all criminals disposed of to avoid people suffering a similar trauma that he experienced. Although Luke could kind of understand the president's reasoning, it didn't make it right.

Dragging himself back into present day, Nick slumped onto the chair opposite of Luke.

"Howdy" Luke greeted him cheerfully.

Nick merely grunted in response, months in prison had done nothing to improve Nick's hygiene. His greasy black hair now grew down past his shoulders, what was once short stubble had grown into a scratchy looking beard. Nick probably would have prison scars from altercations with other inmates, expect they were barely any inmates left to scrap or argue with. Even those that had been given life sentences found ways to kill themselves, a suicide watch had been placed in the prison and since then suicide rates had dropped drastically, although Nick had to wonder why on earth were he and some other useless no-hopers being kept alive for.

Luke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, with each passing week he had been here, Nick had gotten increasingly... difficult.

"Erm... how have you been Nick?" Luke inquired to try and open the conversation.

"Same as always" Nick grunted tonelessly "Staring at my cell walls, shitting in a make do bucket and generally not speaking to any other inmate, than yeah things are the same as fucking always"

"Nick..." Luke began

"Don't try and make this a sugar-coated talk Luke" Nick snapped "Let's just accept the fact I'm here for life and your only here to make yourself feel better about yourself and too look good in front of the others..."

"That ain't true Nick!" Luke exclaimed instantly on the defence "Your my best friend Nick, I've known you since we were kids I ain't leavin' you to rot in here all alone"

"Then get yourself locked up with me if you want to speak to me so badly..." Nick counter argued, when Luke was unable to make a comeback for that. The raven haired man merely smiled "That just proves my point" he mused "You don't give a shit about me and no one else does, I'd rather have it straight Luke than have all this fake bullshit..."

"Nick" Luke cut his friend off "I hear the same shit every week from you and I always come back. I-am-your-friend! How hard is that to understand? ain't no bullshit and fake crap between us man..."

"There is" Nick responded coldly "Hell at least Eddie and Rebecca had the decency not to visit me anymore because they let me know where they stand"

"You said some hurtful things to them Nick" Luke reminded him.

"Stef's gone, Clem can't bare to see me like this, AJ's too young and Molly's too injured. Rebecca and Eddie hate my guts and I can't blame them. I wanted all of you to just leave me be! To rot here! Why can't you get that message through your thick fucking skull Luke?" Nick demanded to know from his friend.

"Because I know your trying to go all self-sacrificial on me Nick" Luke told him "Don't you dare even think like that..."

"Will you do all the time" Nick retorted "So why can't I? Is it because I'm somehow weaker than you? That poor little Nicky can't take it?"

"That ain't..." Luke began to say.

"Just go Luke" Nick almost begged of him "For God's sake don't keep dragging yourself down here for me. You've got a whole damn messed up group to look after, go to them". he instructed.

"I have" Luke looked Nick did in the eye as he said it.

Nick couldn't help but feel strangely touched at Luke's comment, although he didn't show it and he certainly wouldn't admit it to Luke of all people. He wasn't a member of the group anymore, he was scum, a prisoner and all the time he spent in his cell with no one to talk too. With his sanity slowly declining his only release would be death. He'd join Sarah and Lilly again then and Pete and his mother and everyone else he had lost. Yet there was still one person out there he knew he cared about.

"I guess I'm stupid for asking this" Nick muttered, "But... do you know how Stef's doing? Is she happy?"

Luke shook his head "Sorry Nick" he mumbled "I tried looking but I still can't find out where she is, or what she's doing"

"Great" Nick grumbled, just as the alarm went off to signal the end of the visitation time, Luke stood up and turned back towards Nick.

"Look after yourself, I'll be back next week despite what you say"

Nick merely grunted and was led back to his cell by the guards, why couldn't Luke see that nothing was going to change?

Why couldn't he see that it was over? That, at the end of the day, they were all doomed?

* * *

Luke stepped into his car and revved the engine to life, heading from the prison back towards Wellington High where'd he pick Clementine up from the rebuilt school.

Luke didn't know where Stephanie was, or what she was doing. But he knew that the raven haired woman made a lot of money, every so often the group would get an anonymous mail sent to them, filled with money (screws). They all knew who it was from, it comforted Luke to know that despite everything. Stephanie hadn't completely abandoned them.

* * *

The ringing of the final bell was more than enough to get Clementine standing and speeding out of Miss King's class. Seeing as Wellington High had only reopened 3 months ago, readjusting to school life was still alien to many. Many desks were empty, social groups were more secluded. The 15 year old Clementine Marsh was more than happy to label herself a loner, draped in dark hoodies and baggy clothing with her father's cap still perched on top of her head, she sat on her desk and kept her head down low, focused intently on her easy work. School was simply get up and go, there was no interaction and no fun to be had from it. Even though it had been 11 months Sarah's absence still hurt more than she could ever imagine.

Her class was now empty too, filled with strangers. They were only 10 of them left in Miss King's class, herself, a group 4 rowdy boys, a fat girl, two gossipy girls, a optimist called Edward Fyre and finally Scott.

The classes had spilt since she had returned to Wellington High, Luis, Terri and JJ had been placed in Mr Underwood's class. She only briefly spoke to them in-between classes, or when Luis asked her how she was doing. Other than that she barely interacted with the other group and had no further plans to do so, it's not that she disliked them it was just they seemed to die to her when Sarah did.

Watching JJ kill a man and then watching him laugh in corridors was a weird sight, she never bickered with Luis anymore which made Clementine sad. She didn't realise it until her second or third week back to school how much she missed even bickering at him, he seemed to tread on eggshells around her now, rather than air his honest views. Whereas Terri was as silent and as observant as ever, after losing her brother Clementine imagined the blonde girl was in a similar state to herself. It was a shame, as Clementine had liked Brandon and he was the only one who understood and knew about him and Sarah (maybe not directly but something told Clementine that the black haired boy picked up on it) and she also clocked onto what he was saying about his "crush".

She wondered if Terri felt the same, or if she had felt the same.

But with Brandon gone, that tunnel of communication collapsed and with Ana gone the only living link Clementine had to Lee, other than Molly. She felt guilty about Ana's death she shouldn't have treated her they way she did. Clementine should have controlled her anger, she should have tried to learn more about her former guardian and try to get on with Ana. Rather than fiercely defend his saint like image she had developed in her mind of him. She was as guilty as sin for trying to create the world she wanted.

Repressing her memories of killing the stranger... seeing Lee as a saint... she wanted the world changed to fit her desires. and even with her second chance, she had the chance to craft her world the way she wanted it. So how the hell had everything gone so wrong? Clementine realised maybe accepting some harsh truths and maybe some deaths in the world were needed, to avoid the situation she had found herself planted in now. She was alive, but what was the point of building these friendships and attachments only to lose it all eventually?

Sighing, Clementine proceeded to the grounds of Wellington High, passing the rowdy four who were shamelessly flirting with the two gossipy girls in Clem's class. To Clementine they reminded her of Scott and Lizzie back during the first days of Wellington High. The cut out bullies of the moment, but Lizzie was now dead and Scott. Well Scott had been through the strangest change of them all, he had gone from being the alpha male, the top dog of the school. To it's lowest form of victim.

With his friends and house-mates gone, Scott was moved into one of the several community homes around Wellington. He was out of his depth there and didn't know a single person. So back in school the situation didn't improve, he went from the bully, to the bullied. The rowdy 4 made his life hell, while Clementine watched in a strange fascination at Scott's fall. The boy literally deflated in front of her eyes, it got to a point where even Clementine felt sorry for him. Despite all the horrible things he had said and done (especially to Sarah and that made it much harder for Clementine to like him, especially after Sarah's death) he was pushed into lockers. Harassed and made to feel tiny...

The rowdy 4 finally backed off, after ensuring that Scott was nothing more than a silent spectre, he seemed to shrink into himself now rather than showcase his muscles. The 18 year old tried to make himself seem smaller than he actually was and now he was a loner too like Clementine. He never said a word to anyone and tried to make himself invisible to all. Just like she missed bickering with Luis, she missed the old Scott, yes she hated seeing him as a bully, but as he had proved in the gym that day, there was something more to him. Once upon a time he was a fighter, he had confidence in himself, now he had been walked all over and had his confidence sucked out of him.

Clementine was broken out of her train of thought by a nearby buzzing, she looked up to see a bee was circling around her. Wondering why on earth there was a bee flying around in November, Clementine made the habit of trying to swipe the thing away from her face. Yet it dive-bombed to the left, leaving Clementine to face the optimist of her class, Edward.

"Hey Clem" he boomed, as the bee made it's escape.

"Oh... hi" she mumbled back, Edward Fyre was a positive bag of fun and was always nice to Clementine. Or asked how she was, Clementine really wished she could sometimes just be happy for his sake. She hated the feeling of dragging him down with her to the murky depths of her depression but she couldn't just click her fingers and be fine all of a sudden.

"I was going to ask you" Edward began, his dark blue eyes flickering towards the football pitch behind him "If you'd think about joining the team. Some of the guys said you kicked their ass during gym class and you are a great runner Clem..."

"I don't know..." Clementine groaned, admittedly she had been good player during sports. Like her work she was focused intently on it, and she actually found a glimmer of joy in succeeding in sports. But she really didn't think she was in the right mindset to play for a team.

"Come on" Edward urged her, an easy smile on his sweaty face, his dark brown hair lay stuck to his forehead and a soccer ball lay beneath his arm. There was no doubt he had just been playing the game and other than his immense love of architecture, sports was his second love in life.

"I'll erm... think about it" Clem finally uttered.

Edward clasped a hand on her shoulder "Great!" he mused before running off to play the sport he loved once again, while Clementine was left running towards where Luke's car awaited her, clambering into the thing, the first thing Luke asked was "How was school?"

"Okay" Clementine answered honestly

"How was Nick?" she counter asked.

"Same as always" Luke replied just as honestly, he revved the car to life and muttered "Okay we're meeting Eddie and AJ down by the cake store Clem, you remember what to do, don't you?"

Clementine nodded.

* * *

Rebecca yawned, she was in a drowsy state on the sofa and since she wasn't working today she had little to do. Other than read the paper, check on Molly upstairs and generally watch old DVD's on the tv in front of her, as well as reading the paper.

She didn't hear the front door slowly creak open and when she walked out into the corridor she certainly didn't expect to be greeted by Clementine, Luke, Eddie and AJ all bellowing "SURPRISE!" at her, as Eddie and AJ set off a party poppers sending confetti everywhere, as Luke and Clementine presented Rebecca with a sponge cake with candles placed on the top of it reading 40.

"Happy Birthday Rebecca!" Luke shouted over the commotion.

Rebecca nearly suffered a heart attack at first, but when the shock wore down, she found herself very touched by the gesture and here she was thinking that the group had simply forgotten about her birthday.

"You didn't have to do this" she mused in joy.

"Of course we did" Luke responded as he lifted the cake up to Rebecca, the lit candles were awaiting to be blown out.

"YOU HAVE TO MAKE A WISH MUM!" AJ yelled to her, as Rebecca smiled, and made a wish in her head.

_"Let us all get back together as a group and let us all be happy" _

and with that she blew out the candles.

* * *

"AH!"

Stephanie shot up in bed, alarmed at the very realistic nightmare she had just experienced, she tried to rack her brains to remember what had happened, when another form rose up next to her in the fancy bed she was in.

"What's a matter sweetheart?" Alfred Schulz grumbled to her, having been awakened by her yell.

"Oh erm... nothing, just a stupid nightmare" Stephanie told him lightly, as the President of Wellington leaned in closer to her face, Stephanie had long since resisted the urge to be somewhat repulsed by his touches or kisses, but she still preferred him at a distance.

"If you do have any problems" he purred seductively "Then you can always tell me? You understand that, don't you Adrienne?"

Stephanie nodded, not even bothering to correct him this time.

As he said that a rapid knocking came from the door in front of them, "COME ON IN!" The president yelled (without a care in the world) as Stephanie only just about managed to tug the duvet over her chest before a young man burst into the room. He took one look at Stephanie and the partly exposed president in front of him and dropped his gaze, his cheeks reddening.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise..." he began to apologize.

"Save it" The president gruffly told him "What's the matter boy?"

The young man looked up a few inches, before giving the president the news he had wanted to hear for months now.

"The cure is ready to be distributed sir"


	15. Extraction Of Events

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews again guys!**

**Shattering Soul- I was impressed by your maths during your review and I'll be sure to use these statics this chapter (I'm horrendous at maths) so it was great to see you figure out the exact number of cult members who perished (all of them) and Ill confirm that the final death toll was 3490 people with the cult included in that static and since then the population has been falling steadily as well, but either way I wanted to show how devastating the riot really was in the sense that everyone suffered mas casualties, as well as Clem's group the OC group, Father Jordan the Moore's, Scott's household etc... either way I imagine the cure was delayed due to the reduced number of scientists/doctors working on it and dealing with the aftermath of the riot and I loved how you pointed out how you wanted to see more of Clem's development as it gave me a whole new range of ideas to explore this chapter. As originally it was going to follow Clementine being sad, but the little quirks you suggested such as gaining or losing weight, or being paranoid or not I will defiantly include within this chapter, so thanks for suggesting those to me, as (like I'll say to all reviewers) anything you want to see in the fic, simply suggest it, I'll be willing to take most advice on board (expect if it's Cluke or Click or anything else nasty like that)**

**ffapathy- Indeed Nick is at his lowest since Going To Ruin? I wanted to focus on him quite a bit last chapter to see how he advanced (or in his case did not advance) over the year time skip, as the cast is already filled to the brim with main characters, side characters etc... I didn't have any room to add at least one other inmate from Nick's prison (as much as I wanted too) also Clementine will be explored further this chapter along with Violet. I didn't shine much light on what she had been up too last chapter as it's mostly saved for this chapter and finally about that suggestion with Nick and the prisoners relating to the cure... well you are going to find out a lot this chapter.**

**Kristal-Dynamite- thanks for your review! The time-skip itself serves three plot purposes, although I feel like a lot was skipped that could have been fit into a few chapters, I will go back to revisit a few scenes anyway and the purposes are to get to the point in the plot where the cure is being distributed, to see the effects of the riot finally settle down so everyone is kind of in there new mojo and the third purpose... well that be revealed this chapter but I will give you a hint, a lot of places now stand abandoned and crumbling... and thanks for your review on Edward. Micidonalboss created an interesting character regarding him and I'll explore him further within later chapters.**

**AquaDestinysEmbrace- Yep the Government is indeed, I feel like Schulz's character is going down he same (starts out good but slowly becomes corrupt over time route) that happened with Vince and Carver. As much as like this route for character development I kind of want Schulz to be different, which I don't feel is happening with him at the moment so I'm aiming to flesh him out more, I think he'll be a more Carver style character rather than a villain you can sympathise with (despite Schulz's condition). and great work on the fic Iron From Blood you had a great opening chapter and I can't wait to see what you have in store next.**

**and finally Paradoxilla, yep Rebecca welcome to middle age indeed it' weird seeing Clem go from 11 to 15 and Rebecca go from her mid 30's to being 40. It shows how the group are ageing, I imagine now Eddie went from his early 20's to mid to late 20's. Luke and Molly are both around 30, Nick about 29 or 28, Stephanie mid 20's around 25. and as for the others, Luis, 19, Terri, 18, JJ, 17. Wilbert late 70's, Maria 40's still, Tom mid 40's, Edward, 17, Ethan, 30 President Schulz mid 40's anyway enough of me rambling on I'm glad you all enjoyed last chapter and now onto the next one! and also thank you Chameishida for your kind words.**

**Also thanks to everyone who favourite No Going Back? As my first fic has reached the 100 favourites milestone, so once again thanks for all of the support for my Second chance trilogy! and this chapter will pay homage to the start of NGB...**

* * *

_Clementine always liked to think that by this point freezing in the fields of white, the cold gales freezing her to the core) that she had developed a tough skin, not only to the temperature but to the traumatic events and the losses she had endured. Yet lying between Kenny and Jane... _

_Wait, what? _

_Clementine felt herself blink rapidly, this wasn't how she remembered things at all, wasn't she meant to be standing wedged between Luke and Kenny? and they were meant to be gunned down right in front of her, well Kenny survived but in her nightmares everyone in this vision died and came back as distorted versions of themselves to torment her. But this wasn't her usual dream, it felt just like it had done the first time, everything was in vivid detail, the wind that slapped against her face making her ears sting, the crunching of the snow beneath her wounded form as she struggled to raise a gun..._

_Wait, what the hell was she doing?_

_She could feel everything and see everything, Kenny and Jane, their faces mutated by the hate plastered onto them, they looked ugly which matched the scene. Kenny had managed to pin Jane to the ground and was slowly lowering a knife to her neck, the short haired woman looked as desperate, her eyes wide in horror as she used all of her remaining strength to try and pull the knife away from her neck. But the battle had already been decided, Kenny was the stronger one at the end of the day, his face was warped in a fury and a madness that sent shivers up Clementine's spine. Yet, she didn't want to shoot him, so why on earth why she raising her gun to his form? It was in those moments Clementine realised she was observing__ the scene but had little to no control over her own body._

_It was a horrifying feeling, being trapped in your own body but being unable to control it._

_"What... someone help me!" Clementine wanted to scream, yet to her horror no sound escaped her lips, other than painful gasping, Clementine looked down to see an expanding pool of blood located by her collar bone, it was a pain that Clementine was used too, that 15 year old girls shouldn't have to be used to. It was the pain of being shot, yet Clementine didn't remember being shot at all. By who and why? Clementine could tell she was her 11 year old self once again, judging by the fact the blue coat Bonnie had given her, was wrapped over her chilled upper body._

_So many questions ran through Clementine's mind then... in the white mist around her she could just about make out the an old swing and... a playground? Why was she here? She never remembered being here in any timeline she found herself trapped in and why were Kenny and Jane fighting to the death? Why these two? They were both long dead to her by this point, Jane lost at Howe's and Kenny at the hands of the cult, so why was it just an injured her an these two?_

_Was this from her original timeline? It can't have been as Kenny died at the church with AJ... but what else could it be? How was Jane was alive? Why had she been shot and by who? What sort of vision was this? Why was she seeing this now...?_

_BANG!_

_Clementine was aware of her freezing finger squeezing down on the trigger, the resulting bang drew her back into this new reality as she saw a burst of blood squirt from near to Kenny's heart as the bearded Floridian fell to the ground..._

"NOOOOOOOO!" Clementine screamed shooting up in her bed, when she realised she wasn't in a snow filled play area anymore, watching two old friends fight to the death and she was in fact, back in her room in the shaky safe area of Wellington. She slowly began to digest this fact as she wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead and looked around her dark room. Nothing. The buzzing of white noise soon filled the void of silence, it beat the ghostly hails of the snow stinging wind she had felt merely seconds ago, but... something about her room felt creepy and wrong.

She cleared her head and allowed her heart beat to slow down, that dream that occurred so vividly seconds ago...

She had her fair share of nightmares since she had arrived at Wellington and since the riot, but Clementine knew none of these dreams, were like what she saw in her original timeline. None of her dreams were like those bursts of the future she received during their quest against the cult and to get to Wellington. Clementine still didn't know the meaning behind those dreams, but she had come to the conclusion that nearly a year after her she had received her first vision of the future (when she slept by Sarah at Howe's) it was weeks before Howe's would fall. and weeks before Luke revealed that he too had been given a second chance to make things right. But if that was the case, why hadn't he received the little snippets of the future that Clementine had witnessed?

Clementine had concluded that, she was the one who had mastered this current timeline, she was root of it all and because of her it was Luke who managed to continue what she had started. Either way maybe Luke receiving this power had someone altered her own power or something like that, but either since they had arrived at Wellington Clementine (and the rest of the group for that matter) had tried to put all of the confusing time travel behind them. The stranger receiving this power, her receiving this power... but from the way the stranger explained it too her, he merely remembered what had happened during the other timelines. He couldn't change anything, when Luke and Clementine died he was sent back with nothing but memories.

So she and Luke were the masters of this power? The stranger didn't wield this power, but he remembered everything... but why him? Why no one else? But the burning question on Clementine's mind was why in the first time in nearly three years had she received another vivid vision that she knew was real?

"Best not to think about it" she told herself, massaging her eyelids as she crashed back into her pillow.

As nobody else seemed to be having these dreams, (and even if they had, they hadn't told her about it) then Clementine didn't think it was anything major to worry about.

Yet.

* * *

Clementine felt herself seep back into conscious, although the vivid vision she had experienced had not cleared from her mind she certainly found her mindset clogged by other earthly troubles.

Rising in her bed the first thing she was aware of was a figure, sitting on the edge of Sarah's vacant bed. The figure had the height and build of the stranger with noticeably flaky skin. Clementine felt her heart rate accelerate before she blinked rapidly, when she next looked at the hauntingly empty bed, the figure of the anonymous cult member was gone, replaced with a thin strip of faded, sickly yellow sunlight that illuminated the growing layers of dust particles that landed on the empty, untouched bed adjacent to Clementine's own.

Sighing, Clementine rubbed her shoulder and rose up in her bed, the feeling of being watched sent a prickly feeling shooting up her spine, a prickly feeling that she would occasionally suffer from ever since Sarah had died. That unnerving feeling always haunted her, the cult engrained into her nightly terrors and constant sense of paranoia at being watched. Even though the cult had to be all gone by now... she couldn't help but feel they would make a comeback... always watching and lurking in the darkness, behind the petty struggles and crimes occurring across Wellington, in Clementine's mind the cult were rebuilding their numbers once again and they would not stop assaulting Clementine's group until they were all dead...

She thought she had saved Sarah from them. She thought the cult and the second chance were a closed chapter in her life the second she arrived at Wellington a new set of adventures and problems would arise. But no, the cult came back and claimed Sarah in the way they nearly did two years prior, with the weird vision she had circulating at the back of her mind and the constant paranoia of that feeling of being watched... the past, present an future were all interlinked. She guessed when you played with time it all became a jumble, there really was no way to escape the past. The only sinister feeling Clementine got was being stuck in some sort of loop, which played over and over and over...

Where had it all gone wrong?

Trying to fight off her paranoia and deep morning thinking, Clementine arose slowly in her bed, casting a sorrowful glance at Sarah's empty bed once more.

Walking across the hall she glanced into the bedrooms, the door to Molly's bedroom stood slightly ajar, curious Clementine peered inside to find Luke sat slumped in a chair beside Molly's bed, his deep breathing echoed around the silent room, on a bedside table next to Molly lay a half eaten slice of the cake they had given Rebecca the other day for her birthday. Luke's head lay on Molly's stomach, his mouth parted open slightly. Clementine saw that Molly was awake even though the area were her eyes once were, were now scarred and closed forever more, a light smile played on her face as she gently moved her fingers across the strands of Luke's chestnut brown hair.

Molly's head suddenly shot up, where her eyes once were, trained directly on where Clementine was standing outside. Molly cocked her head to the left slightly and took a deep sniff.

"Clem, you can come in you know" she said.

Clementine opened the door further and stepped inside, the creaking of the door only confirmed to Molly that Clementine was indeed now in the room.

"I see your ninja skills are returning" Clementine noted dryly.

"and I'm getting better every day" Molly mused brightly "Man, in a day or two I'll be ready to leave this prison and get out once again" she inhaled at this, as if she could breathe in the incoming smell of freedom, when Clementine remained staring at her feet for too long, Molly asked "What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm fine" Clementine quickly ushered out.

"Clem, I might be as blind as a bat" Molly informed her "But as hellish as it is, I can actually pick up on a few more things that I didn't before, for instance a lull in conversation implies a problem"

"Maybe that said person who creates a lull in the conversation, is simply shy" Clementine counter argued.

"Shy for a reason" Molly retorted "So why are you shy today?"

Clementine guessed she would have to answer Molly now.

"Just... everything" she responded, "I miss Sarah, Molly" she admitted.

"Don't we all" Molly echoed sadly.

Another lull in conversation, followed by a sad silence. Clementine couldn't let Molly on with her problems, hell being blind was a big enough problem for Molly as it was. She didn't want to weigh down Molly with anymore problems regarding her own questionable emotional state, but she always felt like Molly could detect problems almost as well as Luke could. In her blindness, Molly seemed to see a lot more, she once overheard the sarcastic blonde tell Rebecca "I'm actually getting better at picking up signals from people, dear God this is awful Rebecca! I have to socialise more!"

"Did... erm... Luke keep you company last night?" Clementine decided to ask (and to break the silence).

"No" Molly responded "He just decided to sleep here Clem, because my stomach is apparently so damn comfortable..."

Molly could almost hear Clementine roll her eyes.

"So I assume he didn't bring you that cake then?"

"No, it floated here"

"Fascinating"

Clementine and Molly both chuckled at their exchanges, as Molly's none existent gaze rested on the top of Luke's head, her brows lifted in some sort of affection as she continued to stroke his hair. Clementine watched as Molly's body seemed to relax slightly, she could tell what Molly was about to say next was going to be something more than a joke, it was going to be serious.

"I've... I've wanted to do something for months Clem" Molly admitted, Clementine leaned forward in interest at whatever Molly was telling her, it sounded like a guilty secret she was dying to share with someone. Eddie was mostly absent from the house these days, Rebecca was busy with AJ, Luke... was well Luke and Clementine guessed that this confession involved Luke if it involved telling her first, rather than the supportive man himself.

"What?" she inquired.

"All the time I've been stuck in that body cast, wondering what the hell was the point?" Molly droned "I always kept asking myself, what the hell was point of going on, I've lost my fucking sight. Even when I did recover from the crash, I'd never be independent again, I wouldn't be living a life at all... Clem... I..." Molly seemed to tether on her words as Clementine leaned in even closer.

"I... i came so close one time, I came so close to telling Luke to just put me out of my misery"

Clementine gasped.

"You didn't actually consider..." Clementine began.

"You're a bright girl Clem" Molly cut in "You all knew how much of a low point I was at, you must have suspected something"

"But... you're so strong..." Clementine reminded her.

"I was Clem" Molly muttered "But I'm weak, I didn't see any point of going on, I was a liability to the group. But no matter what happened, Luke was always here, Luke always spoke to me and the more we spoke, the more I found that I couldn't do it, I couldn't just give up. After all the effort his put in, he saved me Clem. He goes to see Nick every week even though Nick is apparently a complete asshole now, his tried looking for Stephanie... Clem... all that time when I was in that cast and couldn't move. I wasn't agonising over the fact I was blind, or the problems I would face when I finally started walking again... I..." she breathed there before she spoke.

"I was so upset, because I couldn't get up and wrap my arms around him and... oh God...!" Molly seemed to squeal, a sudden emotion overcoming her as she held her hand up to her nose, as Clementine ran up to the side of her, after struggling to hold herself together, Molly regained herself and finally grinned up at Clementine once again.

"Sorry Clem, I had to tell someone that" Molly mumbled.

"It's fine, it's fine Molly. I think it's kind of cute" Clementine mused.

"I didn't imply anything" Molly added in her defence.

Clementine gave her sassiest "Um-huh!" she could muster (hands on her hips for an added effect, even though Molly wouldn't be able to see it).

"and it wasn't just Luke" Molly quickly interjected "I kept on thinking about my sister too, she wouldn't have wanted me to give up, I was always so strong for her and I know she's looking down on me now and I... I just can't go down with a whimper Clem. Blind or not, I'm going down with a bang" she sighed there before continuing to speak "You know, when I was with you guys in Savannah, I honestly thought we were all going to die in that classroom... the arguing, the panic, that woman being ripped to shreds..."

"It was scary" Clementine admitted, remembering Brie's gory demise, Kenny raging at Ben... all the imploding emotions. She couldn't hazard a guess, that Molly (who appeared quite calm at the time) was thinking she would die in that room.

"Savannah" Molly muttered "It still feels like yesterday, I still remember Lee, he was a such a good guy and when you voted to keep that Ben guy with the group... I just... I just knew he raised you so well and kept your morales intact" Molly was reminiscing now as she continued to travel down memory lane "I guessed it was that moment I thought to myself, you know Lee and Clem need this boat a hell of a lot more than I do. You didn't leave anyone behind when I left my sister behind..." she sighed "But If I've had stayed do you think... do you think I could have somehow saved Lee?"

"I don't think so" Clementine assured her to make her feel better, but maybe if Molly had stayed... just maybe things could have changed.

"You're the only person left I knew when Lee was alive" Clementine mumbled sadly "Having you here reminds me, no matter how far I've come since Savannah, since Howe's, since first coming here, since the riot... that... that the past always comes back to haunt you, in some way, shape or form".

"I get you Clem" Molly muttered in agreement, "But hell, I'm alive and with this group because of you changing everything. Yeah that asshole leading the cult lived, but I was led back to you guys because of that. Clementine I never wanted to owe anything to anyone. You saving me was the first time anyone saved me, or that I owed anyone anything... since that day I've found myself growing more and more attached to people and more dependent on them" she looked at Clementine once more.

"So, I owe you and Lee. Clementine I want you to help Luke".

Clementine blinked and strained her ears.

"Clementine, I know you had your crazy power and shit" Molly told her "and you must ask yourself a million times a day, why you couldn't go back and save Lee. But... Clementine. Luke is... his so like Lee. Selfless to a fault and if he continues to stretch himself like this, he'll die the way Lee did. Clem you used that second chance to save Luke, I know you might have a lot on your plate but, help him".

"I..." Clementine found herself muttering as she finally gulped and muttered defiantly "I know I haven't been there for him in recent months Molly, but I promise I'll try".

Molly smiled and laid back on her pillow.

"That's all I can ask Clementine" she mused "Other than you, the only person he speaks about so highly is this Jane woman. It gets kind of annoying at times, especially when he mistakes me for her..."

"What?" Clementine yelped in surprise, she didn't know this.

"Yeah" Molly muttered "I know he was in a relationship with this Jane woman at one point, but... I don't know anything about her other than that". Molly informed Clementine "and this isn't a hint to learn more about her Clem, I want to hear it from Luke himself. I want him to see I'm not just a replacement girl or something... you can help him with things Clem, but I need to do my bit as well".

"I don't think he'll ever get over Jane" Clementine mumbled sadly "Not really"

"I just want him to see I am my own person" Molly told her "That for once I can pay him back, save him in the way he saved me. Not by physically saving my life, but by dragging me out of that mental hell I was in" Molly explained as Clementine smiled and approached the door, as she did she couldn't help but turn back to Molly.

"I'm going now, I'll stick by my promise" she told the blonde woman.

"Great, I'll let you go now Clem".

Clementine smiled and proceeded out of the door, but before she could reach the bathroom. Molly had one last thing to shout to her.

"and just because I kind of implied Luke may have a thing for me! That does not mean I'm planning on being his next girlfriend or anything!"

"Suuure!" Clementine called back teasingly and in a much better mood than she was previously, she skipped towards the bathroom. Molly and Luke could deny it all the wanted, but Molly finally admitting that Luke may have had a thing for her, was the first step towards what Clementine hoped was a fresh start for both of them, maybe they could all finally start moving on, Rebecca turning 40, Molly getting better... maybe, just maybe things were looking up for once.

That was until she entered the shower, wiping herself down in the hot soapy water, she turned around to see a sinister looking silhouette in her blurry vision.

_"I always wanted to see you naked Clementine" the stranger's chilling statement replayed once again, she could almost feel where his cold, slimy tongue had slithered over the skin by her neck..._

"Ugh!" Clementine covered up her form with her hands, disliking the way her body had matured and how boys would now look at her crudely, their eyes filling with lust. Well, there was no way in hell they'd ever lay a finger on her... either way as she shook of her latest illusion she couldn't help but let that old statement run through her head.

The past would continue to haunt her.

* * *

"You haven't touched your breakfast Clem"

Clementine looked down at her cereal with some distaste plastered over her face.

"I'm not that hungry" she mumbled down at the wooden table.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, only her Rebecca and AJ sat eating in silence. After the short lived joy of Rebecca's birthday had passed, she had gone back to being the strict paternal figure of the household. AJ (who would once run the halls with Lilly) was now silently nibbling on a piece of toast, clinging shyly to his mother. He hardly muttered a word these days.

"Clementine you really should start eating more" Rebecca lectured, a fiery tone emerging in her voice "Carrying on like this, isn't healthy..."

"I'm fine!" Clementine snapped, slamming her fist on the table in frustration.

AJ flinched and looked on the verge of tears at Clementine's angry outburst, as the 15 year old moodily shoved her cereal to the side of the table.

"I'm done, I'm going to school" she snarled, rising in her chair and storming out into the hall, she scooped up her bag, but Rebecca followed the unruly 15 year old.

"Don't take that tone with me!" Rebecca shouted "Get back to that table missy and eat up!"

"NO!"

"I'M WARNING YOU..."

"FUCK OFF...!"

"CLEMENTINE MARSH! LANGUAGE!"

"YOUR NOT MY FUCKING MUM REBECCA!"

"CLEMEN...!"

SLAM!"

Clementine had slammed the door shut and stormed off outside towards Wellington High, from inside the hall Rebecca sighed and turned to where Luke was descending the staircase.

"She's entering the teens" Rebecca remarked "I was much worse at her age, but... we can expect hell from her for the next couple of years. Everybody goes through this phrase though" Rebecca's words were used to reassure a slightly concerned looking Luke, but he didn't look reassured in the slightest.

"I don't know Rebecca" he murmured "I'm real worried about her, she's never been like this before, ever since Sarah died she hardly sleeps, she doesn't eat..."

"She's been through a lot Luke" Rebecca replied "She lost her friend and she's entering the difficult years in her life, listen you got too much to worry about Luke. I know Clem will be fine..."

"But..." Luke piped up.

"But nothing, I've been there Luke, Have you ever been a teenage girl?"

He shook his head in defeat.

"Then trust me, I know what she's going to be like at this age" Rebecca lectured "I suppose I didn't lose a friend though in my teenage years though" she thought to herself as she looked towards the door once again. Clementine was going to be tough work indeed at her age and with her added depression, it was going to be even tougher... but they would all pull through right?

They started at a group of around 25, they'd been reduced to about 7, did they really always pull through?

Or were they simply lucky to have gotten this far?

* * *

Outside Clementine wrestled through the still, cold air of Wellington, her stomach rumbled as she walked on and she felt quite dizzy, she shook off her concerns and promised herself she would eat when she got to school. Besides she didn't need food all that much, maybe she had gotten thinner as the months went by, but she never really cared and she never really felt like eating much... it didn't stem from a desire to appear beautiful and stick thin in front of boys or potential admirers (that was the opposite of what she wanted right now) she just... didn't feel like eating. Or even brushing her teeth or washing herself sometimes, it all just felt so pointless and she felt so heavy and useless... the childhood lightness leaving her completely as she lagged (what she felt like) her heavier body around Wellington. She always felt tired, she slept in later and arose feeling constantly tired. Rebecca lectured to her that most teenagers were lazy and these signs were part of her growing up. Clementine felt like Rebecca should have stopped lecturing her, she resented it when Rebecca tried to boss her around.

Okay, maybe she should have apologised to Rebecca when she got back from school, but she sometimes felt like she couldn't control her growing and unpredictable temper sometimes and it always seemed to be the smallest things that set her off. She realised just then she usually received a lift from Luke to school, but in her anger she guessed she had walked out on him. The long walk was her only option for today, feeling even more angry at herself she kicked a nearby small stone into the road and began the walk to her school, finally reaching it some time later.

Approaching Wellington High, she walked over the freshly cut grass, she heard a bunch of rowdy boys yell over to her "HEY! CAP! HEARD YOU WERE APPLYING FOR THE SPORTS TEAM! WANNA SHARE LOCKERS WITH ME SWEETHEART!?" this was followed by turbulent laughter from the boys. Clementine simply gave them the middle finger as they "Oooooohed!" in mock shock and horror. Yet to Clementine's amusement they didn't move an inch to harass her. Clementine had a bit of reputation across Wellington High as someone not to be messed with, the last boy who tried to pull something on her had ended with more than few bruises... so despite a threat of suspension and a telling off by Luke and Rebecca, Clementine kept to her vow that if anyone approached her with the same intentions that the boy did, she would beat them senseless. Judging by her so called "death glare" she had managed to scare off most of Wellington High at the minute.

Other than a certain few.

"Hey Clem!" A sweat drenched Edward gasped, appearing directly in front of Clementine with little to no warning "Listen, the try-outs for soccer are tomorrow, don't forget to be there and remember to sign that petition they'll be advertising in the Wellington Weekly next week, rebuilding the wall is a job we should all be getting done".

"Yeah" Clementine agreed, her voice vague.

"I mean it hasn't been touched in 11 months, we need to invest in some masks or something, so people can go out there and work on it...!" Edward's passionate speech seemingly fell on flat ears with Clementine. Who simply nodded with a lack of enthusiasm, the bell rang as Clementine looked up at Edward and muttered "Um... well I better be off to class. I'll see you there Edward"

"Yeah" Edward mused brightly, he extended his arms to share a short hug with Clementine, only to discover she was already walking off.

"Oh" Edward muttered, his arms falling limply at his sides and his face burning crimson as he pretended to itch the back of his wooden brown hair.

Clementine had made a vow to senselessly beat any boy that approached her with those intentions... yet Edward had somehow managed it. Yet Edward wasn't the usual hardened bully you'd find prowling the grounds of Wellington High.

As Clementine walked on towards class, she managed to catch Scott quickly divert his eyesight from her form, he was leant against a wall, trying to look as small as possible. Bruises still littered his face from his latest beating. Usually Clementine would have moved on, but she had decided she had ignored him for long enough and she simply couldn't stay mad at him forever, even if it was just a simple word. She wanted to say something to him.

"Hey" she mumbled.

Scott looked up.

"Hey" he echoed in the same sullen tone.

Silence followed this repeated statement.

"So erm... you applied for the soccer team huh?" Scott finally asked.

"Yeah" Clementine replied.

"Hmm..." Scott hummed unable to think of anything else to say to keep this conversation going.

"I thought you'd want to join to" Clementine suggested "You were... are good at sports and stuff"

"Erm... no I'm..." Scott nearly whispered his voice dropping a few octaves "I... I don't feel like it".

His quickly stole a glance at his peers who tormented him, before gazing at the ground once again, Clementine caught this quick action and knew why Scott was so downtrodden these days.

"Scott" she finally muttered his name "If you want to join the team, join them. Don't let them stop you".

Scott mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Scott aren't you fucking tired of being pushed around?" she demanded of him "Stand up to them for once, hell you seemed good at lording over people before..."

"Shut up!" Scott snapped, a glimmer of his old persona returning "I don't need advice from little girls like you!"

"Fine!" Clementine retorted, her own temper resurfacing as she stomped on back inside "But just so you know" she told him before she departed "What the fuck are you scared of? Them beating you up again? Can't you see you've already got nothing left to lose!?"

and with that she was gone, Scott remained seething for a few minutes before he calmed down and headed towards class. Clementine's words vibrating in his mind, first words anyone had said to him in a while and it was... _"Can't you see you've already got nothing left to lose?" _which was basically calling him pathetic. He was pathetic, he was that orphaned child who survived in groups where they took him in to boss him around, he always escaped before the groups would crumble. The little bullied kid had survived when he shouldn't have... he had overcome so much to get here into Wellington and now he was going back to stage one.

His brows furrowed in anger.

That wasn't who he wanted to be.

* * *

Eddie lay silently in the double bed, eyes scrunched shut as he breathed in the perfumed air around him.

He reached out his hand to caress Violet only to find the redhead wasn't present, grunting and finally opening his drowsy eyes he looked to see that the room was empty The bearded man grunted and lifted his nude form from the bed and glanced at the clock beside the bed.

8:01

"Still an hour till work" Eddie grunted, rolling over in bed and yawning.

Him and Violet... well it had been 11 months and something was bound to happen in that time and sure enough it did. Although neither of them expected it to happen the way it did.

In the weeks following the riot, Violet threw herself into identifying who the wolf could have been. Looking through her late sister's notes on who the wolf possibly was. So far the only evidence she had managed to obtain was details of his appearance, described at around 6 foot 4, with blonde hair and light stubble, this certainly confirmed that in her eyes the wolf was certainly not her red headed 5 foot 11 brother. However these scribbled notes were not the evidence she needed to run off to the police to prove it. In fact the police were useless to her, to them and the president the wolf was a closed case. She guessed it was up to her to figure out who the wolf really was, but even then what the hell was she meant to do?

She wasn't a fighter. She had killed Father Jordan... but he wasn't exactly the fittest fiddle anyway. The Wolf she suspected was a smart, strong individual, who probably was working with even higher forces... the path she was going down was a dangerous one. So to avoid suspicion she kept her mini-investigation to herself. Regardless as the weeks flew by, her frustration grew and she gained not a shred of new information, the only thing she could think of was interviewing the people who had seen the real wolf, when he had tried (and failed) to save Ryan. No doubt looking for the cure from Ryan at the time.

The were only 7 construction workers left alive who had seen the wolf that day and all of them gave her the same answer that her sister's notes had given her, gossip had spread from her interviews and soon word got around that Violet Moore was going crazy in the wake of her brother's death and was still convinced that her brother wasn't the wolf and that she was fruitlessly searching for the real one. Yet she found a new hope amongst her helpless interviewees...

"Eddie" Violet recalled "Long time no see"

It was about a month after Nick's trial since Violet had last addressed the humorous bearded man, he had been so busy rebuilding the ruined buildings of Wellington, he completely forgot about Violet. It was all work and when his long shifts usually ended he went home, collapsed on his bed and got up early in the morning... it was exhausting work but kept their income at a high level. It got them through the house repairs, the costs of everyday living and paying for fuel for Luke's car... as Rebecca saved up the money and the months flew by Eddies work began to decrease. By the time Violet had addressed him on that Thursday afternoon, he had several hours free a day. Yet he was still covered in white dust from masonry he had been hauling earlier and now... as he sat there gobbling down his lunch and looking like a typical mess, was the time that Violet had to approach him.

"V-v-violet...!" Eddie stuttered, instantly rising to his feet, (in doing so he banged his head off a nearby platform, the dramatic irony was that his safety helmet lay next to him rather than on his head) cursing loudly and clutching his head. Violet had to chuckle into her hand, he was still the same goof-ball she had come to like very quickly in the short time they interacted before the riot.

"Ah... fuck... sorry about this...!" he grunted in pain.

"Eddie!" she exclaimed in mock shock "Swearing in front of a teacher!? Unbelievable!" she huffed. Eddie face fell for a second before he caught on with the joke and muttered "Oh... oh...I get it now"

"Yep, about time you fucking bastard" Violet replied.

"Fucking bitch remembering more than I do" Eddie retorted.

"Yeah, I remember us, bitching about those uptight parents..."

"Yeah" Eddie muttered, he met Violet's green eyes and Violet could tell he was being genuine, when his face spilt into a large smile and his mastered his massive brown puppy dog eyes face. She found it comedic how expressive Eddie's face was, as it was very easy to tell how he was feeling just judging on by his facial expressions and Violet was glad for this. She had saved him for last hoping he'd be the most helpful, every other construction worker she had spoken too, either seemed disinterested, bored, sleazy or snappy.

"I'm erm..." Eddie muttered, hating the way he could feel his cheeks burning "I'm erm... it's really nice you remembered all that. We only interacted like once before the riot... and I thought you would have forgotten all that with all the shit going down and everything that happened to you..." he trailed to an awkward halt as Violet gazed at the ground silently.

"Look Violet I'm so sorry" he rushed out "I promised myself I'd visit you after all that shit... but... but I got so busy with my group and all with work and... things just got so busy and all... I even forgot about you after the trial once again. and may I just add that thanks so much for standing up for Nick we all appreciate it, like, loads. Even if the outcome was complete bullcrap, you helped. Hell you remembered one meeting whereas I forgot it all..."

"Eddie" Violet muttered cutting off his panicked babbling "Honestly it's fine, I'm glad you remembered all that and still regard me so highly. Everyone else thinks I'm mad..."

"This is going to sound bad" Eddie muttered "But why do people think your mad...? well it's like I said... I'm erm... out of the loop..."

Violet sighed "Well, I want to know who the Wellington Wolf really is, because I know it's not my brother Eddie. There. Go on and call me mad"

Eddie simply stared, unsure of what to say, finally he seemed to mutter "Well I dunno, Trevor was an okay dude, seems a bit odd..."

"You really think so!" Violet exclaimed, practically jumping on Eddie at this small show of support.

"Yeah. Yeah it does some odd the more I actually think about it" Eddie voice grew louder and more confident, then again when a hot chick was showing interest in him, of course he was going to bend the truth a little in order to get him into her good favour, if he kept on playing his cards right maybe he'd be able to get lucky... as sleazy as it sounded that was the only thought running through his mind as he cast his eyes on Violet. This short, one off meetings seemed to be a speciality of there's, all they had to do was talk for about a minute or two and they'd be in this very friendly (crush) state. In the past and with so many other relationships Eddie had seen around him, these relationships usually developed over time after tons of bonding and talking. Usually Eddie's quickest conquests were achieved with the aid of a lot of alcohol from both flirting parties. But he and Violet had been sober during every meeting they had and had so far, sworn at each other, bitched about uptight parents, she insulted his suit and now here they were swearing at each other again...

Sounded like Eddie's dream of weird romance.

"That's great Eddie! Because I've been going around interviewing the construction workers that day when they saw the wolf try to revive Ryan" she mused "I saved the best guy for last, want to assist me with some information?"

"Gladly" Eddie replied pleasantly.

The Interview certainly helped to open Eddie's eyes even further and helped him think about something more than simply Violet's feminine assets. For instance it had completely blown over his head that the wolf had been framed as Trevor Moore, a stocky redhead who was certainly not the tall, muscular blonde man Eddie had remembered seeing. As he cast his thoughts back to that day, he described every tiny detail to Violet in order to help her with her investigation, her passion for figuring this out was contagious and soon Eddie's curiosity was aroused. The only additional helpful hint Eddie Ramos could give Violet Moore however was the Wolf's smile, he had perfect pearly white's that clamped together in an insane smile... other than that detail there was nothing else Violet knew about the wolf.

But suffice to say, Eddie started to spend more time with her after that faithful interview.

He used to pop around to her house more often, greetings of handshakes soon became hugs, it was apparent Violet was happy to have Eddie at her side as she was glad to have one person on her side in all this. and as she brainstormed there evidence so far, it was Eddie who managed to come up with the next idea "Violet, we know what this damn guy looks like" he informed her "and he matches the description of so many other tough blonde guys in Wellington, but what sets the wolf apart is that he was looking for a cure..."

"...he tried that with Ryan" Violet brainstormed, her finger bouncing off her chin, her green eyes narrowed in deep thought, as she gasped and came to another conclusion.

"and he must have achieved that" she gasped "He must have been the one who killed Oscar on top of the wall! Even the thickest idiot in Wellington knows there was something sketchy about how they died!"

"I knew... well I kind of know Oscar's group and they seem to share your opinion on the matter" Eddie said.

Violet's eyes widened in hope.

"Really!?" she inquired.

"Yeah" Eddie responded "Moved into a new house from what I've heard, but there's a guy called Tom. Works with me, keeps mostly to himself these days, but he offers the odd comment. Asked him how he was one day and said his group got a new house and they were doing okay..." Eddie trailed off there, remembering Tom's group as he thought about Oscar. In the short time he had known the immune being, he had grown to like him a lot and remembered the revulsion that swirled in his gut when hearing about Oscar's death and how quickly no one seemed to care for him, as long as the cure was now promised to the population, who needed to care? Eddie remembered being one of the only genuine mourners at his funeral, along with his group. Although no one had bothered to retrieve his body from the wall, the service itself was thoughtful of some, kind-hearted locals. All the people that turned up there (other than a select few) were not crying from grief, but from happiness now that the cure was being developed.

It stirred a barely existing anger in Eddie, even after the devastating riot they were still so many petty and fake people littered around. Eddie remembered why he bonded with the likes of Violet or Oscar in the first place. It was due to the fact they could see through all the fake bullshit that got thrown at them, Eddie preferred honest people, he didn't want to be treated lightly as some sort of idiot, he wanted to be taken seriously sometimes as well. Wyatt was always joking around with him, but Wyatt was always honest and the pair of them simply understood each other better than anyone else... Wyatt and then Oscar... why was it always the cool dude's who ended up dead? Eddie still mourned over Wyatt and got the feeling he would never truly get over his blonde friend's sudden and shocking demise on that frozen lake.

"Can you try and speak to him again?" Violet's question derailed Eddie's sad train of thought, as he blinked and muttered "Sorry, what? Speak to who?"

"That guy, Tom" Violet told him, placing an emphasis on the African american man in question "See if you can find out anything more about Ana and Oscar's location, or if they're was anyone strange following them..."

So with this task in mind Eddie ventured to Tom the following day, after some general small talk, Eddie got down to business by asking if Tom had seen anyone strange that day who had followed Ana.

"I saw a fuck ton of assholes" Tom responded "But I didn't see anyone directly following Ana, listen Eddie I had a lot on my plate that day and I can't give you all the answers you need, besides why are you asking this now?"

"A sort of mini investigation I'm conducting" Eddie replied.

"Bullshit" Tom muttered "I've seen you with that Moore girl, you're trying to find the true identity of the wolf no doubt" Tom responded, crossing his arms over his powerful chest.

"Umm... yes" Eddie admitted.

"Listen" Tom muttered "I was there that day too, I know Trevor Moore looked nothing like the supposed Wolf that I saw and the story of Ana's death is complete bullshit" Tom regarded Eddie with a scrutinising glare before he continued to speak "I know something's amiss here Eddie. But I've got a whole damn group to worry about, there's no point trying to figure this out..."

"You're just giving up on this!?" Eddie asked, clearly appalled, "What about avenging Ana and Oscar...!?"

"Don't speak to me about revenge!" Tom snapped back at Eddie, making the more laid back man jump. Tom's steaming black ore's of eyes soon found the muddy ground, as he shot daggers into it "I lost my brother that day, he was someone I never should have lost and since then... I've seen how unfair those trials were! I know with it's a fact the real wolf hasn't been caught! and I also know that the Government and the president may be behind it! But heed this warning Eddie, if they can do all of that, there is no way in hell you can beat them, you keep snooping around..." he shook his head sadly. As Eddie remembered Clementine telling the group about how Tom had killed his brother in mercy, before an angry mob could do it much more painfully.

"They've scared you into submission" Eddie found himself uttering automatically "Dude, what happened to your brother..."

"He played the game" Tom responded, his voice distant as he remembered Tim, he sighed before speaking again "He tried to help us, to get us money by getting involved with that other Moore girl, she was trying to figure out who the Wolf was as well and look what happened to both of them. They both tried playing the game against the Government and they lost" he looked at Eddie once again.

"and now I see another guy being cock-teased by another Moore girl, as the Moore girl leads him on another fruitless investigation into the Wolf's identity" Tom made his point clear as he spoke on "For your own safety and her's give this up. I support you, I'm sure all my group has your back on this, but I'm their leader. I promised them after the riot that we'd survive, that I'd keep them safe. and by keeping out of things and playing the clueless little survivors we are meant to be. We are staying alive" and with that he turned his back in a concluding manner.

"To be honest Eddie" he called back to the bearded man "I don't give a shit what happens in Wellington any more, once this place is done for, or when this cure becomes available. Me and my group are going to get the hell out of here and survive, you should consider the same thing, or at least consider joining us. Hell we need allies as Luis once seemed to lecture..." and with that Tom was gone, leaving Eddie in a demoralising silence. He went around Violet's later that day with no new leads, other than "You may have some people behind you..." which was too vague to keep her that motivated.

and that's when things went downhill for Violet.

Her investigation hit a dead end, she tried interviewing everyone and anyone who knew something about the Wolf, when Eddie finally mustered the courage to warn her of the possible danger she could have been in, for getting to curious he expected a furious response and he got one.

"For God's sake Eddie!" she snapped, growing annoyed with him for the first time "This is exactly why I'm doing this! This is meant to be a democracy! If the Government is protecting serial killers then I want to know why!"

She continued to snap at him, ignoring his advice. Finally she went onto interview the man who had apparently found Oscar's remains and brought them back to the Central Hub. Judging by his shifty eyes, mumbled words and general awkward body language Violet could tell she was being fed a fabricated story. She went home that night only to notice a stocky silhouette tailing her, she tried to walk faster but the soon she found the dark figure alone with herself in an alley. The man didn't show his face but simply pulled a knife from his pocket and silt at the air in front of his neck. He pointed at Violet before he vanished, never to be seen by Violet again. She doubted the figure she had seen was the wolf, but she now knew the truth. This had to be a cover-up, the threat was as clear as day, she had to shut up, or else she would die. She now knew the truth, that threat confirmed to her that her brother can't have been the wolf. Whoever the real wolf was being protected by the Government, he had murdered Oscar and Ana and obtained the cure. Violet still had to wonder if or how did the cult fit into all of this...

But it was clear her investigation was at an end and nothing could have depressed her more than this.

The following evening Eddie went around to visit, he grew concerned when he realised the door was locked and no one was answering. So he broke in and called Violet's name, no response. Eventually (his heart threatening to burst out of his ribcage) he entered Violet's bedroom, to find her slumped in the corner of her room, clutching a kitchen knife in her hand, with two empty bottles of wine next to her.

"Oh" she giggled in a drunken state "It's only you" and with this her body seemed to relax in relief, as Eddie approached her cautiously and muttered "Violet, you can like... put the knife down now".

To his surprise she obeyed his command.

"Are you okay?" he asked slowly throwing the knife out of the way and taking a seat next to Violet. Even in her drunken state she managed to tell him everything, about how she had threatened by the mystery man "I know... I'm a state..." she wailed, sobbing onto Eddie's shoulder, as Eddie simply sat still and continued to listen to this emotional drunk "... but I swear to you..." this was followed by a hiccup "...that I didn't dream this all up... I know what I saw was real..." she gazed down at the ground now, as Eddie felt himself wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer.

"I honestly believe you Violet, Wellington is seriously starting to sound like... like..." he couldn't finish this sentence so Violet did it for him.

"It's a fucking prison!" she bellowed "a fucking prison! None of us will ever know the truth here!" she wept on before she spoke to Eddie once again "I visited Cristina a few weeks ago, she's gone to therapy after the riot and all, but she's getting back on track with her job and all now, she should be teaching fine... whereas I've just been wasting my time on this stupid investigation... not teaching as much..."

"Hey don't say that!" Eddie exclaimed "You held your job down and you carried on this investigation when no one else would. Violet, you're brave and you... you inspired me to open my eyes to the shit going on around this town..." Eddie told her, as Violet turned warmly towards him.

"You don't think I'm crazy then?"

"I think you're probably the most sane person in this town"

This did it for Violet, she felt a warm feeling rise in her stomach, but then also up her neck. Before Eddie could even comprehend how it had happened Violet had burped and a cascade of sickly yellow vomit splashed on his clothes, and (with it still dribbling from her chin and mouth) she grabbed Eddie by the head and kissed him full on the mouth. Of course when Eddie finally got to kiss a girl it had to go down like this... him stunned in place, the taste of vomit lingered on his tongue as he felt himself began to feel queasy.

"I... I was always so glad you were there..." Violet gasped between her drunken kisses.

Nothing happened that first drunken night, other than that Violet finally apologised for her impulsive behaviour and washed her mouth out. With the pair of them now cleaned up they proceeded to make out on Violet's couch for the night, trailing their hands over each other's bodies, exploring every protruding shoulder and bone. For Eddie this is all he wanted for so long now... they didn't say an awful lot that night, fully clothed they proceeded to simply lay there tasting each other's tongue's and enjoying the new feeling of having a new lover in their arms.

and since that day, it had been history.

Eddie had suggested Violet come live with them, seeing as she lived alone in a large house with no company she had considered this offer, however her large house also gave the young couple much needed privacy that they certainly wouldn't get in Eddie's house. As well as this the investigation drew to a halt, what happened with the threatening stalker stayed between Violet and Eddie. Eddie considered Tom's words and he and Violet were now playing the good little clueless survivors they were meant to be, yet just because the investigation had seemingly drew to a halt, it wasn't over... for good.

Although she couldn't interview anyone in public anymore, she managed to obtain information in secret, gathering reports from the Domesday report she had identified the remaining 109 men in Wellington who matched the description of the wolf. With blonde hair and strong builds, but he may have dyed his hair... other than that there was the tooth clue... some of the men on the grainy photos in the 11 month old report had rotting teeth, or in general bad teeth. Using this Violet narrowed down her search to 78.

78 people, somewhere in that maze of name's was the identity of the Wellington Wolf.

Ethan Hart was the man she was looking for, she just didn't know it yet. His name was with the 78 suspects, the president had been smart to include Ethan Hart in the Domesday report. So if the Wolf succeeded in his mission he would be able to settle into ordinary life without anyone getting suspicious of a man suddenly appearing on records and files after the riot. His name was on the Domesday report, although his record was clear of crimes. Yet to Violet, crimes or none crimes didn't matter, out of these 78 the wolf could have been anyone with any sort of record.

So Violet agonised over the names day after day, making no progress. But she knew there had to be a breakthrough sooner rather than later, while Eddie lay in bed that morning, still an hour towards work, smiling to himself.

After all the destruction of the riot, he guessed that for once, things had turned out alright for him.

* * *

Luke wasn't in the best of moods that morning as he arrived in the fields that morning, still thinking about Clementine's argument with Rebecca, then again news of Molly getting better was a plus point, so as he started to harvest crops he merrily announced to Gertrude "Morning"

The elderly woman's face spilt into a large smile upon seeing Luke once again, since the riot she had to move to a different house so she wasn't as visited by Luke's group as often as before. But she still saw him at work and still accepted a lift back from him on certain days. Sometimes Gertrude would speak to Clementine too, but she noticed the girl was more silent and sullen in the wake of Sarah's death, Gertrude's guilt since that day had stuck with her for a while, her new house was filled with her late husband's possessions she had saved from the fire... but she was no longer surrounded by the people she knew she had grown to care about. It got rather depressing for her at times.

"Morning" she responded to Luke "How's Molly holding up?"

"Great" Luke mused "She should be back working soon"

"That poor blind girl" Gertrude muttered "Be sure to send her my love Luke"

"Don't I always!?" he shouted back.

Gertrude smiled, well he guessed that was true, that was before the old woman heard some laughter in the distance, her smile died on her face. As her and Luke's new found friend and worker approached them with a neutral look on his face.

"They takin' the piss out of you again Ethan?" Luke inquired, glaring at the rowdy men behind the blonde haired man.

"Oh no..." Ethan Hart responded with the ghost of a smile.

_"...Everything is just fine"_

* * *

Stephanie and the President gazed at the syringe filled with clear liquid in front of them.

"From Oscar's brain stems, we managed to obtain five of these" a scientist informed the president, from where he was seated in his wheelchair, the president merely laughed and muttered "Well? Why the grim faces!?"

"Well... because of..." Stephanie began to mutter.

"Because of Plan X?" The president cut her off with, she slowly nodded as the President merely laughed merrily once again "We all knew this was coming, we knew we would only get five syringes out of him, now it's time to multiply, divide, extract brains and provide for the rest of Wellington".

There was an uncomfortable silence around the room.

"Gather the prisoners, any elderly folks with health defects, anyone... useless" the president snarled, he was muttering this to the Trevor's Moore's replacement as the head of the chief of police nodded back at him.

"Our population stands at 1167 last time I checked" The president muttered "Each immune survivor is five cures, so we need approximately 234 people to die in order to obtain enough cures for the rest of us and we kept prisoners alive, kept suicide watch and we still, only have 87 in total?"

The chief of police nodded.

"Pathetic" their leader uttered "Now we have to stain our hands with innocent blood, but you know what? Fuck it" The president spat, his black eyes finding the window which showed the town of Wellington laid out below him.

"We might be the only people on earth with this cure, we could be the last of humanity!" The president muttered, a dreamy look spreading across his face.

_"and I'd be willing to do fucking anything and everything, to save the human race" _


	16. The Falling Leaves

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I haven't been feeling well lately, however I'm in recovery now so onto next chapter! **

**Shattering Soul- Your welcome, glad you liked seeing Clem's changes and it did feel weird having her swear so often but I had to remind myself Clem's 15 now so I tried making her act a bit more like Ellie from the Last of us, a realistic teenage character although I won't have Clem swear as much as Ellie. I thought of Warren too as I wrote Edward, as I'm writing a life is strange fic alongside this one it's easy to mingle certain aspects of characters together. and thanks for the advice on the maths thing about dividing by 6 rather than 5, I'll explain it this chapter (if it wasn't for you and others pointing out so many things I missed, this fic would be full of plot holes, so once again thank you) and finally your theory... yep something is up and I won't spoil anything but seeing as this is the final fic the time travel will play a massive role.**

**All roads lead here, the second chance saga didn't feel finished to me at the end of NGB, because of the cult set up and all the threats against Howe's... so the SOW followed and then GTR which followed the cult in detail. How the group in NGB who were all against Carver and all they were all there to support each other, I wanted to show them divided, the darker aspects of their personalities, in GTR and how this would ultimately lead to most of their deaths. Carver felt a bit one-dimensional to me in NGB so I wanted to show how the good guys could become just as evil as him. and during this time the actual power itself has received more attention as the series as gone on.**

**Finally RTR is set to wrap up every loose end and bring an end to many character arcs. Chapter 51 of GTR seemed like a good place to end the series, but something still didn't feel complete about it so I had to carry on... and now hopefully you guys enjoy it!**

**ffapathy- glad your enjoying the series and I love the fact you like the Luke-Molly pairing as it is a blast to write, also loving your theories on the nature of the second chance itself and Edward reminds Shatteringsoul of Warren and now reminds you of Sarah, I'm glad Micidionalboss gave me such a great OC to work with, one I can't see turning on the main group like so many OC's have done. I loved your analysis of the 2000 days group as we'll catch up with them a lot more this chapter. I can say Wilbert, Terri and Tom have very polarized views, Tom wants to run like the lodge group in GTR but at least his honest with you on his intentions. Wilbert will always be Wilbert and Terri... vengeance is an understatement. and finally for Stef, she's always been a complex character and her true intentions remain to be seen.**

**Kristal Dynamite- Thank you for reviewing once again and I'm glad your loving blind bad ass Molly, as I can imagine her assassins creed style jumping across buildings, somehow relying on her other senses to survive, will that actually happen? It remains to be seen. Eddie and Violet relationship... yep it was put together in one chapter and even too me it seems perfect in places, but hell Eddie's survived so much and come so far. I thought I'd give the guy a lady friend considering how far he has come without one, I'll try and develop it further as the chapters go on, but a lot is going on at the minute... also thank you Chameishida for reviewing once again and I'm liking your theories but only time will tell if you are right...**

**and finally thanks to everyone else for your reviews and I noticed Scott is getting some recognition so thank you once again AquaDestinysEmbrace for giving me such a great character to work with. and as fun as it has been writing in Wellington and it's story-lines and problems, soon I imagine this arc will be complete (three guesses for which chapter the next big event occurs) but will Wellington truly fall? Or will something else occur? So this fic will truly be kicking off within a few chapters.**

**For now enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

_"It's appears to be going airborne..."_

_"It's a flu! A flaming bloody flu! Pure and simple!" _

_"A flu that spreads this fast?"_

_"Yes, flu can spread this fast when you lack the meds to treat it!" _

_"But you heard what that Spanish lady said, they used up all of their meds to deal with the first couple of infected and they didn't respond to treatment" _

_"Well then it's a bad strain of flu" _

_"I highly doubt that"_

_The older woman sighed and ran her wrinkled fingers through her thin, greying hairs, the young blonde man in front of her was peering into the lodge they had found on this mountainside, the orange aura it emitted from it's windows and cracks in the doors and wood made it seem like a cosy destination to avoid the harsh, high altitude environment around them. Yet inside of the illusion of the cosy looking lodge lay a different scene entirely. _

_The man's grey eyes surfed over those infected with this "flu" many of them the elderly and the children lay on the spot, their large bulging eyes reminded the man of a dying fish, desperately gulping for water to fill it's gills. Many of the victims bled from their noses and mouths, while some lay unmoving under ragged blankets. They had been shot in the head to prevent reanimation, no doubt everyone still alive in this hell-hole of a world knew that basic rule. Anyone that died would come back, regardless of the cause of death._

_"Poor kids" was all the older woman could say. Unlike the man's iron grey, steely gaze, her blue one was more soft and sympathetic. She eventually tore her eyes away from the dying children that reminded her so much of the children she lost. Hugging herself and adjusting her gun on her shoulder and the food supplies slung across her back, the woman finally looked up once again to find her companion still staring into the lodge. As if fascinated by the spectacle of the mass death and suffering laid out in front of him._

_"Can we go now?" she asked rudely of him (she couldn't help it, but she didn't want to stick around to get this "flu" or to be shot at by the healthier members of that lodge group)_

_The man eventually turned to face her._

_"It must be a weak airborne strain" he concluded "Able to spread fast, but so far unable to infect everyone. It might grow stronger and it might grow weaker, but it is a cause for concern"._

_"Don't say things like that" the woman snapped "We already have to deal with not being bitten, if it goes airborne we might as well pop a bullet in our skulls right now"._

_The man looked at her, seemingly puzzled by her suggestion of suicide, it was like he was unable to contemplate such a thing. Finally he seemed to snap out of his sense of confusion and muttered "Let's go then. We've seen all we need to have seen here" and to older woman's relief, the blonde man proceeded to stomp over the uneven, rocky terrain around them. As that stinking death-trap of that cosy lodge grew forever smaller within their line of vision._

_"You've gone quiet Jena" the man observed, after around 10 minutes of them navigating their way through meandering mountain paths._

_"It's just... what the hell is this world coming too?" she asked of him as she continued to trek onwards "I mean... the walkers are one thing, but seeing things like that..." she sighed and shuddered. _

_"It's the third site we've come across like that" the blonde man reminded her "I know, all evidence is starting to point that these epidemics show a growth in the walker virus, and it seems to be getting slowly stronger but..."_

_"Not that!" the woman snarled, regaining herself she turned to face the emotionless man once again "I don't care if it's airborne or not Viktor, I personally don't think it is, what I care about is seeing all that innocence, all those children, just... dying. It makes you wonder what the point of going on really is" she sighed once again and proceeded to walk onwards._

_"There is always a point to carry on, when their is a mission to complete" Viktor told her, when they had first met the man had quickly ushered out that his name was "Viktor" but after some interrogation. Jena learnt this was merely a cover name and that her mysterious companion was working on saving as many people as he could, in a mysterious mission that he couldn't disclose any details of. Judging by his size, build and skills it was clear he was once working with the army, CIS or some other secret service. But she never heard him reporting back to them... which left the older woman to wonder, why did the young man work on so tirelessly to carry on?_

_Did he actually contact his bosses, when she was asleep? It didn't seem like it, he replied that he didn't, but didn't say much else and Jena never caught him speaking to anyone while she pretended to sleep. That left a second option, if all of his bosses were dead and his organisation and mission no longer had any meaning then why the hell was carrying on with it? Was his will really that strong? Was he that determined to finish whatever mission he had started? Or there was the third, chilling option that "Viktor" may not have harmed her, but was actually insane. _

_Why else did he act so apathetic and emotionless, the lodge back there being a prime example of how human suffering and loss seemed to bounce off the man like projected tennis balls bounced off sturdy walls. He always spoke in terms of it being a mission and never once, had Jena ever heard him express any emotions of fear, embarrassment or sorrow._

_"You worry me sometimes Viktor" she told him, replying to his comment about carrying on, because it was a "mission"._

_"I'm sure your worrying will cease when we reach Wellington" Viktor replied "It's meant to be safer there and..."_

_"Yeah, yeah I know" Jena cut through his formal talk as she carried on, yet she had to tell Viktor one thing._

_"You know, anyone would think your an emotionless monster Viktor, but... I know there's something good in you, I can just tell. It would be nice to see your good side more often though"_

_and with that confession she trudged onwards, leaving him standing there... for the first time in a very long time he felt a flicker of emotion contort his facial features into a small grin. _

* * *

"ETHAN!"

Being dragged out of memory lane, Ethan was once again reminded of his late ex-companion as he gazed at where a similar looking older woman (Gertrude) was trying to uproot a large crop, struggling with this difficult task she must have called on a daydreaming Ethan to help her.

"Do you need help with that?" Ethan asked.

"It would be nice" Gertrude panted, with a strained smile highlighting her features, a smile which reminded Ethan Hart of his old companion Jena. Despite Jena and Getrude's advanced ages they had a fire in their eyes that Ethan had to admire, helping Gertrude with her current fight of pulling this dammed plant out of the ground, Ethan wrapped his fingers around the crop and pulled... almost instantly the crop was pulled from the fertile soil, it roots dangling a few feet above the ground it was previously leeching out of.

"I wish my boys were as strong as you" Gertrude told him, as she helped him set the crop down on a nearby cart, where a dozen other crops also lay, the cart being how many sources of food were transported to the main area of town in Wellington. The closer to the centre of Wellington you were, the more busy it was, especially since the riot and the threat of the airborne virus, encroaching upon them all. The population had stuffed itself as close to the centre of the oval shape of Wellington's walls as they could physically get, the outer bands of urban areas in Wellington were beginning to look like ghost towns, with weeds starting to burst through gravel and roots slowly cracking through still standing structures. Ethan was thinking about all of this as he stared at the cart that slowly began to move through the crop fields and back towards Wellington, or what was left of it.

All of that destruction, mostly because of him.

He was the original Wellington Wolf, he was the serial killer that originally sent Wellington into decline, this decline led to tensions rising, crimes... and the Domesday report listed these crimes... this played a part in the riot that followed and accounted for nearly 3,000 people losing their lives. Did Ethan feel guilt or regret at this?

No.

He could have sat there, in his new house. Using the identity of Ethan Hart, Ethan Hart was the locked up and forgotten about and slightly mentally unstable son, of a couple (also with the last name Hart) who were killed in the riot. No one asked any questions, a lot of people who knew the couple must have been dead by now, he had slipped into Wellington easily, the identity of the Wellington Wolf erased... his crimes apparently erased too. The President ordered him to live an ordinary life and that's what he did.

Gaining a job harvesting crops, he went home, listened to music, watched films, spoke to some of the friends he had made. Living normally was strange but something he slipped into easily. To anyone this would make a classic villain, an evil, emotionless murder putting on the façade of a normal guy. But Ethan didn't sit there, day after day and feel guilt at what he had done, about killing Oscar to gain the cure, about the current diminished state of Wellington. No, Ethan sat there and felt curious.

Curiosity... at why people would do such horrible things to one another? He had done horrible things, but killed without malice and only putting on the effect of malice while playing the part of Trevor.

Ethan couldn't dwell on such things, he was on a mission to save as many people as he could, it was more of a duty to save people than affection for them. He wondered every day when the cure was going to come about, he was tempted to try and contact the president once again. He hadn't spoken to the wheelchair bound man since that meeting 11 months ago, but he was certain the cure would be about soon and once it did come around, the wolf knew the purge of the remaining population would occur. To make more cures for everyone... more people would have die.

Not that it bothered Ethan, of course.

But (as always) he was curious to see the reaction of the remaining populace.

All his life, he had been different, the signalled out brother, the loner, hanging on the skirmishes of laughing groups, crying, laughter, arguing and kissing, all human responses to human emotions they felt, surely more of that would occur in a short time span and he would be watching. Always on the outside, unable to feel a single thing, well he rarely ever felt such things.

"Hey" came a fellow voice.

Ethan snapped out of his train of thought, his eyes gazing on the man next to him.

"Hi, Luke need help with the crops?" was the mandatory question that spewed out of Ethan's mouth, seeing the amount of crops Luke was carrying on his shoulder.

"I'm fine" Luke replied (Ethan noticed he said this a lot) Luke went to dump the crops on an freshly arrived awaiting cart. As Ethan gazed at his progress he became aware of someone blocking his view.

"Hey Ethan" came a burly man's voice near to his ear "How's about you come out with us tonight? Try some of your best pick up lines on the ladies?"

"I'm unavailable tonight" Ethan responded curtly "and you know my pick-up lines. To get you to leave me alone, as I'm trying to concentrate on my work. Shall I repeat them too you? as 87 per cent of the times we have encountered it seems to draw you away"

"Go on" the man urged him.

"My pick up line" Ethan breathed and ploughed into his speech "Hi, I'm visually attracted to you, would you be kind enough to have intercourse with me in the hopes of both our joint pleasures and possible chance at impregnation?"

The man burst into a fit of crude, barking laughs, around him in the fields his friends emitted similar ringing laughs (obviously overhearing the conversation) as the man proceeded back to him, tears of mirth spilling from his eyes.

"He actually calculated the percentage of times you met!"

"and the times you left him alone!"

"Awww... what a poor, lonely, little boy...!"

"What a freak"

"You shouldn't let them make fun of you Ethan" Gertrude sharp voice cut across the loud voices of Ethan's apparent tormentors, if Ethan could feel afraid or angry of them. But like so many things, these men and women who would acted rudely towards him did not faze him in the slightest. and that wasn't in a "I'm fine but deep down I'm hurting" kind of way. Ethan would generally forget about such encounters within minutes.

"It really doesn't bother me" Ethan replied, continuing with his work.

Luke had silently returned and witnessed the scene, he and Gertrude looked at each other and merely shrugged their shoulders. Ethan was an oddball, everybody knew that, nicknamed the "Human Robot" by some of the others. It was easy to see why his parents would want to keep him inside owing to his odd nature, maybe the way they'd gone around it was wrong though, as Luke, Gertrude and many others correctly assumed that Ethan was far from normal.

They all made the wrong assumption however, that Ethan was harmless.

* * *

Stephanie zipped up her purple coat and managed to get to her shaky feet, the president's personalised double bed felt so comfortable, warm and inviting but she knew everything about lying in it, was the polar opposite to "warm" and "comfortable". Sighing to herself, she proceeded towards the door, that was before it opened itself. The President had forcefully rammed his wheelchair into the wooden thing, without a care in the world he proceeded to pull himself into the room, upon spotting Stephanie, he looked up at her, but didn't say a word.

"What's a matter Alfred?" she asked, knowing the use of his first name cemented their "bond".

"Those fucking liberals" he spat, Stephanie knew he was in a bad mood judging by his red face and silence, usually the president would not shut up talking (or talking over everybody else for that matter). Stephanie had learnt to simply nod at everything he said and agree with them. Those that didn't agree with him, ended up being "fired" and losing a substantial amount of income. Fired from what? The president and his merry men had a service of beautiful women at their disposal, however only a few of these women rose to the very top of Wellington's social circles. Stephanie being one of them...

As soon as the riot died down the raven haired woman, left that house and the group behind. She was selfish to leave Lilly and Sarah and she was being selfish then, but she simply couldn't live in that house anymore, not with the ghosts of Lilly and Sarah already haunting her and with Nick gone and imprisoned she couldn't bear to visit him either, her family was gone, the thing that was keeping her attached to the group was gone and now... she had to go too.

She had to keep herself occupied doing something, it was very easy for an attractive woman like herself to soon find employment in the surviving, seedier clubs within Wellington. However she was there for a much shorter time than she expected, when one of the President's right hand men caught her eye, he certainly liked the "services" she provided and her income rose to greater levels. She was able to move in with him, into his big house where everything was meant to be comfortable and where she was meant to be happy.

But the man was just like Alfred Schulz right now, both men had the material comforts, nice beds, big houses, polished antiques, stacks of dollars (or screws in the case) at their disposal. Stephanie would be invited along to social gatherings of the elite (in other words, several parties) and she was meant to enjoy her new found life and wealth. But she couldn't, in a way this was even worse than prison for her.

Being forced to spend all day indoors, if she disobeyed, she remembered the man telling her he had plenty of other poorer woman on the side, who would die to be in Stephanie's position. So the blue eyed bombshell kept inside and played the trophy wife, she may as well have been an antique to look at herself "Ooh look it's shiny/pretty!"

"Oh look at that none moving object!"

"It must cost a lot"

Really what was the difference? She wasn't a human being, but a piece of property, she remembered the words that Carver had spat at her all those years ago...

_"YOU HAVE A DUTY!" _

Those were the words that made her feel like a piece of meat and back then she considered leaving Howe's and looking back if she hadn't grown attached to Nick or Lilly she wondered where she would be now. If she thought like this a year ago, where she was safe in the arms of Nick and a mother to Lilly, she'd brush off such thoughts and come to the conclusion she would have died and her own, pessimistic, way of thinking was a grave mistake. However now she knew she was right when she sat in that chair outside of Howe's...

If she had just left then... breezed off into the awaiting forest, alone and as free as a bird than maybe things would have turned out different. Maybe the truck wouldn't have crashed, maybe more of the group would have got to Wellington. Lilly could have still had her real parents, Nick could have fallen for another girl, a nicer one, he would have never grown to like or feel any attachment towards Stephanie and she could be either dead (and not living through this hell at all) or actually alive. A lone survivor travelling onwards by herself, or maybe with a group, maybe there was another community out there which already had a cure... maybe there was a walker free area where she wouldn't have to worry about the airborne strain of the virus... either way it was safe to say (looking at President Schulz now) that she regretted everything she had done up to this point.

So in a way, being forced to stay inside and becoming nothing more than a sex toy, was her way of punishing herself. Nick was imprisoned and she deserved the same fate too, she was just as much to blame for Lilly's and Sarah's deaths as he was. Yet it came to a point (days before Nick's trial) where she couldn't take it anymore. The only personal object she had left with her was her aged guitar, the man she lived with hated the sound of the guitar and forbid her to play it. But he was out of the house... so she allowed herself to play the instrument she hadn't played in nearly a year, as she hummed under her breath an old tune that she knew quite well...

_"I'm not saying that..."_

She began to feel the tears slide down her face.

_"...I want to go back" _

Sniffing to herself, she wept as continued to play.

_"The salty seas, behind the eyes"_

What the hell had her life sunk too?

_and it's the tears"_

This guitar... it was the one thing that made her more than just a pretty face.

_"that come and make me cry"_

Her group, her real friends, they also made her more than just a pretty face.

_"the falling leaf that never tries to hold on to what..."_

She realised then, that she was that leaf.

_"...keeps it alive" _

That's when she started to send her money back to her old group, that's when she decided to attend Nick's trial, however owing to her unruly behaviour the man soon got rid of her. But Stephanie found herself fighting harder than she had ever done before, maybe she couldn't be around the group anymore but she could help them. and after being dumped she got off her anti-social ass and played the seductive charmer to Wellington's richest men, she moved from house to house, the nameless men, the same boring high life, surrounded by false people and false promises and she played that game. In a strange way knowing she was doing something good for her group was the one thing that motivated her to keep on going.

and then she caught the president's eye himself.

She had long since established that the cult may have been a bunch of elitist assholes, but the minority of the population who became the next gang of elitists were virtually carbon copies of the cult. Only different in the fact they weren't as murderous and didn't spy on people, nor did they shoot at people in the past or wear walker skins. But apart from all that, they were virtually the same type of assholes. Who thought they were better than everyone else, when they were pretty awful themselves. Stephanie had also known that the president wasn't the wheelchair bound saint he paraded himself to be. According to many close to him, he was an insufferable, arrogant, little shit who listened to no opinion than the one's that suited him. However because he had money and the majority of the public's unwavering support, he had his followers and was in an unmoveable position.

Apparently Stephanie looked a hell of a lot like his ex-wife Adrienne, and to try and keep her beloved memory alive he was the one who ended up becoming Stephanie's next client. She found out she didn't need to do a great deal to please the president, merely listen to his opinion and nod, spread her legs whenever he ordered her too. (However one precaution Stephanie always took was not to get herself pregnant, she couldn't go through all of that again) this made the president increasingly furious as he made it very apparent to Stephanie that he wanted a child. With her/Adrienne and Stephanie knew that eventually that she would have to cave into his demands or suffer a transfer into a lower position. She was the right hand woman to the president of Wellington, she was at the peak of her power.

and she could do good things with her power.

For instance when the president learnt that the surviving Moore triplet, was asking to many questions about the identity of the wolf. He ordered a hit-man to kill her, however Stephanie persuaded him to only send a warning to Violet. She had to make a bargain however, none protective sex for Violet's life, in which she had to comply too, thankfully she didn't get pregnant from this encounter. She also knew that Eddie and Violet had began a relationship soon after Violet's threatening encounter, maybe one day if she ever reunited with the group Eddie would thank her for it.

But that episode also made Stephanie more curious.

Why did he want Violet dead for asking about the wolf? The Wellington Wolf was Trevor Moore, that was a very clearly established fact for everyone. But the president acted like a sour child when Stephanie even dared to venture further on the topic, telling her to shut up and that the wolf was as good as dead and that Violet was promoting "dangerous propaganda" that could turn the population against him. But the only thing Violet had done was somehow increase support for the president as the universal view that she was now somewhat grief stricken and crazy at her brother's death and the true revelation of what he really was, had driven her to such a state.

So unbeknownst to Eddie and Violet, the person closest to the president was also joining in their secretive investigation, yet to their unknown disappointment she came no closer on the true identity of the Wellington Wolf than they did. After a while she even put it down to her paranoid imagination playing tricks on her, and that Schulz was simply a highly tempered individual and she finally stopped assuming and focused on keeping him happy.

"Hmm... what have the damn liberals done now?" Stephanie asked of him, dragging herself back to present day, where she faced her furious "lover" as he continued to breathe heavily. Stephanie could almost envision the steam pouring out of his ears as he began to speak up...

"They all think I got the fuckin' number wrong" he snarled "234 people need to die to get that cure! and then they started pointing out to me... fucking smart assholes, thinking they know algebra and shit..."

As he ranted on, Stephanie knew she had to absorb his hatred and rage like a sponge as he wouldn't dare air his honest views, in front of the respected group of doctors and scientists he had assembled.

"...1167 divided by 5! It's simple enough... and yeah maybe I should have divided it by 6! Five people get the cure and one person dies for it! But dividing 1167 by 6 makes... how much?" he inquired of Stephanie.

"Erm..." Stephanie hummed surprised by the sudden question, she hadn't been paying him much attention.

"Well I know it's less than 234!" the president raged on "But they're not thinkin' about the future, we'll have spare cures at the ready for the future generation, and when the rest of us get old we can donate the cure by using our brain stems...it will be a constant plan to secure the future of the human race..."

"Yeah, that is actually an amazing plan Alfred" Stephanie muttered in encouragement, the man's temper seemed to deflate as he looked at Stephanie with misty eyes. His hands clamped themselves around Stephanie's hips as he leaned his head forward and murmured to her...

"We'll have a cure at the ready for our baby Adrienne, I was thinking about that when I got angry..."

"That's so sweet honey..."

"Adrienne..." the president purred.

"Alfred... I need to go for a walk"

"You had to mention walking to me, didn't you?"

Stephanie had to giggle at this, even if Schulz was a complete asshole, she was ashamed to say that sometimes he did have a strange ability to make her laugh. Maybe these were glimpses of the man he once was, before he became what Stephanie could only describe as William Carver within a wheelchair, maybe he was less of an ass to people's faces and didn't outright murder members of the group he was leading. But everything else was the same, the fact he was willing to let so many people die (more than was necessary) to apparently save everybody. How (like Carver) he was a man that must have started of with so many morales intact only to have them slowly eroded over the course of apocalypse.

"I'll be back in an hour or two Alfred" Stephanie told him, in all honesty she needed space.

"Take your sweet ass time" the president told her, as she departed from the room. The president was left in place, still staring at the door that Stephanie had walked out of.

"God, she is so fucking beautiful" the president thought to himself, finally rolling himself towards his bed, once he had snapped out of his dazed stupor. He thought about her... she was so much like his late wife. Thinking of her made him look down to his useless legs, he had lost the ability to walk to try and save her and he had still failed.

So now, he was more than willing to lose so much more than legs to save as many people as he could.

To save everyone, required a much greater sacrifice, it required him to be this way, to be this cruel and harsh towards people, all while he had to maintain this image of being a kind leader for as long as possible, so he could continue to lead everyone in this town on the right road and ensure their survival.

* * *

It happened as Stephanie was walking along.

She was considered the group she once had as friends, rather than being stuck with Alfred Schulz, a clone of Carver and Vince, men simply gone to ruin and the world was full of them. Starting with Stan, then Carver, Vince, even if Kenny did get redemption in the end, he went to ruin when he shot Clementine. That stranger who was the leader of the cult, the cult themselves, the rioters, Trevor Moore who was the Wellington Wolf (or the real Wellington Wolf if Trevor really wasn't the wolf himself) and now President Schulz and with Nick in jail, maybe then man she loved was gone as well...

She hugged herself, walking past a row of trees on the street, her thoughts locked upon Nick. She remembered first seeing him when he, his mother and his uncle were escorted into Howe's by a much more jolly Carver, how his awkward posture and bright eyes instantly caught her interest, as she looked a bit like her former band mate she had a crush on. She offered him a small smile, in which he didn't see, she was merely an unknown guard, patrolling on top of the shelves. Soon after they arrived things got more tension fuelled, Luke and Carver fought and his group was gone and with Shel and Becca arriving at the store, Stephanie pushed that slightly attractive guy she had only seen a few times at the very back of her mind.

It was only after she'd been through hell with Stan and dealing with Shel's death that he briefly reappeared in Carver's office, they barely knew each other but Stephanie knew his face and name and henceforth when she warmly responded she was "glad to see him" once again, she meant it. It was no declaration of love right there and then, but it was a tiny, tiny, ray of light in all the bleakness and she was glad to have it. Even if she kept her distance months afterwards, after Eddie's awry prank brought her and Nick together, they became inseparable and one thing lead to another in the wilderness and... they were together. (Maybe saving Violet's life had brought Eddie and Violet together, the way that Eddie had brought Nick and Stephanie together, call it a strange sort of having your back thing).

But she had grown to love Nick's vulnerability and now she could do nothing to help him... nothing. The president allowed her to send checks back to her old group, but if she got involved in anything involving her ex-boyfriend then the president would have her dismissed and him executed instantly. The president was all for keeping prisoners alive (except for the few he foolishly sent to death, in order to increase his popularity) Nick was a marked man from day one. and now Plan X was coming about, it gave the president a perfect excuse to kill him once and for all. He expected Stephanie to speak up... to protest. But she didn't, she was meant to be over him. She was meant to love the president and not give a shit about Nick dying in a cell...

But, she found out that she did.

That's why she needed this walk, to get away from that monster... who was going to kill Nick.

But before hell consumed her, she had to appericate and thank all of her group for the good times she had with them. Luke was the driving force for getting them here, Nick was too thank for being the love of her life, Molly for providing comic relief along with Eddie who also helped set her up with Nick originally. Rebecca for caring for them all, Bonnie for looking out for her, Kenny for the sacrifice he made, Mike's sacrifice, Lilly and Sarah for being the best adopted daughters she could have ever asked for... and if she thought really hard about it...

Clementine. That little girl was to thank for all of this, for giving them all this second chance in the first place and helping them live an enjoyable life. For 2 whole years they had achieved that, and in those moments Stephanie would remember. So, in those moments she appreciated having Clementine with her old group more than she had ever done before...

and then it happened.

_Stephanie blinked and suddenly, she wasn't in the street anymore, but just outside of Howe's... she was on the ground as she looked back at the store. Dozens of walkers leaked out and in of the place, they were everywhere. Stephanie went to say "What?" but found out her lips didn't move. Panicking she looked down and tried to move her bloody hands, but they remained planted on the dirty gravel of the car park below her. She felt herself panic... she couldn't move or speak in her own skin! What the hell was this! Some hyper realistic dream or something! But judging by the way every sense in her body reacted and tingled to the environment around her, she simply knew this couldn't be a dream... _

_Her stomach... her stomach was hurting so bad, blood seemed to be pouring from it, as she was aware of herself, trying to drag herself forward into the forest surrounding Howe's... but it was no use, with walkers above her, behind her, directly in front of her... she had to question how she had gotten out here and this far at all._

_Because in the next second about 10 walkers fell on her and instantly began to bite into every part of her body... her neck, arms, legs, stomach, back... all of the skin on the limbs cracked in seconds, as teeth and hands began to pull organs out of her body. In blinding agony Stephanie could only scream into the dark night above, praying for this nightmare to end..._

_and it did._

_The pain was gone and it was then Stephanie realised she usually had the recurring dream in which she woke up with a sweat and an increased heartbeat, but could never remembered the dream in detail at all. Now she had just received such a vividly vision of her recurring dream..._

She blinked again to find herself back in the street, leant against a tree. The cold November air made her shiver as she hugged herself and thought about what the hell she had just experienced. Was that seeing her own death? Seeing her own death in some sort of past or future life... all this time travel and shit, did what she just see reflect her gory demise in a world where Clementine or Luke didn't change the outcome?

As she hugged herself she watched as a falling leaf, slowly swayed in the wind. It passed directly by her nose during it's descent, before it gently hit the ground, along with the other brownish, orange and curled up leaves that lay dead on the pavement. Stephanie looked down at the dead leaves before she proceeded to move onwards, getting a very bad omen by seeing a simple leaf fall to the ground and join it's other dead counterparts.

As she walked on she noticed the police banging on the door to a nearby house, Stephanie knew Plan X was beginning and that whichever elderly, disabled or "useless" person lived in that house was going to be one of the 234 newly deceased, all of them... they would simply be falling leaves in the wind.

Stephanie moved onwards as she always did, trying now (harder than ever) not to think about a life that could have been.

* * *

"Are you two going to grow a set of balls already?"

"It was Luis idea!"

"Was not!"

"My granddaddy will kill me if he finds out..."

"No your granddaddy will be proud, because remember JJ you can't do anything wrong in his eyes. Whereas me..."

"Oh come on Luis! You musta done this stuff before!"

"How many times do I have to tell you!" Luis shouted "I was 13 when this shit started, I wasn't visiting strip clubs then and between dealing with walkers and your granddad I haven't exactly had time to pick up bitches...!"

"But come on! You must of...!"

Terri tuned out of Luis and JJ's petty argument, the pair of them had been daring each other for a year to grow a set of balls and go to the local strip club down-town, it must have started a few weeks after the riot and when the hatred to their group had died down. The days grew long and boring with no school on, so Luis, Terri and JJ began to hang out and gaze at the sky or find typical teenage spots to hang out and chat, or simply talk about the remaining townsfolk.

"I declare this a truce!" Luis shouted as Terri, himself and JJ put their hands together "Whatever happens from this day forward, were a group now! Whatever we did in the past don't matter. But like Tom said were reunited now against Wellington and when it's time to leave, we will stick together!".

This truce and Luis' passionate words were much needed, considering everything they needed putting behind them, such as Terri allowing Luis to almost march off to his death, Luis cutting up cultists like meat with a chainsaw. Terri blackmailing JJ, and JJ/TT's threats to her. TT's emerging persona in general and what he did during the riot, Terri being Terri and killing people without mercy, her grief at Brandon's death and all the deaths they had suffered in their small group. The three teenagers needed to put it behind them and try and start afresh.

Which was a little difficult considering Terri had already murdered 12 people.

She quite liked the nickname "Cut Throat Cub" it didn't have the same impact as "Wellington Wolf" but to be honoured in his shadow is all that Terri was hoping to achieve. Over the course of 12 months not many people got away with murdering 12 people and appearing completely innocent in front of everybody and not even those that knew her best suspected a single thing. Even Luis or Tom who were the sharpest tools in her group had somehow failed to notice how Brandon's death could have directly been involved with the headmaster and his seven friends. and that one by one they were being murdered, when a vengeful sister could have served as the perfect suspect. But no, no one cared, the police were too busy trying to stop murder rather than solve it and a lot of attention (and forensics) were spent on developing that cure.

How many times had she lied? Saying she was going on a walk and then meeting one of the men she had contacted in the woods, they were expecting a cheap and satisfying time, what they got was a knife to the neck and minutes in agony. As Terri relished at their pitiful screams and pathetic whimpering. Not one of them confessed their crimes in death, simply begging her to stop and pleading for their own pathetic lives... scum. Pure scum the lot of them were, her brother was dead because of them. Brandon was worth 100 of these worthless excuses of human beings, who were always looking out for themselves. Whereas even in his last moments Brandon was always thinking of her and her safety...

After everything she had been through in life, after every fucked up thing... she didn't think it was possible that someone could be so good. Especially someone in her family. Living in constant years of endless hell, he was the only source of light and he was always there. Terri had devoted years of her life to make him see what an evil man their father truly was, he wanted to save Brandon from himself and their family and she had succeeded. Every day her brother was by her side made her happy, purely in the knowledge that despite the fact (that most of the time) they were stuck in the middle of nowhere. With a ranting racist and a psychotic teenager to worry about among many others, the situation always seemed grim and Terri (on the surface) was always cold and hardened to the world.

But inside, she was always calm in the knowledge that her brother was there, that he was safe, that he was enjoying his time in this new and better group (despite their problems). She was always happy and content and whenever a threat was made to her source of happiness she made sure that threat was completely annihilated or subdued. Sleeping next to her brother on certain nights and always standing next to his burly form... it just made Terri feel a sense of happiness and content she hadn't felt in her miserable years of existence before her father's death.

and then one bullet had come and shattered every single shred of happiness Terri had worked so hard to build.

She was back in hell without her brother there, her source of light and humanity, she just loved him more than she knew she was ever going to love anyone else.

Anyone else that claimed to "love" her, probably just loved her appearance and assets.

He was the only person (only guy possibly) that loved her without wanting to fuck her or anything (which considering what her uncle had done to her, family taboo's were none existent) and she loved him because of that. She loved the fact she had an older brother looking out for her, as much as she looked out for him. He looked out for her, keeping her sanity intact and helping her believe there was some humanity left in people. After he was gone, she had no morale compass left to guide her.

The cultists were dead, but the true scum behind it all had to be killed. Terri couldn't envision the thought of them surviving and enjoying themselves while her brother (who deserved so much more in life) was now merely a skeleton propped up in the earth. She cried herself to sleep on his bed several nights after his death, his odour still apparent on his bed. She could almost feel his outline on the mattress and clung to any scrap she had left of him. But soon she became numb on the inside as well as the outside. There was no one left to love, no left to guide her...

Murdering was just a mission now.

When killing them in the woods grew old, killing some other members (and the women of the group) was more complex Terri went on walks every so often. Most of the times she went on walks she didn't murder the headmaster (William Cecil's) friends. Because of this no one was grew suspicious when Terri went out on walks... no. Terri even checked when relatives or friends of her marked victims would leave their houses to go elsewhere. So it would look more likely if the body was found hours after death. They would be the prime suspects, but Terri also had another pre-caution to take, she usually hid the bodies so authorities usually didn't find them till days (or sometimes) even months afterwards. When the smell grew too bad or when relatives or friends' got off their asses and realised one of their loved one's had been missing for a while. The people Terri killed weren't the most squeaky clean characters in Wellington and certainly weren't all that popular either. Some were petty criminals themselves, like a student had quoted in the recent issue of the Wellington Weekly, something among the lines of "The people who die, you kind of expect to get the short end of the stick".

and now here Terri was, the plans for her next murder clearly in mind.

As Luis and JJ had spent so long bickering towards entering the strip club, they had failed to notice the police dragging some residents out of their homes (how they failed to comment on this, Terri would never know) but listening to what the police had to say and knowing what this was for... Terri knew what was happening today. Everyone had known what had to happen in Wellington to turn one cure into five for the population. (Oscar's note was made public by some means) people would have to die to save everyone else and the oldest and weakest would be the most likely one's to go.

Or... the one's that simply couldn't be saved.

Terri smiled as she approached the strip club, with a confident breeze in her step.

"Terri where are you going!?" Luis demanded (because it was so hard to figure out)

"Strip club" she replied on monotone.

"Did you just turn lesbian on us!?" JJ humorously inquired.

"Yeah and you are my two gay best friends, unless you move your asses now"

They fell for the ploy, despite how serious the pair of them could be, she had grown to like them slightly more in the past year and she felt a tiny twinge of sorrow that right now, she was merely going to use them as pawns in her latest planned murder of Crystal Evans, a local stripper in Wellington (Terri had done her research on Crystal alright, learning everything there was to know about the woman) and her latest murder was going to be more complex and more fun than all of her past one's combined and with the cure being collected today...

It made this murder a lot easier.

* * *

After paying 20 screws to enter the club, (the woman there shooting Terri an odd glance, while serving Luis and JJ with a wink) they proceeded into the club itself, where scantily clad women danced around an all male audience. The men were sat on comfy chairs or leaning over the stages to get a better look at where the woman were dancing away for their own amusement. A few questionable noises were heard from the "Private Lounge" over the sound of the thumping music, a sickly pink lighting illuminated the whole club. A sign near too Terri, Luis and JJ read: "Wellington's Ladies! Must be 16 or over for entry"

"Well" said Luis casting a glance around the club "This is it JJ man, were men now"

"Your still boys standing rigid and scared shitless of this place" Terri corrected him, it was true. Luis and JJ looked uncomfortable in this place, JJ cast his eyes around once again and gulped.

"Maybe I oughta..." he began.

"No, stay and enjoy yourself" Terri muttered with a comforting squeeze of the shoulder "We've earned it after everything we've been through"

"She's right" Luis muttered, he looked as though he was steeling himself for some sort of war as he inhaled deeply and boomed "Okay! I'm gonna go enjoy this! Terri and JJ, I'll see you on the other side..." and with that he galloped off towards the nearest dancer. Terri noticed how he had tried to buff himself up, merely by the way he walked slower and tried to puff out his chest and pull his amputated arm behind his fully intact arm. She hoped he would enjoy himself and as for JJ...

"JJ, just go and watch one" Terri told him and with that she pointed directly at where Crystal Evans danced for a few older men "That girl is surrounded by sleazy fucks, her face will light up to see you there. A young, fresh face..."

"Terri..." JJ mumbled nervously.

"JJ, you might even get a private dance. You didn't save up your screws just to get cold feet at the last minute..."

JJ looked down at the floor, steeling himself to try and be more confident, he could do this... he didn't need to be TT to do this. For once in his life he could be normal and charming to a girl and after he lost Sarah... he'd always wanted to try again with another nice girl he could have found.

"Okay... okay I'm doing this. Thanks Terri, I think this is like the most you've spoken in a year" he informed her.

"Sometimes it's a necessity" she replied.

and with that JJ was gone, now Terri had to conduct the next part of her plan which involved a distraction. Firstly she had to ensure that Crystal was off the damn stage and secondly she needed to ensure that there was a major distraction that would avert all eyes from the stage. Juggling the small bottle she had in her pocket, Terri eyes locked on Luis, he would be the distraction and if JJ was lucky he'd been whisking Crystal away, or any other guy could have done, it didn't really matter as long as the pair of them played their parts everything should have gone according to plan.

Terri stood in the darkest corner of the club, waiting patiently like the cub she was trained to be. Awaiting the opportunity to strike, she tried to go unnoticed but being the only girl in a strip club who wasn't a dancer, certainly earned her the interest of some leering guys.

"Hey hot stuff" came a slur from a young man to her right, he had a bottle clenched tightly in his hand, his eyes seemed unfocused as he openly stared at Terri.

"I said Hey hot stuff!" he shouted, barging himself closer to her.

"Can I help you?" she responded, just from behind this pest of a man, she could see Crystal had lit her signature cigarette on stage, and puffing on it, appearing to be more seductive in the eyes of many men and judging by the way her gaze was locked on JJ, Terri was right. Crystal seemed to like the new face, she must have grown used to the same recurring old men that came here and too suddenly have this fresh face... and JJ was interested, he was leaning forward. Crystal bent down and whispered something in his ear, his face spilt into a large grin...

"Yeah, what you doing in hiding the dark like that white chocolate?" the man caught her attention once again, as he forcefully used one of his hand to grab one of her hips...

"I don't sway your way" she replied to keep him off for a few more minutes... Crystal was getting off the stage as of now...

"Whoa! That is so fucking hot!" the man exclaimed, "Go have a bit girl on girl then sweet puss, and I'll watch..."

"I don't think that will be necessary" Terri replied, JJ couldn't look any happy as he dropped a sack of fresh screws into Crystal's hand. A look of a vulture about to have fun with it's prey spread across Crystal's face, Terri had heard she was desperate for younger men, some men were merely boys. Hopefully the primitive urges of TT would shield JJ's naive mind to what Crystal was about to do to him. A private dance was a very sugar-coated term indeed.

"It's my necessity" the man drooled "You fuck another girl and I'll watch, rubbing my junk and then I'll think I'll slide it between your sweet butt cheeks..."

JJ and Crystal were walking towards the Private Lounge now, they were past the red curtain and they were in... now it was time for phase two!

"You're disgusting!" Terri snapped suddenly, making a show of storming towards where Luis was sat and (only hoping he wasn't too absorbed by what he was seeing, to notice what was going on around him) made a show of shouting "I think it's best you left!"

"Baby!" the man sang "Why you gotta play so hard to get!? I'm a hot guy you're a hot girl! Let's fucking repopulate right here baby!"

"What part of N-O don't you understand?"

"I don't understand any of your talk, I just see what I want and..."

"Hey!" Luis snapped (at long last) tearing his eyes away from the stripper and towards where he could clearly hear Terri being harassed by this drunken guy "You gotta problem here buddy? Leave my friend alone!"

"You wanna fuck her too, huh?" the man snarled, tearing his eyes from Terri and locking themselves upon Luis "Friends my fucking ass! You can't resist an ass like her's. But you've been friend zoned you sad fuck! I'm actually getting in deep here bro..."

"Want me to leave a deep mark on your face!?" Luis challenged, spurred on by wanting to be the alpha male of the moment (and generally Terri thanked him for being such a hot headed guy anyway),heads turned as tensions began to boil in the air.

"Yeah!? We'll I'll be six fingers deep in white chocolate over here! Pity you can't do the same...!"

A slur on his missing arm is what it took for Luis to fly over his chair and easily pummel the drunken man with a series of punches directly to his face. Instantly people rose in their seats, as bottles and tables flying everywhere created a ruckus, for about 10 seconds all eyes rested on the scene, as the bouncers struggled to break up the altercation, but ten seconds was all Terri needed, to run over to Crystal's dancing pole on the stage and pull the bottle from her pocket. She unscrewed it and poured and chucked the clear liquid all over the clear stage and the metal pole. Quickly putting the bottle back in her pocket she proceeded back towards the fight just as it was broken apart.

"OUT!" A bouncer roared "THE PAIR OF YOU!"

"HE STARTED IT!" Luis roared as the two men were dragged away, poor Luis had to suffer this, while JJ or TT was probably having the time of their lives mere feet away. Terri would thank him later not for just getting that guy off her ass, but also for creating the diversion she so desperately needed for this to succeed.

Terri waited patiently, finally JJ and Crystal emerged from the Private Lounge, JJ's hair was wilder than it previous which was a feat for him, his clothes were messed up and his fly was clearly undone. He was grinning like a maniac and made a beeline for Terri, judging by his smaller pupils at some point during his and Crystal's encounter he had reverted to TT.

"That..." was all TT could pant, Terri noticed he was sweating heavily.

"Your fly's undone" Terri dryly noted.

"Can't wait to tell Luis" TT growled "He'll be jealous... where is he?"

"He got kicked out, after getting into a fight with a guy who tried to hit on me"

"Typical Luis" TT grunted.

His small pupils locked on Crystal once again, from where she was walking back to her stage, she flashed him a seductive grin, in which he returned by smiling back and grabbing his crotch he rubbed it, to which Crystal slid a seductive hand down her body, and made the same gesture back to him. TT smiled and watched her mount the stage.

"She's fuckin' beautiful..."

"Suck you off or did she ride you hard?" Terri asked.

"A true gentlemen never tells a lady like yourself" TT responded.

"I'm guessing both then" Terri muttered.

"If you want to find out, then my bedroom door's always open"

"Yeah with your granddad watching from the next bed over"

"You get what I mean" TT growled "Your not a bad looking girl Terri, I think about you sometimes..."

"This is a bit sudden and a bit forward for you JJ"

"Nothing will change though, you'll just say no, I know you too well" TT informed her.

"and you'd be surprised how well I know you too TT" she responded, not emitting his spilt personality from her vocabulary, he looked at her in shock for a second. Before he scoffed and decided he didn't care, everyone knew about TT now, it wasn't a bad thing, he felt high on life when he was TT and after Crystal had started to pleasure him, he wanted to enjoy his experience to the max and TT had been on hand to help him.

TT's eyes locked on Crystal as she mounted the stage, she didn't question why the stage was soaking and simply assumed someone had spilt a drink or something. Sighing she smiled and decided to start her routine, grabbing the signature lighter she had stored in her panties, she lifted it (and her her cigarettes, stored in the same area) and pressed down on the lighter. (Forgetting that alcohol was also flammable in those moments and that she had it over her hands, it had never happened before so why would it happen now? Besides it wasn't alcohol that was on her hands)

The gasoline that lay splattered on her hand after she touched the pole, instantly burst into flames.

She let out a shrill scream and then made the mistake of trying to stop drop and roll to extinguish the fire, all the gasoline on the floor coated her body and the fire spread in seconds, burning through her skimpy clothes and skin in seconds, the withering stripper screamed herself hoarse, as bouncers raced forward to try and help her... JJ was shell shocked and sprinted forward, while Terri remained sitting, no one noticed her large smile in the chaos.

* * *

"What the hell happened in there!?" Luis asked of JJ and Terri as the walked out of the strip club, several police officers and ambulances were gathered around. JJ had reverted back to his shell shocked self, doing up his fly and shrinking into himself at the nasty shock that had just occurred inside of the club. The three teenagers watched as the blackened and burnt form of Crystal was lead from a stretcher (still screaming and scorched) but Terri noticed how the ambulance didn't take her away.

The police did.

"There was a freak accident, her lighter set her on fire or something..." Terri explained to Luis, who watched the scene in shock. JJ was too stunned to speak, but suspected... suspected that he was responsible in some way, or just by looking at the somewhat smug expression on Terri Rogers face... did she have something to do with it? JJ didn't know nor did he care in his current state.

and as for Terri she stood tall as she watched the police car drive away with Crystal Evans charred body, she probably could have been saved, but why go through the trouble? When she could have easily have been used for cure fodder instead? Crystal Evans was as good as dead and Terri Rogers had claimed her 13th victim.

One more to go.

Now all she had to do was kill the Headmaster and she would avenge her brother and all the ghosts at Wellington High.

What had happened to Crystal Evans just now, was a prime example...

...Of why you did not fuck with Terri Rogers.


	17. Smile

**A/N: Okay glad the last chapter raised some topics for discussion amongst reviewers and I'll get onto answering them!**

**ffapathay- Your review and PM were amazing to read so thank you for giving me so much to think and talk about... for your first inquiry, yep originally the wolf was meant to know about the virus becoming airborne after he saw it occur in a different place (hence him mentioning to Jena that the lodge was the third site they saw) but adding the lodge to the story after your suggestion was a great addition! As it really helped to link the past stories together, and although I liked the idea of showing what a threat of a disease like the flu could be without the meds, I'll stick too the fact, that it did indeed start as a flu epidemic, but people began to get infected by the earlier weaker strain of the airborne virus, as there immune systems and general health were probably already weakened by the flu itself, confusing I know and it could a really scientific explanation but science and maths are my weak points. and I've noticed I'm skimmed over most scientific factual stuff in this story, just the phrasing I used then, show that's a field I'm poor in. But to cut my waffle short, yes your idea about the lodge being infected with the earlier strain of the virus, did inspire me to write it within the story.**

**I always find myself able to write so much about Stephanie, it surprises me sometimes. Her original death has been seen in Clem's timeline was like what Eddie, Rebecca and Sarah saw themselves. Rebecca dying as she did in game, Eddie and Stephanie killed by the herd that was allowed into Howe's as they never sided with Clem's group in the original timeline and Clementine saw something from a different timeline and suffice to say Stephanie is the sole survivor of a timeline that hasn't been touched upon much yet in this story (Luke's original timeline) so that will come into play soon. However I will give reviewers a little hint on something no one seems to have noticed yet, that just before everyone has had these visions, they've thought about something...**

**Nice comparison between Schulz and Luke, Schulz I imagine is a lot like Carver, once a good man turned bad, Luke showed some early sings of tyranny in GTR similar to Carver but maintained his humanity. While Schulz has a lost love like Luke and suffers in a very similar manner to him, Luke and Schulz also are in the knowledge that if they don't do something drastic all the people they are leading will die (Schulz with the airborne strain and Luke with the second chance) but seeing as Schulz has more people to lead and was married to his wife, much longer than Luke was with Jane, then you could say both Carver and Schulz were once men like Luke, however they were pushed to greater extremes than Luke, resulting in their insanity and the characters reflect what Luke could become.**

**Now for the big part... I'm glad you still like Terri after this chapter as many seem to think she's gone full psycho (which in all fairness she has) but she's still a great addition to have in your group, it sounds crazy but like you mentioned she battled with betraying the group and eventually decided not too, so she may lie but I can't imagine her betraying the group or selling them out and as long as you don't get on her bad side... then yeah... you pretty much also said all you needed to say on the Clem/Terri comparison and that's defiantly an interesting thing I'll be looking further into...**

**Now for Terri's sexuality, I would say she's asexual, after what she went through with her Uncle along with many other men leeching upon her in Wellington I don't think she'd be thrilled with the prospect of any sort of relationship, with either a man or woman, she'd probably seduce men and do what she had to do in order to gain something or gain revenge on someone but in actual terms of loving someone or being attracted to someone, the answer is a definitive no. and I imagine she hasn't been interested in anyone in that way since before she got to Wellington even, romance of any kind would be a far, far, far shot for Terri and only someone who spent a very long period of time with her and made her as happy as Brandon did would earn any sort of genuine affection from her (which is very unlikely).**

**also just to clarify, yes I imagine JJ/TT did lose his v-card last chapter and he would be 17 as of now.**

**That being said Clem's sexuality is difficult topic for me to define too, Christa did point out she'd probably turn out lesbian in GTR, but I want to make it a bit more open ended than simply being the girl that loved Sarah and then Sarah died one chapter later and Clem went back to being a badass asexual for the rest of the fic. I mean I know so many people in this fandom would simply hate the thought of Clem of having any romantic interest what-so-ever because we all see her as child clem. (I'm also aware of this fandom and walking dead fanfiction itself gaining a bad reputation from the click, cluke stories and having Clem in romantic relationships, I'm determined not to go down the same bad road) **

**But the 15 year old Clem I'm writing is a serious challenge, because teenagers go through that difficult stage when they start changing and experimenting with their sexuality. Many people wouldn't be impressed if I paired her off with say... Luis. Or even Terri in some way (although shout out to the guest that said they supported the shipping!) so it's hard trying to keep in character the child Clem we all love, while writing a realistic teenager and being surrounded by the hardened survivors at Wellington makes kids grow up fast. but the only conclusion I can come too is Clementine is bisexual, she hasn't displayed an interest in boys yet, but that's probably because she hasn't found one she's loved like Sarah. Too me, (even as a kid) Clem got along with everyone, as a teenager I don't like to think gender (boy or girl) would restrict her from who she falls in love with, but just as it with Terri, it would take a lot of time and effort from someone (like Brandon did for Terri, and Sarah did for Clem) to make a romantic interest possible.**

**and finally au's off my au! I'd love it to death if someone actually wrote a spin off or an au of my fic series, it would make my day completely! and Terri/Clem as a couple is something I'd love to see other author's tackle, or any pairing or alternative scenario within this series... but yeah this may be wishful thinking, but I can dream.**

**also Crystal Evans and Lizzie Evans are not related, I'd say the last name thing is a coincidence. **

**Okay that's that, I waffled on for waaaaaay to long answering one review but shouts out to everyone else who left a kind review for me (and Yomi-Roken, glad to see you back and Shattering soul, I should have used the word form, instead of Body as it implied Crystal was dead. But she actually still alive as she was sent away by the police to be used as cure fodder, rather than the ambulance who would treat her) but yeah that's all I have to say now, enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU DOING A STRIP CLUB MISTER!?"

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD MOTHER! I WAS IN THERE FOR LIKE... FIVE MINUTES...!"

"DON'T TELL ME HOW LONG YOU WERE IN THERE LUIS ALBERTO AGERZ! THE FACT YOU WERE IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE, IS SIMPLY...!"

"MUM I'M 19 NOW!"

"YOU'RE STILL A BOY LUIS!"

"I'M PRACTICALLY A GROWN MAN NOW!"

"AND NOT ONLY DO YOU GO IN AND MARVEL AT THOSE LECHEROUS WOMEN...!" Maria thundered over her son, disregarding his argument completely.

"...BUT YOU FOUGHT WITH A MAN IN THERE, YOU'VE BRUISED YOUR FACE!"

"I WAS DEFENDING TERRI! AND CONSIDERING MY PAST INJURES BRUISING MY FACE, AIN'T SHIT...!"

"IT'S NOT THE EXTENT OF THE INJURY THAT BOTHERS ME! IT'S THE FACT WHEREVER YOU SEEM TO GO, YOU REACT LIKE THIS!"

"YEAH WELL I WONDER WHERE I GET IT FROM!?"

"YOU CAN STOP WITH THE SARCASM, I DON'T WANT YOU BRAWLING WITH DRUNKEN MEN OR LEERING AT WOMEN LIKE AN ANIMAL! LUIS YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS...!"

"BETTER!?" Luis roared "HOW THE HELL AM I BETTER!? I'M THE SON OF A SOME LOW LIFE THUG..."

"LUIS!" Maria warned, but he carried on regardless.

"AND YOU CAN HARDLY CALL THOSE WOMAN LECHEROUS WHEN THAT WAS PREVIOUS OCCUPATION MOTHER!"

Maria froze in place, unable to formulate a comeback to this.

"I'M ALLOWED TO DO WHAT I WANT! WHEN I WANT! I'M NOT 13 ANY MORE! I'M NOT SOME DUMB, ANGRY TEENAGER! I'M NOT SOME SEX CRAZED, TESTOSTERONE FILLED FIGHTING MANIAC! I'M JUST ME! AND I'M SO SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE SOMETHING DIFFERENT! NOW LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"

and with his outburst pushed firmly out of his chest and into the warm air of the group's house. Luis turned on his heel and proceeded to storm up the nearby stairs. With each step his foot crashed down upon a gloomy echo of rage vibrated across the household. Finally Luis' heavy form (you could almost envision the brewing black storm cloud above his head) reached the first floor and he took some angry steps towards his room. The dramatic BANG of his bedroom door, confirmed to the rest of the group he'd be sulking up there for the next 5 or 6 hours.

Maria was silent and felt herself fall back onto the couch behind her, Tom coughed to break the tension filled air between the remaining members of his group. Terri had watched the argument in a silent sort of fascination, JJ cowered behind his lanky grandfather, while Wilbert himself simply grunted and muttered insults under his breath. If Maria thought she was getting any sympathy of him, just because they'd had a few emotional chats, then she was certainly mistaken. She had raised that angry, blabbering, grotesque son of her's and kept him alive way past his expiry date. To Wilbert he still acted like the 12 or 13 year old that the elderly man imagined him to be at the start of this mess, some boys just didn't mature and Luis was a bad influence on the others.

"Never liked him" Wilbert grunted, letting his thoughts be known.

"Big surprise" Terri droned as per usual.

"Wilbert, not now. Your Grandson's is going through a hard and confusing time right now, Terri and Luis are shocked too and Luis is gonna lash out, cut him some slack" Tom tried to lecture to a certainly none-listening Wilbert.

"I ain't got cut anyone anything!" Wilbert ranted "My grandson watched his first..." Wilbert finished there, unable to define exactly what Crystal Evans was to John Jefferson. A much older woman who stole the 17 year old's virginity right under Wilbert's nose. Now Wilbert had known he hadn't exactly been the best guardian and JJ or TT for that matter had attempted to poison him. But he wasn't expecting JJ to go and do this... Wilbert didn't even why he was so surprised when JJ mumbled it all for the group to hear, he had seen his grandson callously murder people while laughing, so losing his v card should have been nothing, yet it bothered Wilbert immensely for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"...woman, die" Wilbert finished lamely.

JJ looked at the carpeted ground of their new house, some objects in their old house that had survived the blaze (Oscar's note that was made public, the carpet, a few beds, including Brandon's) this green carpet was a familiar terrain for his sight to sink too whenever he was embarrassed or being shouted at. JJ remembered his eyes not leaving the carpet as he explained to the group how he had indeed had sex with Crystal in that club, before her fatal accident. According to Tom the police were dragging people out of their homes...

The elderly.

The disabled.

The Prisoners.

and those too injured...

It was a sign that the cure was ready to be deployed but Tom knew this also came at a cost, once the cure was fully deployed that could begin their plans on leaving his dammed place, before it imploded into itself. But Tom knew some of his group could have been at risk, Wilbert wasn't the youngest of them all and Luis had his amputee injures... all of his group minus himself seemed absorbed in the drama at the strip club. Tom always had to keep his vision broader. They all knew what the police were doing, they all knew people had to die to gain these cures, but everyone else had pushed it to the back of their minds.

Not Tom, his mind was racing awaiting the dreaded knock of the door and awaiting for the police to barge in and take whichever one of their group that they fancied.

Being powerless... was not a good feeling.

"I can't believe you took my boy there!" Wilbert snapped, turning his hate from the absent Luis, to a bored looking Terri "You go take your abnormal fetishes somewhere else! I don't want my flesh and blood catching an STD!"

Suffice to say Terri didn't flinch in the slightest.

"JJ wanted to enjoy himself, I encouraged him" Terri told the raging racist flatly "I didn't know the accident was coming, and it's a bit of a generalization to assume all strippers have STD's..."

"I didn't think she had an STD Granddaddy..." JJ began to squeak.

"I'll deal with you in a minute mister!" Wilbert snapped back at him, before turning back to Terri "In my eyes they do! and your one of them... your an abnormal... queer... freak!"

"Abnormal, queer and a freak?" came Maria's soft tone, recovering from the shock of her argument with Luis, she stood up once again and looked Wilbert directly in the eyes.

"Is that what you think?" she challenged him with.

"Yeah" Wilbert responded, yet some of his earlier gusto was gone, because he knew that Maria knew his true sexuality and now there was a risk she would use that against him.

"You need to be more careful what you say" Maria muttered "I was a stripper once, an escort, like Luis said. Does that make me some STD filled lecherous woman?"

"Probably" Wilbert answered daringly.

Maria stared at him appalled for a few seconds, Wilbert mentally dared her to try and make that accusation against him, he was feeling in the mood to start some arguments. He felt like unleashing his anger on someone, or anyone after learning once again of his grandson's disobedience and he had tried, in his own stubborn way to raise JJ the best he possibly could and constantly this group would lead the boy astray. It explained Wilbert's anger at this time, but Maria knew better than too lash back at Wilbert. Wilbert had always been angry and she knew the true reason.

"I feel sorry for Wilbert" Maria told him "Because I know why you're always angry, you're always angry at yourself and the way you are..."

"SHUT UP WOMAN!" Wilbert roared over her.

Maria cast him a look of sympathy, that's all she could offer because she knew Wilbert was far too set in his ways to ever change. She only hoped he didn't pass on those traits to JJ, because the boy's mind was muddled enough already, he didn't need that racist streak in him, or just that endless rage in his gut that his grandfather clearly had.

"That's enough!" Tom bellowed, as Wilbert and Maria fell silent, "Everyone just needs some time and space to try and recover from this" Tom explained "So I don't want anymore fighting! Wilbert that goes especially for you, there's too few of us left now to start this pointless shit"

"Whatever" Wilbert grunted waving off his words as if they were feathers in the wind.

Tom sighed.

"Terri can I speak to you please" Tom requested out of the blue, before he carried on speaking "and as for the rest of you... please just sort yourselves out. We really don't need this, not now. I don't wanna have keep repeating myself"

and with a last firm glance over what remained of his shattered group, he gestured at Terri to follow him out into the backyard, while Wilbert walked off with JJ towards the kitchen and where Maria slowly proceeded to collapse back onto the sofa she was planted on beforehand.

Survival had never been harder than it was right now.

* * *

"Sarah?"

Clementine watched as a lone fat bee, floundered around in the air near to her face, yet the 15 year old didn't flinch in the slightest as the bee made it's way back towards wherever the hell it had come from. It looked like the walker virus only infected humans, because that bee was free. It could soar over these walls and not worry about the hassle of the cure, the confines of the walls and the feeling of overwhelming grief after losing a loved one.

Here Clementine was, sat on the hill behind her house, gazing at the setting sun which was slowly disappearing over the top of the distant wall. Usually she would have admired the beauty of such a sunset, but ever since Sarah had died there was nothing to it. It felt like she was gazing at nothing... every sunset reminding her of the friend she no longer had, there would be no more "This is so cool's!"from Sarah that made the sunset itself so cool in Clementine's eyes. Enjoying it with her best friend, even a year on every little thing she did in Wellington, every place she went too reminded her of Sarah and she honestly wished she could make it go away. That she could stop moping around like a walker itself, but her form of depression wasn't going anywhere and the fact she could never muster a smile just dragged her even further into her depression. Because she knew she was being pathetic, she knew people looked at her and wondered when the hell she was going to get off her butt and start living again and the fact Clementine knew she simply couldn't do that, made her feel even worse and every day her depression prolonged her past self from returning was another day Clementine's misery would grow. She doubted she would ever be the same again and that her second chance had only saved her for a brief time, prolonging the pain just so it would hurt so much more at a later date.

So here Clementine would be, sitting as silently and as still as possible. Hoping any breeze of the wind would be a signal from some sort of afterlife that showed Sarah was still watching over her. Maybe with all this time-travel Clementine could somehow start again? If she died, would she go back to Howe's with her memories intact? But even then, what was the point? What was done was done she couldn't keep replaying life until it was perfect and she couldn't build her dream world the way she wanted it to be. Even if her recent vivid dream had to have meant something... Kenny and Jane... what was it about those two that stood out so much to her? Why did those two appear? What set them apart? In fact Clementine decided she no longer cared, whatever the meaning of the dream was. She began to over-think just trying to figure out the basics behind why it had happened, why Kenny and Jane out of everyone?

Too many questions Clementine didn't care about.

But if what Sarah was saying was true (right before she died) then she saw some of pre life too, Clem's pre life, so did Sarah somehow fit into the Kenny/Jane scenario?

Again too many questions for her 15 year old brain to comprehend.

"Where will it end?" she asked of Lee, Sarah, Kenny, Jane, Bonnie, Mike or anyone up there who was listening to her, when did the nightmare called life end?

She sat stiffly for another 5 minutes, she heard someone repeatedly shouting her name in the distance, but didn't respond to whoever the hell it was. Finally, deciding she could ignore it no longer, she turned around to address Rebecca. The mid aged mother was standing at the foot of the hill, slightly red in the face after screaming Clementine's name. Considering their earlier argument, Clementine expected an angry lecture off her, but what she got instead was a look of sympathy.

"Clem, honey. Luke's phoned. There's been bad news..."

Clementine felt her gut sink, how could the situation possibly get any worse?

* * *

"JJ...!"

The blonde boy sighed, awaiting the explosion of insults from his grandfather to come smashing up his eardrums.

"Granddaddy..." he began meekly.

"Don't granddaddy me!" Wilbert shouted back "I don't care how charming your whole JJ persona is, the fact is you still went off to a strip club! Do you have any idea what sort of people are in there..."

"Yes"

"and you are aware" Wilbert continued to lecture "What kind of place this is? How horrible the people here are, they will trample all over you JJ"

"I know"

"Look what happened to Ana, Oscar, Tim and Brandon" Wilbert listed off the deceased members of his group before he continued to hammer his point to JJ "I never liked any of them much, but this place took them from us! Reduced our group to half it's size! We survived out there for 5 years without a hitch! In here it's taken what...? a few months and were dropping like flies! JJ if you think socialising or mixing with the other people is going to help you in any way, shape or form. Your mistaken!"

"Right"

"Tim did the same" Wilbert reminded him "Fucked that Journalist and if Tom hadn't have got to him first, the mob following him would have torn him apart. I don't want that happening to you. Tom might be a darky, but his plan to leave this place as soon as we get this cure is a fucking good one and I might actually be starting to trust him..."

Wilbert trailed to a halt as he suddenly gasped and massaged his chest, after speaking so passionately to JJ and for such a long while. He had lost his breath and now his heart was aching worse than ever, taking a few deep breaths, Wilbert gazed up at the nearby celling of the kitchen, before regaining himself and gazing back down at his grandson.

"I only say these things, JJ because I care about you" he admitted.

"No you don't" JJ responded. Wilbert was surprised he hadn't reverted to TT to lash out at him and that here JJ was making a honest projection of his feelings.

"You don't care about me at all!" JJ roared "If I want to go and socialise or have some fun for once then I'm allowed too! I don't need your permission, I don't need you to try and turn me into what you are! A sad, bitter, lonely old man! You only care about yourself and what makes you happy! Why do you think I tried to poison you! Why the hell do you think I developed this alter ego TT! TT protects me because you never taught me how! The more you try and shield me the worse it's gonna get...!"

"JJ, I BLOODY WELL KNOW I HAVEN'T BEEN THE BEST GUARDIAN! I'VE TOLD YOU THAT...!"

"DAMN RIGHT YOU HAVE!"

"BUT LISTEN TO ME! WE DON'T NEED SHIT! I'M PROTECTING YOU THE ONLY WAY I KNOW HOW TOO!" Wilbert screamed "I'VE BEEN SHIT ON BY THE WORLD! JJ I KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU CARRY ON ACTING SO RECKLESS OR LETTING TT TAKE OVER! WHAT ABOUT THAT GIRL YOU LIKED!? SARAH WAS IT!? REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO HER...?"

"Shut up..." JJ growled.

"AND NOW THAT CRYSTAL GIRL! IT HURTS DOESN'T IT!? I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO THROUGH THAT PAIN...!"

"WELL I'M JUST GLAD I KNEW THEM!" JJ bellowed "I'M GLAD I GOT TO ENJOY MY TIME WITH THEM! I'M GLAD THAT WHEN I LOOK BACK AT MY LIFE THEY'LL BE HIGHLIGHTS! AND WHEN YOU DIE YOU SAD, PATHETIC OLD FUCK THEY'LL BE NO GOOD MEMORIES FOR YOU TO LOOK BACK ON!"

"JJ! WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I DID ENJOY MY LIFE! I HAD FRIENDS, A SOCIAL LIFE... LOVERS..." he finished lamely, deliberately omitting the gender of the lovers, however he picked up his gusto once again "JJ I'M TRYING MY HARDEST HERE! THOSE GOOD MOMENTS ARE GOING TO GET YOU KILLED! THEY GOT MY SON KILLED AND I PROMISED YOUR DAD I WOULDN'T LET THE SAME HAPPEN TO YOU!"

"I WISH MY MUM AND DAD WERE HERE RATHER THAN YOU!" JJ confessed, repeating the words he had said in that truck. When the pair of them were fleeing Atlanta all those years ago. Wilbert felt his gut sink as JJ looked down at the familiar scenery of the floor "I MISS THEM! I MISS THEM EVERYDAY! I JUST WANT THEM BACK! WHAT'S THE POINT OF KEEPING ME ALIVE GRANDDADDY IF THERE'S NO LIFE I CAN ENJOY WITH YOU!?

"JJ..." Wilbert muttered weakly.

"I need some space, just leave me alone!" JJ concluded, storming out of the room (and unknowingly echoing Luis' attitude to Maria earlier). The blonde haired boy retreated to the bathroom and locked himself inside, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over his eyelids. His grandfather was so difficult to understand, yes they had their moments. For instance in the riot Wilbert had protected him and showed him that he was a badass in his own right, and JJ understood that Wilbert cared greatly for him and he always loved hearing that. But his grandfather would never change the fact he could be overbearing at times and this drove JJ senile.

"Maybe we should sort him out" TT suggested grimly.

"Shut the fuck up" JJ snarled back at him, after today he imagined he was done with TT for a long while. His grandfather may have been right on one thing, JJ didn't want to rely on his spilt personality it made him do reckless things and after today he had to question whether he really wanted to live that recklessly. Maybe not, all he wanted after today...

Was his old life back.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, Wilbert felt his heart ache worse than ever... his memories becoming a blurred jumble... his ears ringing painfully after all the shouting both he and his grandson had done. His bones ached, his whole body ached, his breaths were coming thinner and faster, for a man in his mid-seventies, the toil of surviving for so long had finally caught up too him.

So there was a reason Wilbert had yelled all that to JJ, he wanted JJ to know these things.

He needed JJ to know these things.

Because he wasn't going to be around for much longer.

* * *

"Mummy, what's happening?"

AJ had nervously asked this question of Rebecca as he, Clementine and Molly walked behind the curly haired woman. Molly was up and walking for the first time again in months and despite the bad news that she knew lay ahead of her. She couldn't help but smile blankly into the sky as she continued to put one foot in front of the other, Clementine sometimes nudging her too the right when she strayed too close to the road. But with her hearing senses further improved and with a walking stick to help her, Molly had adapted surprisingly fast. Clementine guessed the blonde woman had probably been preparing months for her first outing into Wellington and watching her walk again was the only happy sight, among the stark comparison of Rebecca's panicked expression, as she took hurried footsteps along the path. Practically dragging her son along and leaving Clementine to handle Molly.

"We... erm... we just need to say goodbye to someone honey" Rebecca answered, finally shedding some light on what Luke had phoned her about. Because when Clementine asked all she had received were some vague answers and now she knew somebody was dying... but who? Eddie? Gertrude? Luke himself? Edward? Luis? JJ? Terri? Maria? Nick? Stephanie? Scott? Miss King? So many names flooded her mind as she approached the scene it had to be one of them. Somebody else she cared about was being taken from her...

and then they turned the corner.

A dozen police were stationed outside of Gertrude's house, Clementine instantly saw the old woman had been grabbed by two burly officers and was being dragged out onto her front lawn. Luke was screaming obscenities at them, while another blonde man near him simply watched the scene with a blank face.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE HER! SHE'S FITTER THAN US EVEN...!" Luke was bellowing.

"PRESIDENT'S ORDERS! was a response that was barked back at him.

"The cure is ready to be deployed" Rebecca mumbled sadly, providing a running commentary to the scene laid out in front of her, (or for Molly's case a general description for the jumbled shouting occurring at a point in front of her) "But we all knew to get enough cures for all of us, those weaker than us. The elderly, the sick... those not worthy of living had to be sacrificed for the rest of us. and now Gertrude's weak so they're taking her away and..." Rebecca was unable to finish the sentence as images flooded her mind, of the horrible demise the old woman was going to go through.

"That fucking Crawford mentality" Molly spat, (actually spitting on the side-walk to showcase her disgust)

"But... but I liked Gertrude..." AJ whimpered, unheard over the ruckus in front of him.

Clementine's response was too simply run forward, past the gawking spectators and straight towards Gertrude was being held, she couldn't handle this. Gertrude used to be so nice to her and Sarah and now another chunk of her past was being ripped away from her. How many god-damn times was the world going to be a bitch to her! Hadn't she suffered enough! Watching everyone she loved not die once, but twice, Clementine didn't know how much more of this she could take.

"GERTRUDE!" She yelled, as the old woman's head snapped upwards towards her.

"Hey Clem" she mumbled, with a small smile, "I guess this is it for me isn't it?"

"No! Don't say that!" Clementine shouted back, knowing full well her words were futile.

"It's true though" Gertrude muttered sadly "I guess I should have seen this one coming. Should have got my rocket launcher ready... but all my stuff now. You guys can all have it. The weapons, the rugs, the pots and pans... all of it is yours"

"I don't want that though" Clementine croaked, as she felt herself begin to tear up once again "I just want you back"

Gertrude's face spilt into a large smile "I know how you feel" she told the younger girl "All while I was here, all I ever did was cling onto my late husband's possessions. I just wanted him back so badly, that I neglected your lives over some of his property, never make that mistake Clem. I'm begging you. Sarah and Lilly, those two poor girls died because I didn't help them..."

"Gertrude don't bl..." Luke interjected to no avail.

"No. I'm telling her this Luke" Gertrude informed him harshly "I don't want her making the same mistakes I did. Don't grieve over me, don't fall further into depression than you already are. Clementine my death will give you guys a cure, live your lives, it's all I can do for you folk now". and with a sad shake of her head, she gazed up at the two officers, who had seemingly stopped on the spot to allow Gertrude to say all that she had to say to Clementine.

"Can we get this done already" one of them snapped "I don't like standing here feeling like a villain, just for doing my job"

"Give me another minute boys" Gertrude told them, as she looked at where Luke stood.

"I'm gonna miss you country boy"

Luke felt something warm spread in his gut at this comment, he had tried to restrain his emotions all this time. Yet he felt them rising to the surface now.

"I'm gonna miss you too, you old bat"

Gertrude laughed at this, gulping down her own tears as she waved at the remaining group, Rebecca and AJ waved back at her, Molly approached the scene, a white bandage strapped firmly around her eyes confirmed her blind state to the world.

"Glad I got to see you one last time Molly" Gertrude told her.

"Oh" Molly responded "Even when your being marched off to your demise, your still making puns about seeing me and all that shit, I'm so glad I can see you too Gertrude" Molly's snarky behaviour was clearly unaffected by the situation at hand and Gertrude had to have her last laugh here, she had always admired Molly and got the feeling was mutual.

"You know" Molly continued, addressing the officers now "If she's being killed because she's old, then you know you should take me off too! Considering I'm blind and all..."

"Against orders" was all the policeman said "President specially ordered you and some others to be under special protection from Plan X"

"Special protection?" Luke, Molly, Rebecca and Clementine all muttered at once, creating a rather comedic effect in light of this depressing scene.

"Yeah" the police man answered.

"What does the president have a hard on for me?" Molly inquired.

"No, but apparently his woman might" the police man answered, he and his colleague both chuckled to themselves at this, while Molly had to wonder who on earth the president's woman was, and why the hell this woman would want to protect her of all people. She felt like the answer was so glaringly obvious but right now she simply couldn't formulate an answer.

"Yeah, and that's not all" the policeman continued to say, as Clementine spotted Eddie and his girlfriend Violet come out of Gertrude's house. Carrying boxes out of her own property, she guessed the couple had been tasked with emptying the house and considering Gertrude had given all of her stuff to Luke's group anyhow... it made sense. Yet right now, the policeman pointed directly at Violet for the point he was about to make.

"Apparently the president wanted that nutjob dead for looking into the Wellington Wolf case" he boomed "But his woman wouldn't have it, so they sent her a threat instead"

"What?" Violet inquired instantly, intrigued by this sudden influx of new news. While both Eddie and Molly reached the conclusion at the same time about the identity of the president's woman. Who else would make sure Molly didn't get killed, who else had Eddie remembered telling her about his crush on Violet? Although the special protection appeared not to spread to Gertrude, it was nice to know that they had a friend in a high place for all of this time.

"Stef?" Eddie guessed correctly as the group let this news sink over them.

"So that's where she's been" Luke concluded, finally understanding why he had been unable to find her. If she was the president's new woman he guessed the leader would keep a very tight leash on her indeed. and if she had some sort of influence over him... maybe that was the reason they were all alive now. Well, it certainly helped to explain the pay checks that appeared on the front door every so often...

"Anyway let's just get this over with" the police man muttered, he dragged Gertrude forward before (sighing to himself) he turned back to the spectators watching him.

"I'm just doing my job here, don't hate me or the police force for this" he told them all, when nobody replied and continued to fix him with judgemental glares, he spoke on "People close to me are going to die today as well, I know this has to be done... but I just wish... I just wish things were different" and with that sad confession out of the way he and his colleague propped Gertrude into the back seat of the car. She looked back at the group one last time and waved, they waved back. Before the engine revved to life and within 10 seconds Gertrude's form shrunk out of sight, until finally the car turned a corner and that was it. Gertrude was gone.

Clementine wasn't aware of when she starting running from the scene, she was aware of Luke calling her name... but the next thing she knew, she had rushed back into her house. She had slammed the front door shut, thundered up the stairs and flung herself (for the first time in a year) onto Sarah's vacant bed, as a layer of dust particles swirled around her, and Sarah's glasses that had laid in the same spot for a year on the edge of her bed, finally tumbled to the ground. Clementine curled up into a fetal position and cried her eyes out, blaring and screaming and sobbing for the world to hear. Letting every bottled up scrap of sadness out of her system.

Back in front of Gertrude's house, the emotions that released themselves from Clementine's system were evident in the air surrounding the place. Rebecca sighed as AJ hugged her leg and in his 4 year old mind tried to make sense of all the death and misery around him. From losing Lilly and that bright figure of Sarah and now the kind old woman he had known was gone as well, he knew she wasn't coming back. But didn't fully understand why any of this was happening. He would have asked questions, but his mother looked upset enough as it was, so he kept his mouth shut for the time being.

"I can't believe this..." Luke muttered, as Violet and Eddie moved forwards to comfort him.

"It had to happen" was all Ethan said, speaking up for the first time, hardly fazed at Gertrude's sad departure. It was true that the old woman reminded him of Jena, but any grief or sadness... no. Ethan didn't feel a thing, the cure was being deployed people should have been content in that fact.

"She died to give us the cure, it was something that simply had to happen to save everyone" Ethan mused aloud.

"Do you have any compassion at all man!" Luke suddenly snapped at him, "She was our friend and now she's going die...!" he finished there, he didn't want any tears to fall. He didn't want to say anymore, so he simply let Violet and Molly help him move from the scene. While Eddie stood next to Ethan and sighed.

"Shit times dude, shit times indeed" was all Eddie could say to him.

"But it can only get better from this point out" Ethan reminded him.

"I suppose" Eddie mumbled "Hell man, I just want to put a smile on people's faces again" he said this while pulling a ridiculously large smile, Ethan felt inclined to smile back at Eddie, to be kind in such a social interaction.

But Eddie saw Ethan's smile.

It was the same, white, straight toothed smile that he had seen on that day.

Eddie felt his blood turn to ice, he felt his gut sink yet he continued to smile at Ethan. Later, he would have to talk to Violet about this because in his gut, he knew...

He had just found out the identity of the Wellington Wolf.

* * *

"Are you happy with what you've done Terri?"

Tom said this too her, his tone deep and resounding, the setting sun cast sinister looking shadows across the backyard and facing Tom's broad back after he muttered this accusation, would intimidate any ordinary person.

But Terri Rogers was far from normal, in fact she was glad Tom had finally caught on.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"For a while" he replied, continuing to keep his broad back to the rather unfazed teenager behind him.

"Why'd did you let it go on then?" Terri asked "Why let the dreaded cut throat cub continue to cut down her victims?"

Tom laughed to himself before finally turning to face her, he didn't look furious, or even the slightest bit angry at the questions Terri had directed towards him, on the contrary he looked amused, almost gladdened that Terri had asked him that.

"Isn't it obvious to you" he answered, "Wellington made me break my brother's neck, I blame myself for that every day if I could have done more, said more to him to stop the chain of events from happening that did happen. Then my God I would have done. But the fact remains it was the people in Wellington who drove Tim to do such things and then they turned on him. As you could have probably gathered, I don't like this place very much" Tom explained to a listening Terri as the conclusion came to her quickly.

"You've always wanted to do the same" Terri muttered, as he found himself nodding at her.

"But my kill list was too big" Tom told her "I have to choose the group over vengeance Terri, your lucky in a sense you have a targeted kill list. Tell me, what happened to make you want to kill them and how many left now?"

"They hid in the school" Terri recounted "While Brandon, me and Luis tried to get in, they locked themselves in and fucked each other and selfishly enjoyed themselves. While people they were meant to be caring for, people they had a duty to protect to help, died outside! Brandon was one of them... I just... I just couldn't let them live. I made a vow to stalk and kill each and every one of them... I wanted them to know my pain! I wanted them to know and fear the serial killer I am! I want them to know what it feels like to be targeted at... like the cult targeted me and Brandon! So I killed 13 people and I still have one more to go" she finished there and panted to herself, as Tom gazed over at her.

"We both lost our brothers that day" Tom reminded her "and let's face it, they were the better halves. They were better people, back when I was in the military I had to watch my comrades die. I know it's a cliché saying, but it's true Terri. The good always die young, back in the army and now here it's always us shitty people who are left. Could you imagine the likes of Brandon or Tim going on revenge killing spree's for us?"

"No" Terri responded "and that's what made them better people then we'll ever be"

Tom nodded once again "What I'm trying to say Terri, is that I understand you. But you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this now".

"Yes I am" Terri answered, as Tom's face became more lined and his stare became more intense, his pupils seemingly expanding and giving his eyes a soulless black twinge.

"I think you lost yourself in your murder today Terri" he informed her "I ain't got no problem with you killing scum, as long as you don't get caught which you've done masterfully. But today was different, you used members of your own group as pawns, Luis and JJ didn't need that..."

"It had to be done" was all Terri said, brushing a strand of her blonde curls back behind her shoulder.

"Well make sure it doesn't happen again" Tom growled "I've got a group to look out for, your latest murder jeopardises that. Don't harm my group Terri. This person you're going for next, the headmaster I imagine. Trust me, there will be a time and place but for now lay low and do not use anyone for your gain again, do you understand!?"

Terri nodded to show that she did.

"I thought you would tell me to stop killing, or kick me out of the group, or kill me" Terri admitted.

"You know I'm smarter than that" Tom remarked, a light smile forming on his lips and his posture relaxing slightly "When were out there, I'm going to need you Terri to protect the group as best you can Because I imagine you're a smart girl, you've thought ahead on what you're going to do after your hit-list has been ticked off"

"Protect the group from further harm" was all Terri replied.

"Good" Tom muttered "Because only you can get away with murder so easily"

"Then how did you find out in the first place?" Terri asked of him.

"Because you just told me" Tom replied "and walks? Seriously? It may have come across as a new hobby to everyone else. But I know you better than you think Terri Rogers. You observe the group, you know all of them would be fooled by the whole walking excuse. But I never believed it when Tim said he was going out for walks and I was right about that hunch, so I knew I was right about this one" Tom explained to her, as she began to make her way back inside.

"I'll consider everything you've said" she told him.

"Don't consider, act upon it Terri" Tom reminded her, so with these words Terri headed on back inside. She knew Tom wouldn't tell anyone that she was the cut-throat cub, this was a secret between them and it was an unspoken agreement that she too would keep her silence on what Tom had told her. Tom knew he had a big task on his hands, Wellington was going to fall in some way shape or form and with the cut throat cub on your side.

Survival became just that little bit easier.

* * *

BANG!

"Whose there?" Maria called out nervously from the living room.

BANG!

What is it!?" Came Luis' softer tone, hearing the banging at the door, he had rushed down the stairs, his sulk over for the time being. Skidding next to his mother, she nervously pointed at the door and then looked back at Luis.

"POLICE LET US IN!" Someone bellowed.

Maria's blood turned to ice.

"Oh no" she gasped, as she suddenly grabbed Luis by the shoulders.

"Luis hide!" she begged.

"You don't think they..." Luis suddenly seemed to come to this realization, as he himself began to panic. No, he wasn't ready to die yet, he wasn't ready for this...

BANG!

The door was cracking...

"Looks like they've come for you Luis" came a new voice, it was flat and unwavering and belonged to Terri. Even to her this was rather surprising, Luis was young so why on earth was he being targeted for Plan X?

BANG!

"No!" Maria sobbed, "My son is young! Athletic... they... they can't actually want too..."

BANG!

"Luis run and don't look back and don't get caught!" Terri instantly urged him, hiding would prove no good. The police would tear this place to the ground, Luis only had one option and that was too run, and so he did. Instantly sprinting out of the back door and past a bewildered Tom. Who watched the young man leap over the wooden fence and disappear into the shrubbery behind the house.

"LUIS!" Tom called out in confusion, where the hell was that kid going now...?

BANG!

The front door was flung open.

* * *

Wilbert knew that he didn't have a lot of time left. Especially today.

So when he heard those bangs at the door, he didn't run as Luis did, he'd probably have a heart attack if he strained himself that much. He didn't want to run, surviving was too much for him now. The world had stretched out the racist old man too much, he had been battered and beaten and finally he had been worn down, eroded to his very core. His light of survival and his stubborn resistance to go on...

It was gone the second that door opened.

When they heard about Plan X, Wilbert knew instantly he was on the hit-list, elderly... how many elderly people were around Wellington now? Not a great deal and all of them were going to die. He was one argument from a heart attack, why bother giving him the cure when he would die of old age anyhow? For the first time in his life Wilbert had stopped fighting and simply accepted his cruel fate.

The kitchen door burst open.

"WILBERT JEFFERSON!" A policeman bellowed.

"Aye" he responded.

It didn't take them long to restrain him, Wilbert hardly put up a fight at all. Simply allowing the officers to drag him along towards his impending death, he took one last look at the kitchen, and then at the living room, where all of his group were gathered minus JJ.

"You can't do this... you can't do this..." Maria was sobbing to one of the officers.

"I'm sorry, but Luis Agerz name is on the list..."

"HIS YOUNG AND HEALTHY! TAKE ME INSTEAD!"

"His a double amputee victim, Mrs. Agerz as much as it pains me to do this..."

"TAKE ME IN HIS PLACE!"

"Your medical records say you are in fantastic health and are a valuable nurse here in Wellington" the officer told her "I'm sorry we simply can't afford to use you for this operation. Whereas your son... I'm sorry" he held up a walkie talkie to his mouth at this point.

"Boys we got another runner, capture and use force if you have too. Runner is 19 years of age, Mexican Descent, stands at 6 foot 1. Has a missing eye and right arm..."

Maria howled into the sofa as the officer gave these orders to hunt down her son, Wilbert watched them all, his stupid, helpless group. This was going to be the last time he ever saw them...

It was only then Tom noticed Wilbert being dragged away.

"HEY!" He bellowed "WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HIM!"

"Mr. Jefferson, is elderly and in poor health and..."

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM! YOU CAN'T JUST BARGE IN HERE AND...!"Tom ranted.

"SAVE IT!" Wilbert snapped back as Tom fell silent, "WE BOTH KNOW YOUR RELIVED YOU STUPID DARKY, DON'T PLAY A FUCKING NOBLE IDIOT!"

"But..." Tom whimpered.

"THE GROUP NEEDS YOU! DARE I FUCKING ADMIT IT! DON'T GET YOURSELF KILLED OVER ME!" Wilbert admitted, as Tom seemed to deflate on the spot. Him and Wilbert looked at each other for a few seconds.

"You've always been a god-damn problem haven't you?" Tom asked, with a tiny, tiny smile on his face.

"Wouldn't be any fun if I was different" Wilbert responded, returning the smile.

"I'm... I'm going miss that problem" Tom admitted, his voice unusually quiet for such a well built man.

"Granddaddy" came a sudden, lonely voice at the top of the staircase.

"Take care of my grandson" were the last words Wilbert Jefferson muttered to Tom Akastu, Wilbert could barely believe he would trust a darky to look after his grandson after he had died. But in this shitty world, Tom was JJ's best hope.

"Granddaddy, what... what are you doing?" came JJ's voice once again, Wilbert didn't turn to face him.

"I promise Wilbert" Tom muttered.

That was all Wilbert could ask for, with a smile still on his face. Wilbert allowed the police to drag him out of the front door.

"NO! NO!" He heard JJ scream from behind him "LET HIM GO! LET HIM GO!"

Of course the police wouldn't.

"GRANDDADDY, DON'T GO! DON'T LEAVE ME!" JJ screamed, someone must have been holding him back (probably Tom) because he wasn't running outside to get to his grandfather, with tears streaming from his eyes now. Wilbert turned to his grandson for the final time.

"I'm sorry JJ" He apologised, for everything he had made that boy go through, "I love you JJ, stay with Tom. Trust him and remember what I told you" and with those words now out of his system, Wilbert was allowed a few last seconds to gaze at his grandson at the doorway. Tears spilled from both of his golden iris', Wilbert had got him to this stage. A messed up 17 year old individual, Wilbert had done all he could for the boy. But now JJ was free of him, he hoped the boy would stay cautious but also find his own path in life.

He hoped the boy would live a happier life than he had done.

"I saw my family again Joel" he thought in his head, addressing his late son "You finally got me too, I might have done a shitty job, but his fine lad Joel you raised him well, I hope you forgive your stupid old man when I see you in a few hours"

and with that final thought lingering in his head, Wilbert allowed himself to be pushed into the back of the police car.

The group stared after him, that racist pain in the ass he was gone now.

Tom looked over at his group, Maria was still sobbing hysterically into the sofa, JJ had screamed and retreated back to the bathroom in mindless grief, Luis was out in the open being hunted like a dog, Terri was looking back at him, the serial killer in the group being the most sane at this current minute.

So his group was down to 5, possibly 4 and he JJ and Maria were lost in grief.

A group? He had to question if even at this point in time he had a group left to lead.

* * *

Buzzz...

A buzzing noise... a strange buzzing noise... what was that? Clementine slowly inched her tear soaked eyes open. She heard the others comeback hours ago but they had given her space no doubt and not one of them had been up to check on her. Yet Clementine preferred it this way, but now she was being disturbed by something strange buzzing noise...

Bizzzz...

Bizzz and Buzzz what made that sound? Her eyes adjusted to the window, where night was falling over Wellington, she even saw a few white blobs falling from the black sky above her. It was snowing... but in her current state she hardly cared nor appreciated it...

Buzzz...

There it was again, that damn buzzing noise her almond eyes finally located the black blob that had been causing it.

It was a bee, whizzing around her room.

"God damn bees!" Clementine snapped, wondering why on earth at this time in winter there suddenly seemed to be some sort bee epidemic, and why she saw so many of them around. She swatted at it, the bee landed on a dusted book, protruding out from under Sarah's bed. Clementine used her newspaper of a hand to try and flatten the damn insect but it whizzed off at the last second, leaving Clementine with her hand on the book.

The book she realised then was Sarah's diary, It had been unopened in a year.

Cautiously Clementine picked up the book and opened it, going to the latest possible date that was written in there, because she knew this was what Sarah wrote in it, so hurriedly the night before her death. Clementine's old intrigue peaked once again as she dared look at the double page that Sarah had scribbled on, it was dated the day before her death and it read...

_Dear Diary_

_Had a great day! I mean, school wasn't all that great because some bully called Scott thought it would be funny to do grind against me (it reminded me of that time in the woods... ugh... I'll write no more on that matter) but then something great but really scary happened! JJ came to my rescue! It was kind of shocking because JJ got really, really mad and broke Scott's arm, he got suspended for two weeks, which is so unfair! Because Scott's the stupid bully here not JJ! When JJ gets back to school, I'm going to bake him a welcome back cake (I might have to ask Rebecca and Clem to help me with it though)._

_Anyway, the day got better as it went on. Scott kept falling off the rope in gym which was funny and I got far in my bleep test (hearing Luis and Clem argue was too funny! I swear he likes her! He probably just doesn't know it yet, and I can't imagine Clem being happy with being in love at all!) I mean I want to see Clem be happy for once, she's getting really down lately because of her bickering with Luis and the situation with Wellington. I just think he likes her and it's his way of trying to get her attention, I wanted to tell Clem that, but I'll leave her to figure it out on her own because I can't dictate her life for her. Clem's so amazing and strong she'll find out what she wants regardless of boys or not._

_and now for the best part of today! Well first me and Clem went up onto the hill outside and she told me some really nice things! I love having her around she's like the sensible little sister I never had and I'm sure she'll be happy soon. I believe in her! and as well as that I followed Nick, he went into town real late. So I followed him, he told me off when he realised I was following him, but what followed made up for that, because guess what!?_

_NICK AND STEF ARE GETTING MARRIED!_

_I can't even tell you how happy I am! I want them to have a great big winter wedding! With Christmas tree's and snowflakes and all that! I always liked the angel on top of the Christmas tree! and we'll have the wedding at the main church in Wellington and invite all our friends there and it's going to be greeeeeaaaattttttttt! I'm so excited for it! Nick couldn't afford to get the ring but I told him he didn't one. Stef loves him regardless (and Molly can always steal a ring, that sounds really bad but Molly's so cool I wouldn't care) but that's it for today! We're all finally moving on with life and that makes me so excited! I want Stef and Nick to have 10 kids and have them be all girls, name 9 Sarah, 1 Clementine and... oh wait, maybe 8 Sarah and 1 Clementine and 1 Molly and maybe call one Rebecca too! Or they could have boys too! Called Nick Junior... Luke Junior and Eddie Junior that would be so cute! and AJ and Lilly would have friends to play with!_

_There is so much to be excited about I can't wait!_

_Tomorrow is going to be such a great day! _

Tear sized blobs landed onto the paper, this was Sarah's mindset before everything went too shit? After Clementine had spent all night worrying about Wellington's troubles. Even reading that made Clementine feel upbeat about the possibilities for the future and she smiled... up until she read the last line. Knowing exactly what tomorrow really had in store for Sarah.

She felt herself crying... she never knew Nick planned to propose to Stephanie at all. They could have lived a life together, they could have... but now that was never meant to be. Nick was probably already dead, Plan X would have claimed him instantly, Sarah would never get that winter wedding she wanted. It was over it was all over...

_"Don't make the same mistakes I did Clem" _

Gertrude's words bounced around in her skull, as she looked down at the book in her hands, she could do what Gertrude did and cling onto this possessions while she watched everyone around her die. She could cling onto Sarah's memory forever or she could have actually gotten up and done something. Maybe Nick still had some time, it was very little time to say the least but god dammit it was one tiny, tiny ray of hope.

_"There are still so many people you need to help" _

Sarah, did the girl somehow know Nick would need help, that her group would need help at this point?

She wiped away her last tear and finally it seemed Sarah's diary had done something to her, she smiled as she read it, even if it was a fluke in the end Clementine had smiled. There was still some light in the world, Nick still needed help, she was still watching over the group. The time had come at long last to finally act.

"You'll get your winter wedding Sarah" Clementine muttered standing up "No matter what I have to do to get it, I will" and with that she proceeded to storm out of the room. For a spilt second she thought she saw an outline on Sarah's bed and caught a quick glimpse of a smile... but then as soon as it appeared it was gone. Not thinking much off it, Clementine proceeded downstairs.

None of the group were around, other than Luke, who lay flat on the sofa. An empty bottle of whiskey on the ground next to him and a photo of himself and Nick crumpled in his hand. Clementine gazed down at him in sympathy before she looked at the door and then back at him.

"I'm going to be here for you now Luke" Clementine told him, even though he couldn't hear her, she was fulfilling her promise she had made to Molly. He was too stretched out by the world and he needed help and Clementine was going to help him.

She was getting his best friend back, she was going to look out for Luke in the way he looked out for them all.

She then proceeded out of the front door, not really sure what the hell the plan was from here, but she knew she was getting to Wellington prison one way or another. Nothing could stop her now, she was finally going to start fighting again.

She could almost hear Sarah say too her...

_"Thank you"_

Because Clementine was back in action.


	18. Finding Animals

**A/N: Thanks again everyone for reviewing and I'm glad to see last chapter was something of a tearjerker, anyway I appreciate all of your reviews and I can't wait to get down to writing this chapter (also for those who are reading my Life Is Strange fic, I'll promise I'll update as soon as I can, but at the moment this fic is the top priority) anyway I want to get these next couple of chapters out of the way ASAP, as there is a point in this fic (in a few chapters or so) that I want to reach. Once this point is reached I can imagine the chapters becoming shorter once again (but quality over quantity heh?) and writing about so many characters scattered across Wellington can get daunting at times, by Chapter 20 I will ensure all the plots in Wellington have been tied up but I'll try not to rush the next chapters, I'm just hyped over what's to come, anyhow onto answering reviews!**

**ffapathy- Thanks for another fantastic review, I loved your analysis of the 2000 days group and how Wilbert warning JJ not to be reckless could end up with him being like Brandon (recklessly tried to save his sister) Tim (enough said) Ana (blinding Molly and taking on the Wolf) and Oscar (running to the wall and away from a mob etc...). Wilbert's end is probably the first one within the 2000 days group that isn't reckless at all, which is ironic considering his character has been confrontational, but they've gone from 10 till 5. I do have plans for Tom, Maria, Luis, JJ and Terri.**

**I also liked your analysis on Eddie finally finding out the identity of the wolf, suffice to say he and Violet will play a big part in the plot to follow, as their little investigation is a plot point that has to go somewhere... also glad to see Molly love from you and that you support the Molly-Luke shipping! (I find it great to write about) Molly is another reckless character even in blindness she has fight in her although it remains to be seen if that will come back to bite her later on.**

**Finally I loved your comparison between Plan X and what the Nazi's did during World War 2. I don't imagine the officers that took Gertrude away to be pure evil, as I wanted to make the situation more grey than having some gun wielding assholes show up and become the big baddies that take people away to be killed... I wanted to show that yes they are trying to justify themselves by saying that their following orders but at the same time it's going to have a traumatic emotional impact on them as well. As I imagine they'd have to kill friends/parents etc... in order for everyone else to live. Regardless I did like how you explored the theme of being helpless as a cause of finding yourself a victim in Wellington, as that does seem to be the case thus far. Also in your PM I'm glad you were the first to point out the trigger to these dreams/visions that the group have, all of them being grateful to Clem for giving them the happy times they had, rather than their gory demises in an alternative timeline and as for the games events... you'll have to wait and see to how that comes in.**

** Anyway thanks again for another great review.**

**Shattering Soul- Loving your reviews and advice, it's not annoying at all feedback is the thing I crave the most and all of your ideas and suggestions help shape this fic into what it is! So thanks for the tips on Clem and how to help her progression into a teenager seem more natural and not forced (and earning the dislike of some readers) I'll be sure to follow through on your tips.**

**Also the spirit animals! YESSSSSSS! I love that concept of Life Is Strange with Chloe being the butterfly and Rachel/Max the doe. I'm going to add more references to the bee/Sarah thing in the upcoming chapters. As I re-read No Going Back and remembered that was her parent's nickname for her, and that Sarah was always buzzing around like a bee, so I thought why not? I also liked how you pointed out the bee lead Clem to Edward as that was a subtle detail I didn't think many people would pick up on, suffice to say I thinking about dropping more spirit animals into the following chapters (three points if you can guess which animal represents who) I know this is border lining the supernatural theme here. But this is my story and in RTR the supernatural theme is going to become very prominent within later chapters. **

**Chameishida and Bubbles2k100 it's fine, I can understand life gets busy at times and you can't leave a review, I appericate all of your support for my fics so far and this was seemingly an emotional chapter for you both, so looks like I've taken you on the feels train again. Paradoxilla indeed You've Got Time doesn't seem to be fitting at the current minute and TWDRUNNER37, Yomi-Ryoken and AquaDestinysEmbrace thank you all for reviewing once again.**

**and now onto chapter 18! **

* * *

_"NO!"_

_Luke was aware of himself screaming this, a second after he heard his own grief stricken yell, the scenery came into sharp focus fields of white almost blinded him and he could feel the freezing cold air on every pore of his skin._

_He was also aware of Vitali and another bald man aiming guns directly at him._

_By his leg he saw Clementine, behind her Bonnie, Mike and Kenny. Kenny's arm was raised and a pistol shone in the weak sunlight that seeped past the heavy grey cloud cover, Rebecca sat slumped on a tyre, a red indent in the middle of her head confirming her death and the fact that Kenny had shot her._

_Well he guessed why he had screamed now._

_And his scream was the trigger because merely a second later there was a blinding light, the loud roar of gunfire and Luke found himself on the ground, his torso ripped to shreds by bullets aimed directly his way._

_Luke wanted to say "Heeeellllppp…." But to his sudden realisation and horror no sound escaped his lips, over than a pitiful moan. He was in pain… and he could feel this horrific pain. It was agonising to say the very least as blood oozed through his old orange jumper… why was he wearing this? What was this? Why were Bonnie, Mike, Kenny, Rebecca (and a bundle in Rebecca's lap who must have been AJ) and Clem doing here, along with the old Russian group? Where were Nick, Sarah, Molly, Stephanie, Eddie, Christa, Wyatt and Kelly exactly?_

_So many questions… but Luke was in too much pain to care, his head was dizzy his body moved of it's own accord, he couldn't control his actions which was terrifying, as he could only watch himself and feel himself try to gulp down oxygen like a dying fish._

_His eyes found Clementine's, the 11 year old stood frozen there as Luke tried to mutter some last words to her…_

_"orry… id…" was all he could muster, before with a final, sharp, shooting pain, the world went black…_

_And then the scene shifted…_

_He was looking up at where Clementine was gazing down back at him, except this time he wasn't in a snowfield, the instant hum of water and the lack of oxygen, confirmed to him that he was in freezing vat of water. He tried to speak but once again he found that he couldn't, he was simply observing the scene…_

_But he felt the pain._

_Something was dragging him down, a hand had wrapped itself around his ankle and no matter how hard Luke tried to fight the damn thing off, his burly body sank like a stone. He felt himself panic and open his mouth to try and gasp for air or to scream, for any sort of help or assistance. But this was a fatal mistake as his lungs filled with ice cold water almost instantly, he felt his whole body throb in agony, the pressure of the water growing greater on his shoulders. Clementine now floating above him, but her face and everything else around him was turning to a shade of pitch black…_

_"Heeellllllpppp….!" Luke felt himself scream, however only a massive bubble took it's place, he felt one of his lungs burst, as an agonising sensation swept across his whole body. He felt his arms and legs go limp, the thing (which must have been a walker) continued to pull him down to his doom without a hint of mercy. Luke was in agony, the world getting blacker, the increased water pressure… dying… dying like this was pure torture…_

"AHHHH!"

Luke awoke with a rushed heartbeat and a thick layer of perspiration covering his skin, he felt his headache almost instantly along with his aching limbs and burning throat. Added to the dream he had just had, mingled with the fact he had downed an entire bottle of whiskey he felt his stomach churn and vomit rise up in his throat. Gulping it down for the time being, the depressed man quickly leapt off the sofa and rushed for the downstairs toilet, flinging the door open and bending over the toilet just in time as vomit mercilessly forced it's way up his throat and out of his mouth.

"Ugh..." Luke groaned, gazing down at his yellow vomit in the toilet. After the dream he had just had... he didn't like the way the water swayed in the toilet. He didn't like the site of water at all, he could still feel himself drowning. He had no idea it would be that agonising of a death but apparently it was. Because Luke knew what he had just experienced was no normal dream.

That... vision. Both of them were just like his pre-life.

He quickly managed to deduce what his first vision was, Clementine had explained to him about what his fate was during her original timeline and how he had been shot down by the Russians. That was an explainable vision and although Luke still had to question why the hell he had received it now of all times, he knew it was a vision he could somehow explain. All he had thought about before he had gone to sleep is how grateful he was too still have Clementine with him and he appreciated all she had done for him and everyone up to this point. He may have lost his best friend today but he still had Clementine and she was the tiny, tiny ray of hope is the stinking cesspool of death and misery that was supposedly a safe community called Wellington. But at this moment in time it wasn't Wellington, nor the first vision he had that bothered him.

What really bothered him, was the second one.

Where the hell did that occur? Why was his underwater? Why did a walker grab his ankle and drag him down to his watery grave? Why was Clem there? Did he try to push the walker away to save her and then it snagged onto him? Why was his fate like worryingly similar to Vince's? He was nothing like Vince and hoped to become nothing like the former leader of the group. If the first vision showed what happened in the past in a pre-life... did his second vision somehow showcase what would occur to him in the near future?

Clem had those brief glimpses of the future beforehand, maybe... just maybe... that what was going to happen to him soon.

Luke shuddered, of all the questions prickling at his mind. He couldn't shake off that horrible trauma of actually feeling himself drown and die. Being shot and dying in pain was one thing... but in pitch black with your body slowly being crushed by the pressure of the water and watching the daylight and the people you loved (Clem) slowly fading away while in complete agony... Luke gripped onto the toilet seat tighter. Thankful for any form of dry land right now.

His relief lasted for a minute, before he vomited again and realised why he was in such a sorry state. Nick. Nick was dead, his best friend for 20 years was dead right now, probably having his brain torn out of his body. and Luke didn't even get to say goodbye to him, all he got was one last unpleasant meeting with Nick in prison. When both of them were unaware of Nick's future demise, or the fact it would be their last meeting... Luke should have done something he should have broken Nick out of that jail months ago. The former farmhand knew perfectly well who would be cure fodder when the cure was deployed, so why on earth did he let Nick rot in there? Maybe Nick wouldn't have moved regardless and that thought stopped Luke from trying to help Nick at all. Maybe that was just Luke's excuse for being a bad friend.

"How did I sink to this...?" Luke moaned to himself continuing to hold onto the toilet seat, as if for dear life, as he shook his head and awaited for the next wave of vomit to pour from his mouth from the toilet... he remembered the days when he was a student and he used to spend most nights in this state. Yet even then he never felt as shit as he did now. Because back then Nick was there...

One night in particular stood out sharply in his memory...

_An 18 year old Luke Harris sat slumped over the toilet in that dingy club, not yet too used to the effects of alcohol he groaned while pouring his guts out into the toilet, which was already filled with vomit from other boys who had far too much to drink and urine coated the toilet seat. If Luke wasn't in such a sorry state (covered in urine and vomit himself and stinking of things worse than the toilet itself) then he would have retched himself dry... but no here he was, another fun night passing by..._

_He suddenly heard a shuffling sound behind him, and saw Nick slide into his cubicle without a second thought to who could have been in there and what they could have possibly been doing, when he saw Luke his azure eyes brightened a faction and he slumped next to his friend and placed a comforting arm around his shoulder._

_"Offering me a helping hand...?" Luke slurred to him._

_Friends would have comforted each other, if one of them was drunk out of their minds. Friends would carry their drunken friends home, friends would bail their drunken friends out of jail if they did something too rowdy the previous night._

_But best friends on the other hand got drunk out of their minds with you, passed out in the street with you and were with you in jail when you were too rowdy._

_So obviously Nick threw up into the dingy toilet himself, merely using Luke's broad back as support to make sure he didn't topple into the toilet himself._

_"What the fuck man?" Luke snapped at him, Nick's different coloured vomit splashed onto his ragged excuse of a shirt._

_"Druuuuuuunk..." Nick's prolonged moan hardly made any sense in Luke's ringing ears, all Luke knew is that he could feel more bile rising in his throat, so as a form of revenge he sprayed his vomit all over Nick._

_"The fuck...!?" Nick exclaimed trying to wipe Luke's vomit out of his eyes._

_"Throw up somewhere else then!" Luke snapped._

_"Other toilets are taken..."_

_"Well then throw up on that girl you were with"_

_"Fuck that, she went off with some sports asshole"_

_"At least you made out..."_

_"Wish I didn't, ugly bitch anyway"_

_"Then you'd be perfect for each other"_

_"Piss off, you're not looking to hot yourself" _

_"Because you puked on me!"_

_"and you puked on me back!" _

_"Want me to be cover you in my shit then! I'll make you ugliest fucking thing alive Nick..."_

_"Challenge accepted asshole" Nick responded, burping and cascading Luke with a torrent of vomit._

_That was the night the pair of them neglected girls, other friends, dancing like idiots and stealing drinks from others and dressing up in the most ridiculous things. That night was toilet night, the pair of them were sat huddled puking on each other until 4 in the morning, until stinking of things that made everyone else's eyes water. Others avoided them, or cast them odd looks as they supported each other home, through the darkened streets laughing at each other and not giving a damn what anyone else thought..._

In present day, Luke was sat there by the toilet as lonely as he could be, gazing down at the old photo of him and Nick when they were still teenagers. He remembered this shot being taken not too long after the toilet night and now he realised how long ago that really was...

He had come this far... used his second chance for making the decision he regretted most in his any of his lives. Killing Nick after he went insane during his pre-life, he couldn't stand looking into Nick's eyes and watch his oldest friend slowly wither away and die. Yes he had killed Nick to protect Clementine but he had tried his hardest to keep Nick sane, to ensure he didn't become the next Carver, Vince or Kenny. Luke had seen it with his own eyes that Nick was capable of such a thing and his second chance was meant to protect his best friend.

He had failed.

His felt himself throw up in the toilet again (obviously the drinking had failed to drown out his sorrows).

He was sick of this, he just wanted a damn break or a miracle for once!

* * *

Unbeknownst to Luke, miracles came in much closer and much smaller packages than he expected. As 20 feet away from the toilet standing in front of the house Clementine Marsh had an old fire in her eyes, she was going to save Nick no matter what it took. She knew she would never reach Wellington Prison by simply running or walking there. It was at the very outskirts of town near to many other abandoned buildings after the riot. The half an hour walk simply wasn't an option and there wasn't a public bus she could catch for this... her eyes drifted towards Luke's car.

The door to the driving was still slightly open... Clementine did a double take, Luke must have known better than too leave the door open so potential robbers could still his car. But Clementine guessed in his drunken state he had completely neglected it, his car keys lay right beside the tyre as well. Scooping them up with her small hand to ensure the car's safety. Clementine sighed in relief before nervously creaking open the door and looking at the imposing steering wheel that lay before her.

Was she really going to drive to Wellington Prison?

She tried to reassure herself this was the only option, that there was no time to wake up someone else to help her with this mission. Besides their spirits were all crushed by Gertrude's departure earlier, none of them would dare raise their hopes again for Nick, also Clementine had observed Luke driving a million times. Luke had allowed her to drive his car in small stretches beforehand and she had managed it okay (shifting the gear constantly though was something she found annoying and she found if she applied even if the tiniest bit of pressure on the pedal, the car would speed off much faster than she expected it too) her palms were sweating...

She...she didn't know if she could capably drive this car all the way to the prison.

But she had done a lot worse than this and had lived to tell the tale, so steeling her inner courage and motivation she stormed into the driver's seat and closed the door behind her.

The car stank of alcohol and... a strange sweaty smell that Clementine couldn't identify, shrugging this off she inhaled deeply and placed her hands on the steering wheel, she turned the key as the engine spluttered to life and the overhead lights flickered on as she prepared to shift the gear she thought she heard a muffled sound in the back. She whipped her head around to see nothing, other than a torn bundle or some sort of ragged red blanket stretched across the back seat and in the boot Clementine knew that's where Gertrude's weapons (rocket launcher included) were stored for the time being.

If things got too bad... then these may have come in handy.

Turning back to the windscreen Clementine nervously placed her foot on the pedal and slowly reversed the car into the road, successfully turning the yellow thing so it headlights illuminated the road ahead of her, Clementine knew this was it... this was the road to redemption. This was the road she would have to take if she ever wanted a semblance of her old group back, a road filled with uncertainty and risk and one she was seemingly walking alone. But this is what Sarah would have wanted, this is what Gertrude would have wanted along with so many others...

as she thought that she caught sight of a fox peering at her through the nearby tree's opposite of their house (they were quite a few animals like this around Wellington) it's bright red fur caught Clementine's eyes, as she saw the fox didn't act as most foxes would. This one (rather than run from the sound of the car and bright lights) made a habit of running right in front of the car, before abruptly turning on it's paws and sprinting down the road in front of Clementine, she watched the speck of red become more distant... and she felt inclined to follow the thing.

She drove steadily down the midnight road, passing trees and several silent houses, many residents grieving after losing loved one's today and so houses now stood empty and untouched the people that resided within them now being used as cure fodder for the rest of the population. Clementine could only hope that she got to the prison in time in order to get to Nick before he suffered the same horrible fate, she knew the way to the prison as living in Wellington for three years she knew every stone on the side-walk, although she hadn't actually been inside of the prison. She wished she'd gotten over her depression sooner so she could have least seen Nick once.

She was brought out of her train of thought, as the fox stopped abruptly by a nearby tree, it was near a house that had been abandoned since the riot piles of rubbish and graffiti littered around the now mouldy house and the tree had been a victim of vandalism and countless cravings in the bark, empty alcohol bottles and syringes decorated the bottom of the tree like falling autumn leaves. The fox was now acting very peculiar in the sense it was now rubbing it's furry head against the graffiti covered tree, Clementine squinted to see amongst the crude drawings and endless hearts, the fox was rubbing it's head against a piece that clearly read...

SaVe ThEm

It must have been written during the riot, or even recently with Plan X coming about, either way Clementine got the message she didn't know why but she didn't feel alone anymore. Someone... somewhere was encouraging her to go onwards, with a smile on her face and a warm feeling spreading through her gut she sped the car onwards.

"I'm going to save them" she thought to herself "Both of them"

The fox at the tree didn't follow the car anymore, it moved onwards, one of it's paws crushing a syringe on the ground before it disappeared into the dark night.

* * *

"So... you're sure about this?"

"Yep, we knew the Hart's they were a lovely couple"

Eddie and Violet stood outside of the Fyre household, anyone else in Wellington (in the aftermath of Plan X and at midnight) would have told them to go fuck themselves, ignore them, scream bloody murder, throw things at them. But the Fyre's were a different matter completely dressed in their cosy nightwear the three of them, Mary, Alan and their son Edward Fyre had lived in Wellington town originally and were almost completely untouched by the walker outbreak, sheltered to a great degree and retaining their humanity so much better than so many others around them. Because of this the family were very popular in Wellington, they had survived the riot and had now gone untouched by Plan X as well.

They were also happy to answer phone calls near to midnight to apparently.

"I just want to thank you so much for this..." Violet told them and that was as true as could be, only the Fyre's could be the family nice enough to do this for her.

"It's no hassle Violet, really" Mary told her.

"Yeah, we were quite surprised to hear the Hart's had a hidden son all of this time" Alan added, with a small, yet slightly uncertain smile. It's as if the beefy brown haired man didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing. Violet and Eddie seemed to be prodding them on whether the Hart's actually had a son or not, which... which they must have done because that weird cult had listed him on the Domesday report.

"But Ethan was on the Domesday report" Mary added, as if she could read her husband's mind "I've heard Ethan's a lovely lad, a little odd but a good lad"

There was a universal nod of agreement at this, yet Edward felt inclined to offer that little bit more than what his parents were providing.

"They must have hid him well though" The optimistic boy added "I remember when we went around their house and I never heard a peep anywhere, never caught a glimpse of him. You'd think they'd have chained him in the basement with a gag across his mouth or something... but seeing as his a strong guy that's not possible, maybe Ethan just wasn't a people's person" Edward suggested, a light hearted laugh escaped his lips after the last statement, but judging by the way his dark blue eyes quickly locked upon Eddie's and Violet's in a quick succession, there was an underlying suspicion to Edward's words.

Edward himself believed that the Hart's never had a son.

and his sugar-coated words to Violet and Eddie only confirmed that. With her suspicions now confirmed not only by Eddie but by the trustworthy Fyre's Violet knew she had gotten all that she had needed in order to at least confront Ethan about all of this.

"Well... if there's nothing else then we'll head off" Violet muttered with a wide, false smile as she and Eddie shook the hands of each member of the Fyre family.

"We should catch up some time" Alan suggested "We haven't heard too much from you Violet and Eddie it would be nice to go out and have a drink some time"

"Yeah definitely dude" Eddie said agreeing thoroughly with Alan's suggestion.

"Well be seeing you around then" Mary concluded with a wave, as the couple departed back to their car, while the Fyre's headed back into the depths of their house. Edward closed the door as Eddie closed the car door, he turned to Violet whose face become grim almost instantly.

"You know where Ethan lives right?" she asked of him instantly.

"Luke pointed it out a few times, so yeah" he responded.

"Good, we need to sort this" Violet muttered, a fire in her green eyes her rage could be similar to her late brother's at times like these.

"Violet..." Eddie began in a cautious tone.

"Don't tell me to be fucking careful Eddie" Violet snapped at him, "I've been waiting a year for this moment! a fucking year! You have no idea what it's like to be called a freak! To have people spit on and disrespect your dead brother, I know he wasn't perfect but he wasn't a mass murderer! He wasn't the Wellington Wolf! I am going to bring this wolf to justice! To get the damn truth my sister wanted and to prove my brother innocent once and for all!" she snarled as she said this she slid a pistol out from her pocket.

"VIOLET!" Eddie shouted (now clearly alarmed) "For fuck's sake don't do anything reckless! If this guy is the Wellington Wolf, he... he killed God knows how many people in Wellington and he killed Ana and Oscar! His killed people stronger than you!"

"I killed that damn priest" Violet muttered darkly "You underestimate what I'm capable of Eddie"

"I'm not underestimating you!" Eddie shouted "I care about you Violet! But your not thinking this through... what are you going to do!? Wave your damn pistol around and kill Ethan after he admits to you that his the wolf!? Then you've just made yourself a murder in the eyes of everyone in Wellington!"

"IF YOUR SO AGAINST THIS EDDIE!" Violet roared "THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL ME THAT YOU THOUGHT ETHAN HART WAS THE WOLF!? YOU COULD HAVE KEPT IT TOO YOURSELF! WE COULD HAVE MOVED ON! I COULD HAVE PLAYED THE SEX-TOY AND TROPHY GIRLFRIEND YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED!"

"YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Eddie spat, losing his usually cool demeanour.

"I KNOW!" Violet screamed, before she suddenly became silent, she bent her head in sorrow and felt herself stare aimlessly at the gun in her fingers. (She had attained it from her late brother and kept it hidden on her ever since)

"I know you don't want me just because of that" she mumbled "I knew it since I first looked at you, that you were a nice guy. You were different from the others that's why I wanted you in the end. If you only wanted me for just for sex and playing the token girlfriend you would have kept the identity of the wolf from me, under the guise that you cared about me... but Eddie..." Violet now tore her eyes from the pistol in her pale fingers and they locked on her boyfriend.

"I want to hear it from you" she told him firmly "Why did you tell me, you knew I do this"

"Because Violet" Eddie began with his response "I care about you... I really, really fucking do alright. Like... hell I hate using this word... but I love you alright? I told you this because I knew you'd never let this go, you were always going to be looking for the wolf. You'd never settle Violet, I want you to have closure. I want you to finish this, shoot the wolf in the leg, cripple him and make him confess to Wellington what his done and if the president is involved bring him down too! You need to finish this Violet, if you don't you'll destroy yourself" and with that Eddie's larger hand, wrapped themselves around where Violet's shaking one's were wrapped around the pistol.

"Think through a plan here Violet" Eddie advised here "Don't be so reckless, but you need to finish this. I lost my best friend because my group didn't finish something that needed to be done. Every day that still destroys me inside you know? I keep thinking If I could have done more... then..." he sighed there before speaking up once again "Don't screw up like me and my group did"

"Eddie..." Violet almost whispered, he hardly ever mentioned his dead friend to her, without anymore words she planted a kiss on his lips and muttered "Thank you, will you be with me during this?"

"Every step of the way" he promised.

They interlocked hands before Violet placed her's back on the steering wheel, with a deep breath she geared the car to life.

"I swear to God, if this turns out to be the wrong guy" Eddie mused, light humour returning to his voice.

"I would shoot you" Violet responded flatly, before the car accelerated.

Towards the house of the true Wellington Wolf.

* * *

JJ was sat there, head in his hands rocking back and forth against the bathroom wall unable to process how quickly and suddenly his grandfather had departed from his life and all the hateful things JJ had said to him beforehand, now they made the boy swell up in a grief and regret he couldn't even begin to explain.

Tom had tried talking to him through the bathroom door but JJ had completely ignored him.

JJ bashed his head against the bathroom wall, wanting to punish himself for everything... for everything he had done. He found that he still resented his grandfather in some ways and that made him hate himself even more. He felt TT arise within him when he bashed his head against the wall, telling him to get over it. To go downstairs and laugh about his grandfather's death in front of everyone and then tease Maria about what they could have been doing to Luis right now and maybe force himself on Terri and let that bitch have a good time for once...

But no. No. JJ didn't want TT anymore, he didn't want that reckless escape. The reckless escape he had always used when his grandfather was around and now that his grandfather was gone JJ found that he couldn't unleash TT anymore. JJ himself was free and JJ couldn't handle this freedom, he survived off his grandfather he was helpless. TT was the survivalist side of him, his alter ego. But, he was just so sick of all of this.

"don't break... don't break...don't break..." JJ muttered to himself was bashing his head against the wall.

Eventually the skin on his forehead cracked and a torrent of blood rained down his face, yet he carried on hurting himself until he could feel something. He just wanted to pass out and wake up once again back with his parents, or back to a world where his grandfather was alive so he could at least apologise for all the hurtful things he had said to him. Or maybe he didn't want all that at all, his life now and state of mind were such a jumbled mess of emotions that JJ himself couldn't explain it all anymore.

"FUCK!" He bellowed, his head was dizzy now but he really didn't care, he hit his head against the wall once again and felt his legs give way, he was losing conscious.

Maybe... just maybe if he bashed these demons out of his head, when he woke up their would be a fresh start.

He was broken now.

He wanted to wake up, repaired.

Half an hour later Tom finally managed to barge his way in the bathroom, suffice to say the sight of JJ lying there covered in his own blood, passed out was alarming but he wasn't dead. Tom did all he could and with Terri's assistance they cleared the blood from JJ's prone form and gently set the boy completely lost in grief back down onto his bed, when he was settled Tom and Terri departed from his room.

Maria was downstairs curled up into a ball and probably asleep, but the fresh tears still rained down her face.

Tom sighed as Terri looked up at him, to say they were in a bleak position was a bit of an understatement.

"I fucking hate this town" Tom snarled at last.

Terri nodded to show she agreed with him, while Tom paced up to the window and glared openly at Wellington, before his look softened and opened his mouth.

"Do you think Luis is still out there?"

"Of course" Terri replied almost instantly "His too stubborn to die, believe me he is out there somewhere still running and hiding and surviving"

Tom's lips curled upwards into a small smile at these words of encouragement at the welfare and fate of one of the members of his group.

"and where do you think he is?" Tom asked of her once again.

"I have a... vague idea" she replied with a small smile of her own.

* * *

Clementine was nearing Wellington prison now although she had absolutely no idea how the hell she was meant to get Nick out of there. her first plan was to go up to the main desk and ask to see him if he was still in. If the answer was no then her gut would sink in grief knowing that he was already long dead. However if the answer was no with a leer and the response was "He is about to be used for Plan X..." then she had a rocket launcher with her and it was loaded right now. Gertrude always liked to stay on the defence she guessed...

She guessed the plan was to pull out that rocket launcher and threaten to blow the whole place up if they didn't take her too see Nick.

Extreme, a plan filled with holes but it was her only option right now, she could have used a gun but the officers there would have guns too and a rocket launcher was... was well so much more awesome. Clementine knew how to use it, simply pull down on the trigger and KA-BOOM! Although if Gertrude went flying after using it, Clementine imagined the drawback would send her over the wall and probably all the way back to Howe's.

Stopping the car at the side of the road, Clementine proceeded too get out of the thing and open the boot at the back, she picked up the heavy rocket launcher and quickly she closed the boot and stumbled while carrying the rocket launcher into the car, opening the door to the driver's seat once again she placed the rocket launcher inside on the opposite front seat and squeezed herself back into the car.

She hoped no one had seen her carrying that thing.

In fact it was exposed there in the adjacent front seat, without much thought she picked it up and threw it into the back seat on the tattered red rag.

Except the red rag grunted in pain when the rocket launcher landed on it... rags didn't grunt in pain, or groan or (Clementine suddenly realise) breath so softly that she could barely hear them. No the rocket launcher slid from what Clementine now realised wasn't a red rag at all, but a torn red t-shirt it must have belonged to a burly figure's torso who had stretched themselves across the back seat. She had a sleeping hitch-hiker in the back seat all of this time and had failed to notice, she guessed that explained the sweaty smell and whoever the hitch hiker was had clearly snuck inside due to the fact Luke had left the car open earlier.

Yet when the figure still rose, Clementine jumped out of her skin and screamed in surprise.

The other boy also fumbled around in surprise at his sudden awakening, after recovering from the initial shock, Clementine's yellow eyes locked with a set of dark brown one's.

"Clem" he mumbled.

"Luis" she replied.

They store at each other for a moment more before the initial shock faded away.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THE BACK OF LUKE'S CAR!" She screamed instantly.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DRIVING IT!? YOUR LIKE 12...!"

"15 ACTUALLY!"

"WHO GIVES A SHIT, YOU DRIVE LIKE A DRUNK!"

"WELL YOU SLEPT THROUGH IT SOUNDLY!"

"UNTIL YOU WOKE UP BY CHUCKING... WHAT IS THIS!?" Luis wondered as he picked it up and a look of alarm spread across his face "A ROCKET LAUNCHER! A FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER!"

"It's the same one Gertrude used on that day" Clementine replied grimly "I'm going to use it to get my friend Nick out of prison"

"WHAT THE... WHAT!?" Luis practically screeched.

Clementine ignored him and proceeded too place her hands back on the steering wheel and her hand on the gear stick, however before she could move a muscle Luis had leapt over the front seat and placed to forcefully slam his remaining hand down on Clementine's that was wrapped around the gear stick.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Clementine asked of him.

"STOPPING YOU!" He replied as if it was obvious "FIRSTLY I DON'T TRUST 12 YEAR OLD'S TO DRIVE CARS...!"

"15!" Clementine roared, her exclamation may as well have fallen on deaf ears however as Luis continued to rant on.

"...SECONDLY WHAT THE FUCK IS THE PLAN HERE!? USE THAT ROCKET LAUNCHER TO BLOW A HOLE IN THE WALL NEXT TO NICK'S CELL!?"

"I was planning to ask the police to take me to his cell and then bust him out" Clementine replied "and if they refused I'd threaten to blow them all up with this"

"YOUR EVEN CRAZIER THAN I FIRST THOUGHT!" Luis shouted to no avail "WHAT ARE YOU, A SUICIDE BOMBER!? OR WHAT!?"

"I just want to save my friends" Clementine replied just as determined as ever, as Luis merely scoffed at her.

"I was there Clem" he snapped but in a quieter voice, "Nick seemed like an alright guy, but his already gone to plan X I tried to save the guy but... like I first told you the Government is corrupt here. You can't do anything to stop them..."

"THAT'S BECAUSE NO ONE HAS EVER TRIED!" Clementine screamed letting it all of her chest as she stared Luis directly in the eyes (or his single eye in his case) and continued to address him "People like you! People who don't have any hope for the future! There could have been a better way to get this cure without so much death, if people like you had actually fought back against the system! Why just keeping running from this!"

"BECAUSE, CLEMENTINE! THEY WANTED TO HARVEST ME FOR PLAN X! THAT'S WHY I'M RUNNING AND HIDING RIGHT NOW!" Luis roared and it was then (because Luis was quite close to her) she realised that Luis' face was covered in cuts and that she had forgotten the detail of his red-shirt being torn and tattered she realised that they were cuts and bruises spread across the exposed areas of his skin and his short spiky hair and facial hair was dotted with twigs and bits of dried, dead leaves.

"They... they wanted to use you for Plan X?" Clementine asked, confusion clogging her thoughts as she glanced over at Luis. Her eyes trailing over his muscles and face he was young and healthy why on earth were they using him for this?

"I don't get it" Clementine thought aloud "Why use you, you're young and fit?" she realised then she was staring and her words sounded a bit... off. Luis' expression changed to that of a cocky smile as he laid back in his seat as Clementine cursed under her breath. Great, to give Luis an ego boost now was just what he needed.

"Well, thank you I know I am" he began in most irritating (high and mighty) voice.

"But maybe they decide Plan X on who has the worst personality, so it makes sense now" she continued.

"Then you'd be lined up next to me Clem"

"Unfortunately, right now I am"

"How unfortunate, maybe you and I can take this truck and hide me somewhere real nice until this blows over..."

"Maybe..." Clementine thought teasingly, placing a finger on her chin as she cocked her head backwards, in a mock expression of deep thought, she could feel an automatic smile worm it's way onto her face.

"Yeah going to the jail isn't a good idea for me" Luis muttered leaning in closer to Clementine, a confident smile now lined his features "So why don't we turn this yellow piece of shit around and head somewhere else?"

"You haven't changed you know?" Clementine told him "You are still the same guy that lacks hope in everyone and everything"

"Would you have me... any different?" Luis suggested, cocking an eyebrow upwards at her.

Clementine let him have his fun for another few seconds, gazing at him intently before she quickly used the hand not currently being squashed by Luis' one to hit him right where it hurt. It was an easy process all she had to do was ball her hand into a fist and hit Luis right between the legs, as he always liked to sit with them so far apart. So really he was asking for this, Luis certainly wasn't expecting this as he felt himself wheeze and instantly clutch his damaged private parts with his remaining hand, lifting it off Clementine's own as he wheezed "...bitch..."

"Yes, I would have you different" Clementine answered as she geared the engine into life once again and proceeded to drive onwards.

"I don't know what it is with you" Luis admitted still wincing in pain "I know we'd get on great, but there's just that tiny, tiny, tiny part of you I wish I could change"

"Believe me, I feel the exact same about you" she responded "and when I save Nick and you from Plan X, I'm going to make you see some damn hope for once Luis, it's what Sarah would have wanted" she paused there and remembered why she was doing this. That earlier statement on the tree, she thought it was referring to Luke and Nick. But maybe it also meant Luis, it's like Sarah had told her they were so many people Clementine still needed to save from themselves and Luis was one of those people. She knew full well he was trying to do the exact same for her, they both had the same way of trying to do things. They both had the same way of trying to save people, but they both went about it very differently. Clementine tried to protect people by taking the risk to go back and save people, Luis tried to protect people by ensuring people would never need to go back for each other, by preparing them to be pessimistic survivors.

That's probably why they clashed so much.

"I missed this though" Clementine admitted glancing over at Luis "It's good to be back Luis"

Luis merely scoffed at her once again.

"How did you end up here though and why here?" Clementine continued to inquire as Luis cast his memory back a few hours.

"Well, they came for me at my place" Luis began to answer "So Terri advised I run and I fucking did, I hid the foliage for ages and kept running from the officers I was exhausted, I had to bulldoze my way through nettles, plants and everything really. If it wasn't for those two mockingbirds up in the trees I would have still been lost in that pitch black place. But I heard them and followed them to this road strangely enough and I recognised your house and saw the car was open for some reason and... and It just felt like destiny really that I hole up there and hide..."

"and not come into the house?"

"Officers probably would have checked the house" Luis responded "and your bodily odour was enough to keep me meters away..."

"Speak for yourself" Clementine retorted but her eyes didn't rest on Luis, they were locked on a raccoon that had ran out onto the road, the small animal was running ahead of the truck, but quite abruptly it stopped, skidding over a small, frozen puddle (that the earlier snowfall must have been responsible for) it froze there and it's small beady black eyes were locked a point ahead and Clementine could see what it was looking at.

"Were here" she informed Luis.

Luis was shattered out of his train of thought, he was silently thanking those mockingbirds for showing up when they did otherwise he'd still be out there in the freezing cold and being hunted down by the cops. He had no idea mockingbirds came out at this point in winter, especially at night of all times. But no, there were two of them singing in unison, Luis caught sight of their small silhouettes in the trees and followed them. Eventually when he reached the road he watched the things fly away, they seemed to be heading out towards the wall. Luis could imagine them soaring over the wall and gaining the freedom that the one armed boy wish he had right now, Wellington had killed enough Mockingbirds as it was, it was good to see something good escape this hell-hole of a town.

But maybe Luis didn't want to thank them anymore, because Clementine had driven him right next to the prison.

"Are you planning to turn me in, or what?" Luis bitterly asked.

"No" Clementine mused, a large smile spreading all over her face "I've got a plan now actually and it involves you..."

* * *

Ethan found it odd that someone was knocking on his door at approximately 1:04AM in the morning, stretching and yawning from where he was currently in bed, the persistent knocking coming from the front door was more than enough to lift him from his bed and still in his nightwear... trudge towards the front door and swing it open to find that couple from earlier standing there. The couple who were Luke's friends and were emptying the things out of Gertrude's house today... the redhead and the man who liked to wear beanie's fairly often.

"Eddie and Violet is it?" he asked.

They both nodded, both of them looked rather pale.

"What are you doing here at 5 past 1 in the morning?" Ethan felt like he had to inquire at this stage, human behaviour was intriguing for him, but this act seemed too erratic for two mentally stable people to be doing right now. Ethan automatically felt his sense of suspicion rise and had to come to the conclusion that this late night visit had something to do with his true identity.

"Ethan" Violet finally stated, (Ethan observed how she had inhaled deeply before she uttered his name, implying she was steeling herself to do something reckless) Ethan himself tensed his body in anticipation for any sort of attack that was coming his way. As Violet opened her mouth to speak...

"The president has told us, that you can come out of hiding now" she bravely announced "The Wellington Wolf doesn't need to hide anymore"

Ethan was rather surprised by this revelation, he took a few steps back and looked both Eddie and Violet in the eyes before speaking up once again.

"You got direct orders from Alfred Schulz then?"

"Yes" Violet breathlessly answered.

"Both of you?"

Eddie nodded.

"Interesting" Ethan muttered, he took a few more steps inside and neared the kitchen while Violet and Eddie nervously crept into his house a few more steps as well.

"It's not the president's nature to tell such a thing" he murmured, just loudly enough so Violet and Eddie could hear him "He promised me that I was under protection under the liaise I also kept his antics secret"

Eddie felt his blood turn to ice, Violet felt her heart beat at a million miles an hour after Ethan had just told them exactly who he was. He was the guy, he was the Wellington Wolf. They had found him and now Violet was going to avenge her brother and reveal the truth to the whole of Wellington but the wolf had also just revealed not only his own identity but something Violet had suspected all along...

"President Schulz" she muttered "You were working with him weren't you?"

The Wolf nodded, taking another step into his kitchen.

"and he worked with the cult didn't he? That's how the Domesday report came about"

"Indeed" The wolf answered causally "He leaked the Domesday report in order for the riot to progress the way it did, all of it a distraction so I could neutralize Oscar Williamson and extract his brain tissue in order for a cure to be deployed. The President ordered me to live a normal life after my service to him, so I took the identity of Ethan Hart and have been living under a protected identity ever since".

"I knew it" Violet felt herself sobbing now "The president... shielding serial killers like you!" she suddenly snapped at the wolf who merely glanced back at her, with a bored expression on his face.

"Your tone has changed" The wolf noted.

"YOU'RE A DESPICABLE LITTLE SHIT ETHAN HART!" Violet suddenly roared "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU LIVE NORMALLY!? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU MAKE FRIENDS HERE WHEN YOU'RE THE SOLE REASON WELLINGTON WENT TO SHIT IN THE FIRST PLACE! YOUR THE SOLE REASON YOUR SO CALLED FRIENDS HAVE SUFFERED SO MUCH! HOW THE HELL DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT! HOW THE HELL DO YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF!?"

"It's my mission" the wolf answered tonelessly, not flinching at all "As long as the cure is deployed I feel no emotions towards those who suffer. It's a necessity in order to save what remains of humanity"

"YOU NEED TO BE PUT DOWN!" Violet screeched "YOU'RE NOT A HUMAN! YOU'RE A FREAK! AN ANIMAL! AND... AND YOU PUT ON THE FAÇADE OF MY BROTHER TO FRAME HIM FOR BEING THE WOLF! HE WAS NOT WHAT YOU ARE! HE WAS A MUCH BETTER HUMAN BEING! AND HIS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! THOUSANDS ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! WELLINGTON NEEDS TO KNOW THE TRUTH AND THEN YOU NEED TO ROT SOMEWHERE AND SUFFER THE WAY YOU'VE MADE US ALL SUFFER!"

"I see" was all the wolf answered "The president never told you to reveal my identity, you figured it out on your own by some means. You've tricked me into revealing who I really am and the president's plan. You are Violet Moore the sister of the suspected Wellington Wolf Trevor Moore. You want me to confess who I really am to the remaining populace of Wellington, to clear your brothers name and too avenge all those who died because of me"

"Pretty much" Violet growled, taking some steps towards the wolf.

"A reckless plan" The wolf observed "But the way you two have pulled it off... very smart"

His eyes now darkened a fraction.

"But not smart enough"

There was a reason Ethan had retreated into his kitchen, so he grab the nearest cooking knife and fling it... not towards Violet but towards Eddie. If Violet thought the all too obvious gesture of holding something in her pocket implied that she was holding a gun, and trying to get into the wolf's face so he would target her. Then she was thoroughly mistaken, Ethan had noticed how silent Eddie had been, while Violet had done all the ranting and shouting, he also noticed Eddie slowly drifting from Violet and heading towards the left. He could see out of the corner of his eye where Eddie held the gun in his hands. Violet was a distraction for the real threat and she had taken a risk putting herself in harm's way in order to get him caught or shot, but the wolf was much smarter than that.

Eddie's eyes dilated in horror at the knife that came soaring his way, there was no time to react he felt the sharp thing penetrate halfway through his shoulder, as he roared in pain and dropped his gun to the ground, blood already spurting from the wound in his shoulder.

"Fuck..." he panted in agony, swaying on the spot and holding his injured shoulder.

"EDDIE!" Violet roared in terrified surprise, she attempted to run forward but all it took was one punch from Ethan to send her spiralling to the ground with a broken nose and struggling to stay in conscious as her ears rang and her vision blurred, turning Ethan's kitchen into nothing more than a melting mosaic of white's and yellow's...

"I've been compromised" the wolf muttered, taking some steps towards Eddie "So now you must be neutralised"

Eddie felt bile rise in his throat as the wolf picked up the pistol that he had dropped and aimed it directly towards his head, if Violet hadn't gotten up from her dazed state and jumped on the wolf, placing his bullet in the wall next to Eddie. Than the bearded man would have met his premature end, in his state all Eddie could do was turn and try and stumble blindly away from the scene, but he found that he kept slipping on his own puddle of blood below him.

While Eddie's futile escape was occurring, Violet was viscously trying to kick and punch at the wolf, jumping on him she had used her long nails to scratch and claw at his face. Managing to tear open some deep cuts in his face and arms however the wolf was made of sturdier stuff than to pass out due to a few cuts. So although in the mad struggle Violet managed to disarm him (the gun went flying out of the front door in the madness) he got the upper hand, as he grabbed one of her arms and twisted. It instantly popped out of it's socket and Violet screamed in sheer agony, now grabbing the redhead woman with both hands he threw her over the nearby couch and into the small glass table he had. Under her weight it shattered instantly and Violet passed out upon impact, her forehead bleeding and her arm broken.

Seeing how she was out of action, The wolf would neutralise her shortly, for the time being he had to deal with the moving target of Eddie and it didn't take the wolf long in order to reach the bearded man and place his large hands around Eddie's neck, Eddie struggled feebly but there was no fighting off the wolf. Eddie was right if this guy could kill Ana and Oscar and countless others without any trouble how on earth were himself and Violet meant to take him down with a mere flanking plan? They were destined to fail and now Eddie was generally seen as a guy who made stupid mistakes, so it was fitting he'd die because he made a stupid mistake.

The wolf opened his mouth to say something as Eddie felt the pressure begin to increase on his neck...

BANG!

The wolf had made a mistake, all of his attention was on Eddie.

BANG!

Two shots in the kneecaps (with Luke and Molly suffering similar injuries, Eddie would laugh at how common these injures were becoming, if he wasn't in such agonising pain himself) but the purpose of shooting in the kneecaps was to cripple someone and not even the feared Wellington Wolf could stand up straight after being shot in the knees, he fell but his hands were still locked around Eddie's throat.

BANG!

Whoever was shooting had hit the wall.

BANG!

Another missed shot.

BANG!

This time the bullet connected with the wolf's torso, Eddie felt the blonde man wince in pain.

BANG!

Another shot in the torso, the wolf wasn't fatally injured by any means but being shot four times was finally enough to cripple him, so that he released his grip on Eddie's neck and fell to the floor. Although he didn't scream in pain he seemed to fall into a fetal position, as he rocked on the spot trying to stem the flow of blood from one of his wounds, while taking long, deep and ragged breaths. His eyes were scrunched shut and Eddie could tell he must have been in agony, but yet he kept his mouth firmly closed, seemingly refusing to scream in agony.

Still covering his own wound (the knife was still in his shoulder) and grimacing as agonising spasms shot down his now limp right arm. Eddie looked up expecting to see his saviour, he expected to see Violet.

But it wasn't his redhead girlfriend, she was stirring herself, her green eyes flying towards the door.

"I-it... it w-was the f-first t-t-time I shot s-someone, I... I didn't k-kill h-h-him did I?" Eddie's saviour babbled, holding the pistol uncertainly in her fingers.

"Cristina?" Violet asked in complete disbelief.

Miss King stood there looking as pale as a ghost, as she glanced at the scene in front of her.

"I... I saw what was happening and then the gun got thrown out and..." she gulped there and looked down at Ethan once again "I was looking for you Violet, the... the Fyre's told me you might be here so... but what the hell is going on!?" She exclaimed in pure panic, as Violet couldn't help but laugh weakly, the wolf. The feared Wellington Wolf who had out-powered her and Eddie, killed Ana and Oscar and hunted down and murdered so many others, had been taken down by a woman who couldn't even tie up her own shoelaces, the justice of it all was hilarious! and as Violet pulled out the recorder she had in her pocket, she knew she had the backing audio evidence required to support their story if people didn't believe them or if Ethan tried to deny it.

"Cristina King" Violet announced "Congratulations..."

"You just took down the Wellington Wolf"


	19. Cleansing Wellington

**A/N: Okay on we go to chapter 19! Nearly at the big 20 and when I get to twenty and beyond that's when the fic will kick off for real... but for now I'm too lazy to answer individual reviewers once again, but I will discuss some key points from last chapter.**

**Firstly with the spirit animals, the fox was Bonnie, the raccoon Mike and the Mockingbirds Ana and Oscar, (well done to anyone who guessed them right!) as much as I loved the prospect of the spirit animals however reading the chapter back I do agree with Chameishida's point that they felt forced in after the author's note but that's my fault as I got carried away with the prospect and just couldn't stop adding them into the chapter. It will be a one off and in future spirit animals only one at a time and this one animal will be the only spirit animal in said chapter. This won't occur for every chapter as I want the spirit animals to feel more natural like the bee was and ffapathy you made a great point on the animals becoming crutches for people. (Bonnie and Mike leading Clem to the prison, the Mockingbirds leading Luis to Clem's house) but to keep in with the theme of realism and the fact that anyone can die at anytime in future chapters the amount of help the animals can provide will be toned down drastically.**

**Secondly a massive shout out to Shattering soul, for the amazing fanart for this fic! Shattering Soul I checked your account and loved every drawing, I imagine JJ to look totally different to how you drew him but that's fine as I understand we all get different images in our head when thinking of a character's appearance, however your illustrations of Nick during his prison time were exactly how I expected him to look and my favourites was your Luis/Clem drawing as It hit the nail on the head of how I imagine Luis to look like and that being said it was simply an amazing drawing regardless so I appericate and love your fanart to bits! 10 out of 10 from me! **

**and finally the Miss King finale... yep I wanted her to do something in this fic and her taking down the wolf is not only for the shock factor it will serve other purposes in regards to the faults in the Wolf's character, although I imagine many of you found that scene satisfying regardless and finally for the whole second chance/timeline thing spirit animals may be a supernatural theme I'm going to tone down but the timelines and visions are always going to be present and I hope you guys enjoy it and this chapter!**

**Also updated my LIS fic, if any of you want to check out the latest chapter**

* * *

"The number's wrong"

"You think I don't know that!?"

"Sorry sir it's just... killing in excess..."

"Humanity needs a future, the next generation need to have the cures provided for them"

"Well I heard the immunity might be naturally be inherited from the parents"

"Really!? We don't know enough about it for those stupid assumptions"

"I know. Just... just speaking to a forensic who said there's a possibility that..."

"That nothing! Those people are being rounded into the central hub, injected with the damn cure! Then sedated with fucking horse tranquillizers, placed onto an operating table and having their undamaged brains pulled out of their bodies! I already had to round them up like cattle boy, don't go making me the villain here! I didn't want this! Nobody wanted this what's done is fucking done and...!" the police officer sighed at this point and lowered his eyes to the desk in front of him.

"At least we're not the one's pulling those brains out" the younger and more timid officer muttered.

"God help those who are" the older officer mumbled "I couldn't even imagine it..."

"Well we have to gather up the last of the prisoners soon and drive them off there"

"You have to remind me don't you, we only got 3 more, stuff them into the back of the car, drive them there. Let the other boys handle the nasty bit and my night is over... well I wish it would be over. All the people that screamed at me today and the way some of them fought I... this day is gonna haunt me for the rest of my life".

There was nothing the younger officer could say to comfort his older and gruff colleague instead he simply let his brown orbs fly towards the desk below him, inspecting every crack in the wood. The pair of them were keeping watch over the station tonight and were seated behind the reception desk. Other than them the only person in the main lobby was a sulky looking boy with sleek black hair who was sat slumped silently on a nearby chair. He had been brought in earlier for assaulting others but seeing as Plan X was already in full motion by this point and this boy was at the peak of physical fitness he wasn't even considered for it. He was just dumped here and sat waiting patiently to be released. The older officer wondered why on earth the boy hadn't run off earlier, the pair of them weren't paying much attention to him anyway considering they had more pressing matters on their minds.

The older officer was about to stand up and tell the boy he could go and then he would have to go and round up the final prisoners...

But his announcement was cut short in his throat.

A one armed and one eyed boy seemingly burst into the lobby area, the sullen boy looked up and recognised that arrogant asshole Luis anywhere and Luis recognised Scott almost instantly as well. Their eyes connected for a brief second before breaking apart. Luis and Clementine had observed who was in the station before Luis was to come in and they were delighted to discover that only three people were currently guarding the place. Well two if Scott wasn't to be included, then again she doubted the president or any higher authority would worry about someone breaking into the prison during the peak slaughtering times of Plan X. Where so many other police officers were elsewhere and who would honestly want to save a bunch of doomed inmates anyway? With so few of them left and seemingly nobody to care for them, security would be low.

But Clementine cared.

and right now, these two officers and Scott had become part of her plan. Luis and Clementine had overheard what they were talking about their muffled voices drifting over to the door while Scott simply continued to sit there. They still couldn't go in all guns blazing, as a call for backup from one of these two men would lead to their deaths and as for simply killing them so they couldn't call for help... no. There had been too much killing as of late, Clementine and Luis didn't want to leave two bodies in their wake while they dragged Nick from out of a cell that would only create more drama and more people looking for vengeance and more killing. Clementine wanted that cycle to end, today.

"Hang on" the older officer seemingly grunted, gazing at Luis as Luis continued to seemingly stagger towards the reception.

"Your... your on Plan X's list!" The young officer, finished the older one's suspicions as Luis nodded and muttered "Yeah, I was a runner. But I'm tired of running now, I'm hurting real bad here guys. I just want this to end already and make the sacrifice I was meant too".

To have a runner turn himself in was certainly an odd move, but as the two police officers gazed at one another and then back to Luis. They couldn't really deny him of that right, of a right to end his own life.

"Son, you... you've made a brave move here" The older officer told him, a reflective quality now present in his eyes.

As Luis began to announce (very loudly) that he was finally being a man and doing what was right, Scott felt something hit his leg, curiously he looked down to find a piece of scrunched up paper lying at his feet, glancing in the direction of where it was thrown he was shocked to find that girl... Clementine. The one that had encouraged him to fight back against the bullies that had made his life a living hell and so finally he had done. Today he simply couldn't take it anymore, so to get away from the weeping screams and scenes of distress at the community home he was planted within, he went out for a walk, in which he encountered his tormentors on a street corner.

Something in him snapped.

It was strange, him crouching over one of the three boys he had injured, with a bloody fist and a his ears weren't ringing with the usual, malicious threats and jokes that came soaring his way. Instead all he could hear was the pitiful moans of the bullies at his feet and the his own gasping deep breath... for the first time in a year he had power again. The traumatizing images of the out of control riot, the bloodthirsty rioters who killed so callously a stray bullet from one brute had put a very abrupt end to Lizzie's life... he always shuddered when he thought about it. Maybe the fear that he would become that is what made him so hesitant after the riot had died down, other people had scared into submission, but not as much as he scared himself in that riot. He could have been Luis with that chainsaw, he could have been one of house-mates, he could have been one of the gun wielding cult members, he could have been like those groups he was with beforehand.

But now he was snapping back to his senses, he had always fled conflict and facing it head on had reduced him to a quivering wimp. He knew there was a bad world out there and had been frustrated at others for not seeing it. For acting as if everything was fine, but maybe Scott had overestimated Wellington and generally thought it was community that was advertised, well it had more people, a much greater barricade of a wall, roads and schools and authority. But Scott now realised all of that didn't matter, no matter how big the damn community was it was falling apart in the way so many of his groups did. Scott was back on the rope and he was trying to climb it again. His survival sense kicking in, maybe he'd become a jerk once again he didn't know. All he knew was that despite not having anything and anyone left to live for, he simply wanted to keep on living and if he had to be an asshole in order to save his own life.

Then he would be that asshole.

The silence, that buzz of power that it gave Scott to show that he was in authority, he loved it. Years of oppression beforehand made a sudden rise to power all that more intoxicating and sitting in this police station bathing in his re-discovered identity, Scott loved every second of it.

But for now, he was being asked to do something. He supposed he owed Clementine for helping him out (indirectly but still) so he picked up the piece of paper and un-scrunched it.

_Scott, help me out and I'll owe you one. I need you to argue with Luis to distract the guards after he asks about where Nick is and where the prison keys are._

_You'll save a life if you do this._

Scott looked curiously back at Clementine and seeing how he had read the note, she nodded at him and proceeded to disappear back behind a nearby desk, remaining out of sight as Scott looked towards the guards and then at Luis. He owed Clementine as much as she owed him right now he watched the scene and muttered under his breath "One time Clementine..." he may have been an asshole when he needed too. But he'd need some allies behind him if he was every going to get back into some form of social circle once again, not to mention he had been craving company as of late.

"...I've just... I've got one last request" Luis muttered.

"Go on" The younger officer urged him on, as Luis shuddered and looked directly at him.

"I know you won't allow this... but is there a prisoner here called Nick, which cell is he in?" Luis questioned "I was j-just wondering... because he was a good friend of mine..."

The officers looked stumped, they gazed at one another before looking back at Luis.

"Mr. Duran's in Cell Block C, his set to be used for Plan X in the next five minutes" The older man told Luis, Luis felt the knots untie from his stomach slightly, so Nick truly was alive (if he was dead than his plan would be to bolt it out of there) but seeing as he was alive he could continue to carry on with the plan regardless. From behind the desk she was hiding under Clementine breathed a sigh of relief that very nearly went heard by all. She had made it, made it in the nick of time (pun fully intended).

"Thank you Sarah" she whispered under her breath.

"I'm sorry, but we're about to retrieve him" The older officer informed Luis "If you stay here we can transport the pair of you to the central hub for... well you know..."

"Yeah" Luis mumbled "It's a shame, I almost felt like breaking the guy out sometimes, but I know the keys are too well secured here"

"If you count behind this desk secure, you got nuts for brains boy" the older officer told him, trying to add a sprinkling of humour to the depressing situation, suffice to say he failed miserably.

"I've only got one arm, fat lot of good I'd do anyway..." Luis mumbled sadly, his self-pity angle always seemed to work wonders on people. (Even Clementine could admit to herself she liked him that slight bit more when he was humbled) the way his back slouched and his singular, now wide eye fidgeted in it's socket, gave him the posture of shy schoolboy, the angle used to divert suspicion from the questions Luis had just asked.

and it was also the signal for Scott to act, Clementine saw Scott stand up to her joy, as she prepared herself to run...

"Oh please!" Scott snapped, seemingly butting into the conversation rather abruptly as he shoved the helpless Luis to the ground, Luis lay there rather surprised feeling as if he was acting out the world's most well acted pantomime. He had argued with Clem and convinced her there was no way in hell that Scott would agree to fight him, he was braced for his back up plan of hitting his head against the wall in distress in order to distract the guards, or the fake burst of cowardice, or the fake hysterics... but no. By some means Scott was somehow convinced and now Luis had to play out the fight scene, he swore to whatever God was listening that Nick (if he actually escaped this place) owed him some bruises for this.

"You're so pathetic!" Scott snapped "Giving up like this, I can sit over there and listen to that crap, get up and fight me you worthless piece of shit!"

"I'M ABOUT TO DIE!" Luis roared "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM!?"

"MY PROBLEM, IS THAT I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH ASSHOLES LIKE YOURSELF WHO GIVE UP TOO EASILY...!"

"WERE NOT ALL LIKE YOU, YOU FUCKING UNGRATEFUL BASTARD...!"

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Fists were swung after this charming compliment, resulting in the two officers instantly bounding forwards, the older one bellowing "BOYS!" at the top of his lungs. Clementine guessed Scott simply sitting there all day in the station and playing the emo-like, I just want to fight everything stereotype had certainly helped this scene score points of authenticity. It certainly covered the too fast to be realistic transformation of Luis from the self-pitying one armed boy, to the sudden fighter. Both boys had slipped into their roles straight onto the spot and it delighted Clementine to see that. She guessed she had picked it up from Luke on how to make clever plans. Full of holes, but both her and Luke's plans where distractions that were needed to save others. Luke had mastered the plan to get Sarah back and the only reason that worked was because of a lot of luck on their part, now Clementine was experiencing similar results with a lot of luck on her side, except this time she was saving Nick and not Sarah.

A camp full of cultists and two police officers were completely different, but right now Clementine didn't want to dwell on the thought.

Instead (with the officers eyes elsewhere) she leapt out of corner and quickly managed to scurry behind the now empty reception desk, the two officers were now trying to pry Luis and Scott apart. It took Clementine seconds to spot the keys for Cell Block C, scooping them up, under the labelled sticker "C" she ran down the corridor towards the cells, just as Scott and Luis were pried apart. Out of the corner of his eye Luis saw her form running off, keys in hand. Now all she had to do was hurry up and get back here with Nick... or else he'd be handcuffed and they'd go to the cell to discover Nick was gone, or Clem there trying to coax him out...

Luis sighed, that rocket launcher plan was starting sound more appealing now that he was in this position.

* * *

It didn't take Clementine long to find Nick.

He was the only person left in Cell Block C, he had been sat there all day hearing the screams of his remaining fellow inmates as they were dragged away and the world was cruel enough to leave him until last. His stomach had tied into knots every-time a guard passed his cell awaiting for the death call... but no. With each baited breath it had been someone else, someone else sent to be chopped up in order to gain the cure for the rest of the population. Nick guessed it was a pretty good way to die, in death he'd finally have a use once again. But sitting here and waiting in the dark was still agony...

So when he saw a familiar little girl suddenly burst into his line of vision, he could certainly say he was surprised.

For a few seconds, Nick's bright, cat like blue eyes peered out from Clementine in the darkness and Nick saw where Clementine's bright yellow eyes were trained directly on him.

"C-Clementine?" he finally uttered in disbelief.

"Hey Nick" was the 15 year old's response as the pair of them assessed each other's appearance. They hadn't seen each other since the the trial and although (from Luke's information) Clementine knew Nick's hair had grown considerably and he now had a long beard. It still felt surreal to Clementine to see him like this, he looked like a homeless man and it was a depressing sight for her indeed.

"Y-you've grown" was the only thing Nick could mutter. He didn't remember Clementine's body being so curvy and woman-like the last time he had seen her, the final chubby cheeks of her childhood had dropped away, leaving her with a much narrower face. Her childish curls were... different. Curly hair still protruded from under the girls' ever present cap (Nick had to smile to himself, that's the one thing Clementine would never change) but her hairs seemed more... slick. It seemed more wavy than it had done beforehand, it must have been natural because Clementine wasn't the type to mess around with make-up and accessories.

"You've erm... grown too" Clementine responded, unsure of what else to say.

"You mean my hair?" Nick answered, gesturing at his long black mane "Because if I grow any higher, I'll be a giant"

Clementine let out a low chuckle at his answer, he wasn't all that gone then he still had some humour and light inside of him. That old fight was still in his light blue eyes, Clementine could see it. Yes they may have been stained with bags of sorrow and long nights suffering from night terrors that kept him awake and somewhat narrowed in hostility for others and himself but there was still life in there.

"What are you doing here Clem?" Nick decided to ask the obvious to plough the conversation "You don't visit for a whole year and now suddenly here you are in my final hours?"

"Nick" Clementine told him, her face stern as she approached the cell door with the keys in her hand "I'm getting you out of here".

Nick's eyes bugled, as he realised that Clementine had somehow attained the prison keys from the guard.

"Clementine you can't... there's no point!" Nick yelled on the instant defence, just as Clementine knew he would, she ignored him and tested the keys to see which one would unlock the cell door.

"Clementine!" Nick shouted in increasing urgency.

Clementine ignored him.

"Clementine get the hell out of here!" Nick bellowed "Do you have any idea how much trouble you'll get into if you're caught!"

Again Clementine ignored him.

"How did you even get those keys!?" Nick inquired harshly "Clementine? Look at me! Where are the others!? What the fuck is going on!? Clementine you know even if you do open that door I won't come with you! It's the perfect way for me to die! It's how I want to die!"

Clementine remained silent.

"JESUS CHRIST, YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Nick roared, leaping up and gripping his hands against the iron bars of his cell and his enraged face inches from Clementine's more much impassive one, "LEAVE! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME CARRY ON! SARAH'S GONE! I PROMISED CARLOS I'D TAKE CARE OF HER AND NOW... NOW I DESERVE TO DIE!"

There was a click, the cell door swung open with a loud creak. Nick remained standing defiantly where he was. But Clementine looked up at him with half lidded eyes.

"Nick" she called to him "What did Luke tell you the time when you and Sarah were exiled?"

Nick was thrown off by the out of the blue question, but managed to formulate the snappy reply of "Well he said... Come back man"

"and that's what you need to do now" Clementine told him coldly "Luke needs you to come back, not just for your sake, but for his sake too".

"I..." Nick began.

"Shut up" Clementine snarled at him harshly "Shut the fuck up Nick. I know you're going to give me a self-pity speech and we don't have the time for it. A guy I know has put his life on the line to get you out of here. They'll be two lives wasted if you don't leave with me right now"

"Clementine, I... why do you do this too me!" Nick exclaimed "Can't I just die on my own terms!?"

"That's the coward's way out Nick" Clementine snapped "Luke has come back here for you, every week. You die on him now, then you are going to be the worst best friend in history".

"Listen, I know it would hurt Luke..."

"It would destroy him" Clementine counter argued "He lost Gertrude to Plan X today, his in a bad place. He needs you to be there to support him, like you did back in the woods, like you always had each other's backs when you were younger. Nick, there is still a life for you to live..."

"But Sarah, I remember seeing that guy hung in the woods and promised myself if something happened to Sarah, then it would be me on that noose..." Nick whimpered.

"She's dead, there's no denying that" Clementine felt herself say "But she wouldn't have wanted this, she's the reason I'm here Nick. I read her diary and I realised she did want me to save people. Starting with you, you need to understand that she looked out for you as much as you looked out for her. She still is, she wouldn't want you to die like this Nick. Live your life for her, besides I know what you were planning with Stephanie"

"She never got to hear it" Nick grumbled "and what's the point? You think I'll somehow win her back? In this state? She's long gone..."

"You think you'd ever pull the most attractive survivor at Howe's?" Clementine challenged him with "You ever think that you were the sole reason that kept her from leaving? Did you ever think you'd survive all the shit in the woods? Did you ever think you'd live happily with Sarah, Stef and Lilly for two whole years!?" Clementine's voice rose with each question she fired at a numb Nick. Seeing his silence as the perfect answer she turned on her heel.

"You can get her back Nick, you can get your life back" Clementine muttered back to him "Or you can stay here, either way I'm not leaving until you do"

She stood on the spot and Nick was cast back to the time when he was lying outside of that trailer park, with his bleeding leg, he couldn't move, he was in a helpless situation. He begged Sarah to run on without him, but the bespectacled girl would have none of it.

_"I'm not leaving without you!" _

Nick blinked, looking at Clementine, it was like a mirror image of that scene.

"You god-damn kids are too stubborn for your own good" Nick thought to himself, he felt a loose tear fall from his right eye, quickly he wiped the thing away and proceeded to step out of his cell.

Clementine felt a smile line her features.

"Okay Clem, let's give this a shot" Nick said, with more enthusiasm present in his tone.

* * *

"I still don't understand" Christina King gasped, in a confused blabber "How is Ethan here the Wellington Wolf?"

She was the one driving her own vehicle back towards Eddie's house (as it was closest to their location), Eddie and Violet were wedged in the front seat next to her. Bandages covering their injuries although they still ached a great deal and the pair were woozy from the blood loss and beating they had received. Ethan lay in the back seat, slipping in out of conscious. His bullet wounds had been treated to prevent possible death from blood loss or shock, but that didn't mean he hadn't been restrained. Finding all the rope and duct tape they could muster, the trio of them had Ethan bound (and wrapped over around three times to ensure the man of apparent superhero strength couldn't break free) in his state and with the bindings on so tight they left red marks on his skin, they were safe in knowledge the wolf was bound.

"Because he told us..." Violet responded "... and because all the signs seem off. The Hart's never had a son, it's not like one can suddenly just appear out of nowhere. The Fyre's told us that found it odd that a sudden son, just appears after the riot. His Domesday record was spotless, but it makes sense now we know that the president was shielding him" her poisonous green globes found Ethan at this point "Isn't that right Golden boy!?"

"Yes" The wolf responded neutrally.

"I still can't believe it was you who took him down though" Eddie told Miss King with one his famous white toothed, goofy smiles "Helpless little teacher, goes full on fucking badass and takes down the feared Wellington Wolf!"

"Well it was erm... really nothing" Miss King responded, smiling herself and feeling herself blush as she dropped her gaze to the floor of the car (then back too the road of course)

"I still cannot believe I was apprehended by you" The Wolf muttered to Miss King who tried hard not to look back at him "I mean, I was in control of the situation and I was about to neutralise both Eddie and Violet. But then you come along and prevent it from occurring, yet you lack my strength and wit immensely..."

"Are you calling me stupid!?" Miss King snapped back at him.

"If that's the term you use for lower intelligence, than I am afraid so" The wolf replied.

"I felt horrified about shooting you" Miss King decided to inform him "But the more I speak to you, the more it really doesn't become that much of a deal"

"Why would that be?" The wolf asked.

"Because well... you're not really... intimidating" Miss King admitted.

"He nearly killed us!" Violet exclaimed "Cristina you saw him in action! His not an innocent butterfly!"

"I know! Miss King shouted her in own frightened defence "But... the more I speak to him, the more, well..."

"I know how you feel" Eddie interjected "It's like having a conversation over a cup of tea with this guy, his like the most causal and honest serial killer I've ever seen my life"

"Yeah! Like that!" Miss King shouted, smiling at Eddie for helping her too find the words to describe the Wolf's nature to her.

"So what will become of me?" The wolf inquired after a short silence.

"We take you back to Eddie's, we call the police" Violet snarled "We tell everyone who are you and what you've done, the press, the locals... everyone. We have audio evidence, you'll probably confess but still... then we'll bring Schulz down. Both of you will probably be hung after that and good riddance to the pair of you two" and with his grim fate outlined the Wolf simply laid back his head and muttered "Okay then"

"Again, keeping it causal dude" Eddie told him.

Miss King couldn't help but laugh at this, her laughs ringing in Eddie's ears sure made him feel proud of the comedian that he felt like he was in those moments. While the Wolf heard the laughter and felt (once again) a sense of being left out. Eddie and Violet had successfully apprehended him because they had support and friends, true friends that cared about them, whereas the Wolf had nobody. The president had kept to his promise and kept the Wolf safe, but Schulz was not the Wolf's friend, their plan had failed.

Or at least Schulz's had.

Why would Ethan confess all to someone who had confronted him about it? He knew he would get caught eventually and he knew he would be able to kill anyone who figured this out. Yet by bad luck he had failed to do so, now he and the president were both going down.

But they were things the president didn't know.

Ethan had a mission, so he was likely to die now but as long as the mission was completed than he was content.

It should have been done by now, or within the next few days.

Ethan just wished he could have been alive to see his mission continue, he was after all supposed to be there.

_To guide those who were left._

* * *

"Now let's go the rest of the rest of the prisoners" the older guard grumbled.

"Stay here boys" the younger one instructed of Luis and Scott "I know it's hard but your bravery tonight won't be forgotten kid" the guard continued to lecture to Luis who kept his head down and nodded "I'll stay here then" he assured the younger guard.

The older and younger guard proceeded to walk out of the reception, leaving Luis and Scott handcuffed and sitting apart. Under protocol, one of them should have stayed behind to watch the pair of them, but seeing as they were supposedly going no-where and owing to the fact the older guard needed assistance in helping to bound the final prisoners (even though they were only 3 left they may have come across resistance or a struggle from them) so they both went, leaving Scott and Luis alone.

"Well" came a voice from behind the reception "I think that went pretty well"

Clementine stood up, with Nick in tow directly next to her, the pair of them sneaking in while the argument died down.

"Enjoy the show?" Scott sarcastically asked of the pair of them.

"It was amazing" Clementine retorted, before turning back to Luis.

"Holy shit, you actually got him" he muttered in disbelief, gesturing at Nick.

Clementine simply smiled back at him.

"Now let's all get the hell out of here" she said, telling them all the obvious.

* * *

"Bloody handcuffs..."

"At least they didn't handcuff us to a radiator or anything..." Scott grumbled, as he squeezed himself into the back of the car, along with Luis. The rocket launcher resting on both of their laps, while at the mention of being handcuffed to a radiator gave Clementine haunting flashbacks of what had occurred back in that jewellery store in Savannah to Lee, she dipped her eyes to the ground as that memory consumed her...

"Clem"

She looked up, it was Nick who could see she was clearly bothered by something, (To ease Luis' frayed sense of mind, he was now in the driver's seat and not Clementine) his hands were planted on the wheel, yet his seemingly sunken eyes were locked on Clementine in a sense of concern she knew she had missed from him in the year they had been apart.

"I'm okay" she reassured him with "Are you okay though?"

"Yeah" Nick replied, he took a moment to gaze out of the window at the prison, before he sighed and looked down at the wheel in his fingers "I'm free" he mumbled to himself.

"So make the most of it" Clementine told him, with a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder "and get your life back"

With this encouraging words ringing in his ears Nick, turned on the engine, thrust the accelerator stick forward and gripped the steering wheel ever tighter as the group's yellow car rolled away from prison and down the nearby road.

"Hurry it up!" Luis hissed "We didn't save your ass to be caught again"

"We should have just knocked those guards out" Scott whined, massaging a bruise on his face "It would have saved us so much time and pain..."

"But they'll be busy transporting the other prisoners to the central hub" Clementine counter argued "They'll realise Nick is missing and that your gone Luis. But they seemed to respect you and they'll know we went through all of that trouble to break Nick out when we could have easily committed foul play and knocked them out. If we did that, it would make them more likely to come after us and killing them wasn't an option or we'd have the rest of Wellington's police force on our ass. Besides I'm sick of people killing each other... Luis, Scott you guys helped me save a life today. So thank you".

Scott looked impressed with the compliment he had received, however Luis merely lay back in his seat and grunted.

"Your only saying this, because your part of the plan didn't involve physical pain, or a risk of death if things went wrong"

"Of course I am" Clementine admitted with a sly smile.

"Bitch" Luis spat at her.

"Bitches make guys do crazy things, remember?" Clementine decided to remind him.

"What? You haven't got me by the balls if that's your implying" Luis snapped in his defence, crossing both arms (short and the long one) over his chest.

"But you still did it..." Clementine teased him with, simply loving the fact she had proved him wrong.

"Just so I could prove you wrong"

"and that worked out well, didn't it?"

Luis sighed.

"Okay" he stressed, massaging his forehead "You win Clementine, you managed to save one prisoner from death. For a few hours at least, then the police catch up with him and slice him up. What's this whole journey all about Clem? What the hell is the plan after here? Hide Nick in your bathroom drawer? Because as another runner, I don't fancy sticking around places where I'll get caught..."

"I reunite with my friends" Nick spoke over Luis, as a stumped Clementine was now glad for his support (in all honesty she hadn't thought that far ahead as of what to do, If she did manage to get Nick out of prison. She guessed hiding him was an option but really, how long could they hide him? Where could he hide?)

"and then I'll figure out what to do from there" Nick spoke on, as he rested his eyes on the road ahead of him.

"Great" Luis piped up "Absolutely fucking fantastic, the plan so far seems like we go back to Clem's place. Nick gets to say his mushy goodbye's, then me and Nick get to die together! Oh, I'm so excited!"

"We'll think of something, we can run and hide until this whole Plan X thing blows over" Nick suggested.

"Or we could escape Wellington" Luis counter argued.

"Yeah good luck doing that without immunity" Scott felt like he had to chip in at this point.

"We can steal a cure, I've heard there are more than enough to go around" Luis muttered "The president wants them all saved for the next generation..."

"But we can take the cure's" Nick said clearly "and then we'd be allowed back into Wellington's society. Why waste an immune survivor? Because when they get old the next generation will need even more cure's at it's disposal..."

"Don't resort to anything that drastic" Clementine warned them, "We'll hide you for the time being, if it comes to any confrontation then..."

"Then?" Luis challenged her.

Clementine gulped and eyed the rocket launcher across Scott and Luis' laps.

"Then I guess we have to fight back"

* * *

Eddie, Violet and Miss King watched in surprise as a speeding blur shot ahead of them on the poorly lit road in front of their own car. Eddie's felt an impulsive need to shout an offensive insult towards the speeding driver (especially at this time and night and they could have crashed into them). However his big brown iris' detected a sort of familiarity with this vehicle. Violet seemed to faintly recognise it too, as she tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder and muttered to Eddie "Isn't that...?"

"Luke's car" Eddie finished for her, his previous insult dying on his tongue, as curiosity flooded his mind.

"Why the hell is the guy out this late?" He asked aloud of anyone who was listening.

"He may have been traumatized by the effects of Plan X" The Wolf (of all people) suggested very suddenly "He seemed to share a positive relation with Gertrude, her..."

"SHUT UP!" Violet screamed over too him "and you wonder whose fault it is that Luke maybe traumatized by Plan X!"

"It was the President's order" The wolf reminded her.

"and you got the cure to cause all of this!" Violet snapped back at him.

"Isn't that a good thing?" The wolf asked, he had (in extremely rare occasions) felt twinges of annoyance towards others and not only occurred when the Wolf simply couldn't understand them at all. It bewildered him and almost angered him in some ways, he may not have felt many human emotions at all. But he had certainly observed human nature and could predict how many people would behave in a variety of situations. How the hell else had he manipulated Father Jordan to do his bidding? Yet here he was, right now slightly annoyed at Violet's words. He could understand her grief and anger towards him for the deaths he had caused. But he had completed his mission by finding the cure, she was seemingly implying the cure was responsible for further deaths and trauma's and he had done so much in order to attain it for the rest of the population in order to save them all.

"You seem to be implying" The wolf muttered, his voice becoming noticeably colder than his usual detached drawl "That the cure is a bad thing? Explain to me how that is possible?"

"It's caused all this... death!" Violet roared.

"But it's also saved everyone else, including you" Ethan actually found himself snarling this at Violet now "So if I were you, I would appericate what I have given you all"

"I don't have to be grateful to you at all!" Violet retorted with a healthy dosage of venom in her vowels.

"You wouldn't have gotten the cure if it wasn't for me" Ethan said "I am the perpetrator behind events, but what if that was you? Or anyone else? I believe you would have all done the same to save everyone".

"You'd assume wrong then" Violet told him flatly before she paused and thought about what the hell she had just said. She sounded so callous and uncaring in those few seconds, if it meant saving everyone than would she really... really be able to kill the large majority of Wellington's population to save the few? It's what the Wolf had done and she had just said, she'd be willing to let everyone die just so she wouldn't be the villain in all of this, maybe... maybe it took a certain degree of guts (or a serious lack of morales and emotions) to do such a deed. Violet suspected that Wolf was doing it for the latter reason and she mentally slapped herself.

"Don't let him get into your head" she thought to herself "His trying to play mind games now, don't let him trick you in the way he tricked so many others..."

"I just find that logic...confusing" The wolf muttered, for every resident of the car to hear. (In regards to Violet's answer to his question).

"I find you confusing" Was Eddie's sudden comeback to the wolf, which managed to silence the eastern European man and as Eddie flashed Violet a reassuring smile, she knew she wasn't going to lose her mind to this Wolf. She had friends to support her, she was going to get through this.

But as much as it pained her to say this, she would mutter it aloud that after the year of hell the Wolf had put her through...

She was going to be glad to see him suffer.

In a year, she had gone from a meek, innocent minded girl, to an vengeful, determined young woman.

How people changed.

Meanwhile, Cristina (who had been silent up until this point) steered the car further forwards, following the route that Luke's yellow car had sped down earlier, "It looks as if he was heading home..." she observed.

"Hopefully" Eddie murmured "Guy was drinking a lot today, I hope he doesn't crash..." and with that being said they approached Eddie's home in an increased caution of what they might have found there. Eddie simply hoped that Luke hadn't already smashed the car hood through the living room wall...

* * *

"YOU DRIVE LIKE A GOD-DAMN MANIAC!" Luis roared, slamming the car door shut behind him, as he stepped out of the yellow vehicle and rounded on Nick "SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU STILL SUICIDAL!? BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING OFF THE ROAD, AT LEAST THREE TIMES...!"

"I have got to agree with the dude" Scott nearly whispered in Luis' support. The black haired teenager, not wanting to open his mouth any longer than necessary to avoid vomiting, he looked as pale as a sheet and certainly seemed to have a bad case of motion sickness.

"Police could still be on our asses..." Clementine grunted in Nick's defence.

"Oh and I wonder whose fault that is?" Luis questioned of thin air, placing one finger on his chin and pretending to squint to make himself look more intelligent.

"We weren't using foul play Luis" Clementine informed him once again, her eyes narrowing in distaste of him and her hands slowly balling into fists.

"Oh yes Luis!" Luis suddenly mimicked in a high pitched childish accent "It's Saint Clementine's fault, for being such an idiot and using Luis' life like a pawn!"

"You agreed to it!"

"You practically forced me to do it!"

"I wasn't going to let you die!"

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it"

"You! You are such an ungrateful asshole!"

"Yeah? At least I'm not some suicidal, stupid little gi...!"

"JUST KISS ALREADY!" Scott tore through the argument with this exclamation (his face was now flushed with a bit more colour) "SERIOUSLY!?" He continued "FIVE MINUTES REUNITED AND THE PAIR OF YOU ARE BICKERING LIKE AN OLD MARRIED COUPLE! JUST FUCKING KISS ALREADY AND SAVE THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF WELLINGTON THE SOUND OF YOUR VOICES FOR TEN FUCKING MINUTES!"

Panting now, Scott looked up to find he was now the one in hot water, because if Luis' and Clementine's combined looks could kill, he would dead ten times over.

As the pair of them started to shout back at Scott, about what a ridiculous suggestion that was, Nick continued to gaze at the house in front of him. He had been doing so since he had stepped out of the car. Point blank ignoring the others and their childish argument around him, Nick simply looked up at the house and breathed in the chilled night air, that was the taste of freedom. The taste of returning home, the gravel and the weeds that grew below his feet were the things he felt as he slowly took a few steps towards his old house.

It had been a year since he had last set foot in this place.

It felt like an eternity.

Now he felt himself seemingly float towards the building, everything about this felt so dreamlike, he half expected himself to wake up in Wellington prison any second now. He... must have fallen asleep while awaiting for the cure, he actually pinched himself to see if he would wake up. But he didn't... by some crazy means Clementine had come out of the blue and saved him, if what she had told him was true than could Sarah be looking out for him too, was she still up there watching over him and making sure he came back to the group that needed him?

All he knew for now however...

Is that he was home.

* * *

Luke lay himself back on the sofa a while ago, the taste of vomit still lingered in his parched throat as he tried to get himself some sleep once again, however he couldn't clamp his eyes shut no matter how hard he tried. The thoughts that kept him awake were mostly averted towards his grief of losing Nick and the haunting dream he had of himself drowning, he couldn't sleep no matter how tired he was. No matter how much his body demanded that it be able to rest for a few hours Luke simply couldn't bring himself to sleep... he had truly stretched himself too far this time...

In this distance he thought he heard the front door open and close, but he paid little attention to that noise... it was probably just Eddie returning.

He kept his eyes open as Nick's head and shoulders slowly drifted into his line of vision.

Nick gazed back down at Luke.

Luke blinked.

Nothing.

Nick blinked.

Nothing.

Unfazed Luke reached a hand up to touch this hallucination, but when his hands brushed across a very real beard he recoiled his hand with a surprised yelp.

"Luke" the hallucination muttered once again.

"Y-y-y..." Luke couldn't formulate a single word, instead he rolled off the sofa in shock, and pointed a wild finger at Nick, stuttering on a single syllable, he could see the hallucination had Nick's prison attire, long hair and beard. But it couldn't have been him, it simply couldn't have been!

"Oh come on" Nick muttered with a familiar smile, as Luke slowly rose to his feet.

"Forget me that easily? I came back Luke, just like you asked me too"

"N-Nick!" Luke roared, finally seeing that his friend, truly was back.

"Hey Luke" Nick responded shyly, mirroring their reunion after Nick had first returned from the exile Carver had placed him under, all the way back at Howe's. Some things never changed.

and it didn't, Luke pounced on Nick and began laughing and sobbing in hysterics as Nick clutched onto his best friend like a vice lock. Both of them digging their fingers into each other's shoulder blades to reassure themselves that they weren't both dreaming, that this reunion was real, that Luke shitty day had somehow just got ten times better.

Luke was so lost in the happy reunion that he failed too notice, Clementine, Scott and Luis standing near by. Upon witnessing the happy reunion, Clementine felt herself get teary eyed, Scott gazed on in amazement that something like this could actually still happen. While Luis (being Luis of course) began to reach his hand into his mouth to make a retching noise to showcase his distaste of scenes he found too "mushy" for his liking. Clementine saw this and once again hit Luis where it hurt, his retching dying into a wheeze as his legs buckled and he crutched his damaged goods.

"Are you trying to make me infertile?" he demanded of Clementine, who paid no attention to him. Instead she simply felt herself extend a fist towards Scott, Scott bumped his fist into her's.

"I'll hand it too you Clem" he informed her "You helped me and a lot of other people today"

"Thanks, you too" she told Scott in return.

"Maybe... maybe when we get back to school" Scott suggested slowly, turning to face her "We can... like hang out? I've heard you've wanted to join the football team?"

"Yeah" Clementine responded, as she turned to face him.

"Well, I might join you" Scott mused "Feels good to be back in the game again Clem, I need something to keep me pumped! and I better than you at athletics. If I was active a year back I would have whooped your ass at the Bleep Test"

"Jog on" Clementine teased him with a light smile, "I'd like to see you try to beat me..."

"You ain't seen nothing of me yet" Scott warned her.

"I've seen you win failed mountaineer of the year award..."

"My arm was broken at the time, may I remind you..."

Luis simply had to look on disbelief, Luke and Nick in reunited bliss, Clementine and Scott actually smiling and getting on. He must have died back in the woods because none of this positivity could actually be happening. Life always seemed to be shit, especially here in Wellington. How could Clementine turn this all around in a mere couple of hours? He was frustrated at being proven wrong, but he knew deep down his frustration stemmed from distaste from himself.

Here he was, the pessimistic dark mould leeching off this happy scene. Nick and Luke's happy tears and Scott and Clementine conversing in such friendly tones after a mere night! Watching the black haired boy talk jovially to the capped girl Luis felt a sense of genuine hurt hurl through his system. Here he was clutching his still aching privates and not able to muster a positive word to anyone. This sight actually depressed him because it was then he seemed to truly see himself for the miserable bag of guts that he really was and he wasn't fun, charismatic, funny or even a badass. He was just a sulky, immature little boy who'd lost a couple of limbs and seemed to think the world owed him a favour because of that.

As Luis sighed and let these news sink in, the front door slammed open.

* * *

It took nearly 3 hours to explain everything to everyone.

and by everyone that meant anyone Violet could contact, Luis' group, the editor of the Wellington Weekly Robert Allen, a few Journalists who had also tagged along with him under the promise that they finally had the wolf. The Fyre's themselves along with some other, local and curious families soon found themselves listening to the tale as well. Backed up by Violet's audio evidence (the wolf denied nothing anyway) there they all were.

Initially the confusion over Eddie seeing Nick and Nick and Luke seeing Eddie with a tied up Ethan raised some rapid questions. Then both parties noticed Clem, Scott and Luis standing there and wanted to know why they were here. Clementine had merely began to scratch the surface of how she had retrieved Nick from the prison with Scott and Luis' help. When Eddie announced their was a bigger fish to fry, they had truly caught the Wellington Wolf.

This was too much for Luke to take in, his best friend had been saved from certain death and now the true Wellington Wolf had been captured? It was impossible to believe, Eddie, Violet and Miss King had tried to explain it all too them. But then Rebecca came downstairs with AJ and upon seeing everyone there she demanded an explanation. So Eddie had to restart and then Molly came down the stairs and Eddie had too restart and at this point Robert Allen and his team from the Wellington Weekly had arrived. Knocking on the door, the ten of them were let in as Eddie (frustrated now) had to repeat his tale once again.

But he barely started, because upon learning about Luis. Rebecca had done what all mothers in the situation would have done and proceeded to phone Maria's house in order to inform her that her son was alive, safe and well and that they had caught the true Wellington Wolf. Maria must have teleported to Rebecca's house because merely five minutes after the call, a clearly flustered Maria (still in her nightdress) was banging on the door to be let in. Upon entering she spotted Luis, squealed and made embraced her son in rib crushing hug.

"I thought I'd lost you...!" she wept for everyone to hear.

Luis was relived to see his mother again (at first) before it simply became another "Mum, you can let go now" kind of hugs, that embarrassed sons would mumble under their breaths, as they tried to shuffle away from their overbearing mothers.

The rest of Maria's group followed her shortly afterwards. Tom and Terri managed to wake a still reeling JJ and the blonde haired boy (bandage still wrapped across his forehead) had stumbled along with them. Tom and Terri couldn't leave him home alone, but both admitted that he wasn't much better out here as he seemed to pay no attention to anyone. His brown eyes becoming very misty and different and they would simply lock onto a spot in the distance. He wasn't listening to Eddie's tale on the Wolf at all and didn't react as many others did.

and that's when the Fyre's and other curious families began arriving. The people already there must have phoned friends and families and news had spread fast. So with around 40 plus extra people squeezing themselves into the kitchen, it was suffice to say it was very cramped.

So Clementine, Nick, Luke, Rebecca, AJ, Eddie, Violet, Miss King, Scott, Luis, Maria, Terri, Tom, JJ, Edward and his parents, Robert and his army of 10 along with (when a headcount took place) 43 others learned the truth. So 71 people learnt that "Ethan Hart" was the Wellington Wolf, 71 people now knew that the evidence was stacked against the president. Out of the remaining population of Wellington which had know roughly shrunk down to around 950 odd people after Plan X, 71 one those the president was supposed to be leading were now against him in disgust.

"This... this... is insane!" Robert Allen exclaimed in the silence that followed the re-telling of the story.

"But it's true!" another Journalist piped up "Imagine the stories we could print...!"

"Fuck stories!" Tom roared "We've been told enough of them!"

"We should kill this fucker right now!" An angry man exclaimed, jabbing a thick finger at the Wolf.

"NO!" Violet roared "His not denying anything, but we need him there for evidence. We need him to tell everyone else what he did!"

"HIS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS WHOLE TOWN GOING TO SHIT AND YOU WANT TO KEEP HIM ALIVE!?" The man exclaimed to Violet angrily.

"WE KEEP HIM ALIVE UNTIL THE PRESIDENT IS TAKEN DOWN!" Violet corrected him, before adding darkly "But after that, we'll make him suffer"

"I just don't understand how, Ethan" Luke muttered turning towards him. (Ethan was bound to a kitchen chair and left in the middle of the room, right in the middle of the spotlight where people could glare openly at him) "I thought you were my friend! Gertrude always spoke so highly of you! and all this time you were...!" he was left speechless at Ethan's crimes. Unable to digest this news, that's when he felt something in his snap.

"SAY SOMETHING!" Luke roared charging forward and landing a well aimed punch at the wolf (he was the ninth person in the room to succumb to this sort of anger). The wolf didn't flinch after being punched across the face, he merely remained silent on the spot a new purple bruise already adding to the mosaic of coloured bruised, decorating his face.

"SAY SOMETHING! YOU FUCKING... FUCK!" Luke exploded going for a second strike.

"LUKE CALM DOWN!" Nick exclaimed, grabbing his best friend by the arms he tugged Luke backwards, Luke panted for a few seconds before gazing back at Nick. Finding it ironic that Nick was the one telling him to calm down after this insane night.

"You're only going to make it worse" Nick told him "Let's just get ourselves the cure and get the president's ass busted. We can deal with this punk later. Okay?"

Luke remained silent, still shaken and hurt by Ethan's betrayal.

"Luke?" Nick enquired.

Luke seemed to snap out of his trance, as he regained his senses and looked Nick back in the eyes.

"Okay" he responded.

Luke was now more grateful to Clementine than he had ever been beforehand, he truly did need Nick back because he supposed he would have lost even more of his humanity and sanity had Nick been there to ground him during this chaotic time. Everyone was in awe, to be woken up, released from prison, or suffering from grief over Plan X... too suddenly be hearing all of this!? Violet doubted that anyone had gotten their heads around what the hell was going tonight at all and now she was only going to add to the confusion.

"What we need to do" Violet told them all, her voice rising as she announced it "WE NEED TO MARCH DOWN TO THE CENTRAL HUB! REVEAL EVERYTHING THERE AND GATHER AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN, INFORM AND EXPLAIN IT TO THEM ALL!"

"ANOTHER RIOT!?" Molly exclaimed from where she was sitting.

"NO!" Scott bellowed finding his voice "IN LAST YEAR'S RIOT WE ALL LOST SIGHT OF WHAT WAS IMPORTANT AND WE TURNED ON EACH OTHER! BUT THIS TIME WE WILL FULFIL WHAT THE GOAL WAS LAST YEAR! WE MARCH DOWN THERE, IN A PEACEFUL PROTEST RATHER THAN A FULL SCALE RIOT! AND WE BRING DOWN THE PRESIDENT ONCE AND FOR ALL! THE EVIDENCE WE HAVE IS OVERWHELMING...!"

"WE CAN DO THIS!" Clementine yelled in encouragement of what Scott was stating.

"WE'LL ORGANISE AND INFORM THE PROTESTERS!" Robert Allen shouted for everyone to hear "WE'LL ASSIST THE POLICE WITH DISTRIBUTING THE CURE, BUT ALSO GET THEM ON OUR SIDE AND WE'LL MARCH ON THAT DECEIVING LITTLE WEASEL!"

"DOWN WITH SCHULZ!" Came one war like cry.

Soon it was echoed everywhere, a chant people could pump their fists into the air too. Scott sat there despite the short amount of time this protest had been set up. He could already tell this was going to be a lot different from the last one. The goal was simple and clear, bring down the president with all the evidence used against him. He would simply have to hand himself over and him and the Wolf could then go and get impaled on a spike, or thrown into a pit of snakes for all anyone cared. As long as they died and Wellington would soon see a brighter future with new people in charge and with a cured population now seemingly immortal from the walker's threats.

Everyone was buzzing, everyone was ready and that was when the door knocked once again.

"POLICE!" Someone yelled "LET US IN! WE HAVE CURE'S READY FOR DISPOSAL...!"

The door was creaked open by somebody, Clementine saw that the two officers at the door were the same from the police station earlier. It was now the break of dawn and she knew they wouldn't have spent all night chasing down a single runner when they had so many other pressing matters to deal with. But now they were here and Clementine suddenly remembered the threat against Luis and Nick.

Both police officer's faces dropped in spotting the sheer number of people gathered in the room.

"What's going on here folks?" the older one dared to ask.

"Officers, there is a protest against the president occurring" Robert Allen decided to explain "That man has sided with the cult and killed more innocents than is necessary. His also quite corrupt, so yes try and stop us. Or join us" he offered of the two officers.

The two officers looked at one another.

"Anything else?" the younger one asked.

"Yes. We also know the true identity of the Wellington Wolf now" Violet took it upon herself to explain this "and the president has shielded his identity for a year".

The older officer's eyes found Ethan tied up and beaten, they then found Nick and Luis who seemingly tensed in anticipation of what the officers would do to them. But seeing as the officers were clearly outnumbered and not wanting to cause anymore unnecessary deaths (especially towards people who could have knocked him an his colleague out and committed foul play, but they didn't, so they earned brownie points from him regarding prison escape plans) the older officer simply held out a number of envelopes.

"Syringes are inside" he murmured to Luke, who had come to take them from him. "Luke Harris, Molly Harper, Clementine Marsh, Rebecca Warren, Alvin Junior Warren and Eddie Ramos. Seeing as you are the present inhabitation's of this house. These cures were posted directly to you 6" the officer explained "But they are an excess number of cure's we can help all of you folk get. We'll help distribute before you begin to protest. Understood?"

"Yes sir" Luke answered.

"But... but..." The Younger officer muttered in disbelief.

"Quiet son" the older one snapped, shutting him up "Instructions for inserting the vaccine are in the envelope, but I think you all get the gist of sticking a needle into your arm"

"Yes sir" Luke repeated.

"Good, you all have a nice day now"

and with that the older officer departed the house with his younger colleague in tow.

"But... they... they sheltered two runners..." the younger one babbled to him.

"I'm sick of killing people and dragging them to their dooms!" The older officer snapped towards his more confused workmate "Fuck that fucking Schulz cunt anyway. Let them protesters do as they want and it seems to be true about the president. Not that many people would have gathered to hear nonsense boy, so were gonna help people distribute the cure's. We exist to protect and serve the population of Wellington and right now, that's what were doing".

Merely feet away Clementine tore open the envelope with her name on it and watched a light looking leaflet full of obvious instructions, fall to the floor instead her eyes locked on the syringe filled with clear liquid in front of her.

This was it. This was immunity day.

They all knew it was coming, the cure would be amassed like meat was amassed from cattle and distributed as soon as it could be. Although it took nearly a year for forensics and scientists to discover how to make a vaccination against the virus from Oscar's brain tissues. Once it was done once and the secret was out they could replicate the whole process again within minutes. and filter the precious liquid into hundreds of syringes and have them ready for distribution. Clementine imagined they would be lined up at the central hub to be injected with a cure (this also made it easier to keep track of everyone who had been injected as immune). But no... apparently this postal service seemed like the way to go about it. However she remembered (from one issue of the Wellington Weekly) that the president stated after the cure was going to be made available for all, he would test the immunity by some means.

Clementine guessed that meant, happy times and cure's for now.

But being bitten by walkers and walking up to the wall, came for later.

and this was another reason why Schulz had to go down, his choices may have been amusing to him (Special delivery service, cure's at the ready!) but were illogical to the rest of the populace. However for now Clementine held the syringe in her fingers and watched as Luke injected himself with the vaccination.

"Go on Clem" he urged of her.

Too Clementine none of the events of the day felt real at all, so when she placed the needle in her forearm and watched as the clear liquid emptied from the syringe it was in. She didn't believe she was now immune, nothing felt different at all, the thing that had killed Lee was a single bite and now because she had stuck some needle into her arm she was suddenly immune from that effect? That suddenly walkers themselves posed no threat in spreading their infection? No. It was all too much to take in at the moment. All she wanted right now is to get this protest out of the way and lie down for a long while and mull things over.

Yet, as the first of Wellington's population were made immune, nobody in that living room noticed the Wolf's smile.

_"They are all rather foolish" _he thought to himself.

Still, they had been injected now, his mission was succeeding.

There was No Going Back from this now.


	20. One Bite

**A/N: So here it is, the big 2-0, now originally this chapter was going to be spilt into Chapter 20 and then Chapter 21 as two big events occur this chapter, but seeing how it's been a long wait I'll treat you guys with a double dose of action and end Episode 2 on this chapter. Thanks for all of you guy's reviews for the past 10 chapters I've really liked developing the riot survivors even further throughout the second part of the story and (once again) I'm too lazy to discuss single reviews here but after this chapter I will answer to all of your reactions and analysis'. **

**So strap on tight, here's chapter 20, One Bite!**

**(P.S. Also this chapter is exceptionally long and I wouldn't blame you for skimming over some sections as I began to get a case of writer's block in Pt 2, so if things feel rushed in Pt 2 than I apologise but I hope you still find it an enjoyable read!) **

* * *

_"Fuck... fuck... FUUUCCCCKKKKKK!" _

_The Wellington Wolf looked down sadly upon his fallen companion, the remains of what was once a large community lay in shambled ruins around them, the buildings once so high and mighty had fallen were weeping in flames, the populace were now dead eyed walkers shambling around them. Those whose eyes were old and brim with wisdom and experiences and those whose eyes were young, bright and full of hope for any form of future, now all shared the shame dead blank white eyes. Empty canvas robbed of colour, that's all these things were now._

_The virus did not discriminate, white or black, child or old, man or woman, tall or short, thin or fat, blonde haired or brown haired, ugly or pretty...none of it mattered. Dead was dead._

_and all it took was one bite._

_One Bite._

_and society, human beings, were all wiped out. Glancing around him in that ruins of a community the pair of them assumed was safe, all it had taken was for one idiot to get bitten to infect the next person and then before anyone knew what to do, walkers prowled in the streets in their hundreds. This led to panic and for the pity spectacle of a barricade to finally fall flat on this community, allowing thousands of the undead to press their way within the place, as buildings burned and the dying screamed for any kind of help that could come their way._

_The Wolf watched, he and comrade had been sent to this community when this "thing" all started, tasked with one objective._

_Find a cure._

_That meant finding someone immune in order to develop the cure and in this community full of living people, their had to be an immune survivor in their somewhere. But it was a bit difficult to investigate when the leaders of said community don't abide to what you are doing and the fact nobody would be willing to "test" their immunity by allowing themselves to get bitten. Added to the meaningless tensions that had began to develop within the community, regarding who got the limited food supply, dragging people's murky pasts into the present and people forming gangs and their own little groups which fractured the community to breaking point._

_The Wolf watched as they fought each other, so if they couldn't work together there was no way in hell they could work against the walkers._

_and sure enough, that's how the community fell._

_The Wolf and his comrade were experienced fighters, but the sheer number of walkers... it was simply overwhelming for them. But the Wolf (at this point still under his alibi of "Dmirty" fought on with every fibre of his being. But "Viktor" was unable to do that._

_The Wolf remembered his companion in the year they had been at the community before it had fallen, "Viktor" was a broad man and had to be in his mid to late 30's. With a shaved head and small beady brown eyes that would lock themselves onto the focus of his attention. He was either Russian or Ukrainian judging by his natural accent, but the Wolf never bothered to ask for his real nationality, they had been tasked with doing this job together and he and the Wolf kept a very professional and formal relationship with one another. But too many late nights out and sudden mood swings that Viktor had been experiencing as of late, made the Wolf suspicious that Viktor had been getting involved far too much in the affairs of this disposable safe haven._

_and the Wolf was right, once again._

_Upon seeing a woman cradling a young boy to her chest, Viktor's beady brown eyes, locked themselves onto the focus of his attention. The impassive man of stone had long since crumbled in front of Viktor's eyes, he openly wept for the dead he had seen and hurled abuse at the walkers as he sliced his axe through their skulls. The Wolf was easily sliding through walker neck's like soft butter, so when he heard Viktor make his most heart-wrenching cry yet he simply had to turn around and try and help his companion._

_It was too late._

_Viktor must have grown to love this woman, he must have fallen victim to his own desires after spending so long surrounded by such highly charged emotional people. He failed his mission and became a lover to this strong woman (she must have been curious about melting the heart of a impassive eastern European man, she must have succeeded in seducing him) and her son must have looked up to him as a father figure. Viktor was off playing daddy, while Dmirty had been spying on the most populace to see where to make his next move, who seemed most likely to be immune. But his searches were always fruitless._

_The leaders always argued, that they were safe behind their flimsy barricade._

_Why did they need a cure? When they had a world without walkers._

_But the Wolf knew, that in the end, the dead always won._

_and so as Viktor lay there, bitten in the neck by failing to kill the zombified boy in his mother's arms, (his mother lay on Viktor's legs slowly gasping her last breaths as she bled out, from wounds caused by her own son) The Wolf knew he was right. He was right about everything thus far he had kept to the mission and yet Viktor had strayed and got himself needlessly killed for this woman and her doomed son._

_"You've been comprised" The wolf informed Viktor who lay at his feet._

_"Indeed" Viktor muttered back, coughing up blood and shuddering, walkers approached the wolf from all sides and although he was strong he couldn't take on all of them. He simply had to keep on moving._

_"Do you want me too spare you anymore pain?" The wolf asked of his comrade, as if they discussing the matter over dinner._

_"Just... just... God!" Viktor suddenly exclaimed, (coughing up blood as he did so) recovering he gasped for air and his small eyes locked upon The Wolf who stood tall above him._

_"I failed Dmirty" Viktor mumbled miserably to himself "I failed the mission"_

_"I will continue it"_

_"I know you will" Viktor mused with a light smile, lining his bloodied features "I thought I could do it! I was a trained professional! But... but I couldn't. You might be the only one of us left Dmirty, you were always so serious, always kept on with the mission..."_

_"We haven't much time" The Wolf noted, ignoring his comrade's assessment of him._

_"How do you do it!?" Viktor suddenly demanded "How do you keep going!? I wanted to be like you! I wanted to be the one that saved everyone, but... but at the end of the day I'm only human. I was destined to die just like everyone else here! All I wanted to do... was... was..."_

_"Yes?" The wolf asked with genuine curiosity, Viktor's impending passing had only made the wolf feel slight stabs of annoyance. That he had been left alone in the world, although they hadn't heard from their bosses in 11 months, Dmirty always saw Viktor as the one person to remind him of the mission they had been set. The mission that they would get a cure one day. Viktor must have been more passionate about it than Dmirty ever was, to Dmirty it was a mission. Simply a mission that had to be completed and he would never, ever fail a mission. His point of existence was to help others despite not feeling a grain of emotions for them himself. Whereas Viktor... must have felt a sense of pride, of honour, to be doing the hard thing in order to save everyone. He let his emotions clog his vision and that's why he had ultimately failed, leaving a lone wolf behind. _

_"... was stop all of this!" Viktor exploded as a response, to the Wolf's earlier inquiry. Salty tears mingled with Dmirty's blood as both liquids rained down his face._

_"LOOK AT IT!" Viktor howled "EVERYTHING'S JUST DEAD AND GONE TO FUCKING SHIT! THIS IS ALL IT'S EVER GOING TO BE DMIRTY! NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO! EVERY COMMUNITY WILL END UP LIKE THIS! A CURE! WHAT FUCKING CURE!? OUR MISSION WAS IMPOSSIBLE, I... I WANTED TO DIE IN BED WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, OR JUST LOOKING AT SOMETHING THAT ISN'T UNDEAD OR BURNING OR JUST... SHIT!" Viktor's rant only drew the walkers towards him at a faster pace, and alerted more of them of his presence in the nearby vicinity._

_"I will carry on the mission Viktor" The wolf muttered unfazed by the rant "Regardless of your opinion"_

_"I knew you'd say something like that" Viktor replied, "I'm sorry, for leaving you like this Dmirty, but... but promise me one thing"_

_"Okay" The wolf said leaning closer to Viktor to hear what he had to say._

_"If you do find the opportunity to get a cure" Viktor snarled "Do **anything** to get it and I mean **anything**, regardless of how many people have to die, or how many lives you destroy. Nothing, nothing can be worse that dying like this, just promise me that if you do find a cure that people won't have to fear the risk of one fucking bite anymore! I know walkers can still rip people to shreds, but avoiding that one bite..."_

_"I know" The wolf murmured in agreement._

_"Promise me that you'll keep on going, promise me you'll get that cure and finish the mission! Promise me you'll guide those who have the cure..." Viktor was instructing the wolf now "Promise me at least one person will die happy"._

_"I promise" was all the Wolf had to say._

Right now, Viktor's last words re-vibrated in the Wolf's mind like a school bell.

_"Promise me at least one person will die happy"_

Dying because of a community turning on you? Dying because of walkers? No. The Wolf had made his promise to Viktor that when people did die, they would die free and truly happy. Life in these walls had chipped away people's freedom's and humanity and as the Wolf glanced around at one angry face to another leering one. He knew that a lot of people were going to die.

But some would survive and they were the one's the Wolf was meant to guide.

However it seemed he had done all he could, for now his fate was truly in other people's hands.

Never the less, when they had injected the cure into themselves the wolf couldn't help but smile, knowing that his mission was complete, that after everything people were now truly immune from the virus. But there was another reason for that smile, as people were rather foolish and that _everyone..._

Had played into his hand.

* * *

Clementine sat on a bench, her eyes scanning over the "rioters" who had organised themselves into clumps of social groups discussing matters amongst themselves. The sun was now slowly and steadily ascending into the winter sky, but despite it's presence it's rays failed to penetrate through the layers of cold air around them. Leaving many of the rioters jogging on the spot or rubbing their hands together to try and generate some warmth. Other rioters had simply wore thicker layers of clothing, Luke in particular was wearing a cream coloured Parker than made him look twice the size he actually was, right now he was discussing something with Rebecca, that Journalist Robert Allen and a clump of men Clementine knew by face but not by name.

She couldn't help but suppress a grin at how serious Luke seemed, in that ridiculously oversized coat.

Catching her smile in the corner of his eye, Luke turned to where Clementine sat grinning at him. Knowing instantly that it was the coat that Clementine found amusing (he had borrowed it off another guy, hence Clementine hadn't seen him wearing it beforehand) their eyes locked as Luke flashed her a grin of his own followed by a small salute before returning to business.

"Idiot" Clementine muttered to herself, she still kept on smiling however. It was great to see a piece of the old Luke come back, not just in the form of Nick either.

"Wouldn't be happen to be talking about Luke would you?" came a female voice from above her.

"How could you tell?" Clementine asked in mock wonder.

"Because" Molly replied, taking a seat next to Clementine "Luke is the biggest idiot I know, putting his life on the line for blind little me and the trigger happy village moron Nick and dealing with your lousy ass and trying to get the village donkey back to our group then yeah... his an idiot stretching himself to much for our shitty group"

"I know" Clementine replied.

A short silence followed this as cold breeze ruffled by, sending a few flattened leaves rolling in their direction.

"Thank you" Molly blurted out at last "For watching out for him"

Clementine simply nodded in reply (even though Molly couldn't see this) she got the gist that her thanks was appreciated.

"Couldn't have let me on the prison break though?" Molly enquired.

"You're still recovering Molly" Clementine decided to remind her.

"I'm always recovering from everyone's bullshit" Molly counter argued "I would been fine, but I guess you kids handled it. So it's all good".

"Molly... don't..." Clementine began.

"What?" Molly challenged "Push myself, do something reckless? Clementine I'm as a blind as a bat, how could shit possibly get any worse for me?"

"Car" was the single word that tumbled from Clementine's mouth.

"Physically I know stuff can always get worse Clem" Molly informed her "But I can't go back to that vegetative state again, or if I do then I need to back there with a bang! Luke gave me a reason not to give up, but I need to convince myself now that I can live a life, that I can look after myself, if I can't do that... then honestly what good am I to anyone?"

"Molly..."

"Clem I don't want..."

"No not that" Clementine cut her off "It's just... well Luke's dressed in a massive Parker, it looks ridiculous on him"

"Is he pulling his serious face?"

"Yes"

Molly smiled to herself, her bandaged eyes resting on a spot just left of where Luke was stood talking, images filling her mind no doubt of the visual scene around her.

"How many people?"

"About 100 around right now"

"Let me guess..." Molly strained her ears before speaking up once again "They've all clumped into little groups?"

"Not bad Molly" Clementine dared to admit.

"Like I said" Molly muttered as smug as can be "Ninja through and through, blindness ain't got shit on me. But thanks for believing in me Clem, I'm going to harass someone else who I can find. You be careful in this riot to you hear?"

"I will be" Clementine responded.

Satisfied Molly headed off, while Clementine remained seated. According to Luke they were waiting here for the last of their numbers to gather before they marched on the central hub. With the growing numbers and backed up by so much good news as of late. Clementine dared to believe once again that this riot was going to be a success.

"Doesn't feel real, does it?" came another voice.

"Hi Scott" Clementine greeted him with.

Scott sat where Molly had been seconds beforehand, Clementine observed that the black haired boy was rubbing his fingers over the small scab that pockmarked the point in his skin where he had been given immunity. Clementine couldn't help but mess with her own new mark as well, nothing about any of this seemed real to her at all.

"It still feels like the bite will kill us" Clementine stated.

"I know" Scott replied, gazing directly at her "I expected something... to feel... something! Some change or something, but nothing... absolutely nothing"

Clementine nodded at this, her eyes somehow drawing themselves towards the lone figure of the Wellington Wolf who was tied to a pole and being kept upright by watching rioters. He didn't make any struggle, he was simply standing there as silent as can be. His gaze planted on the sky above him or switching to the ground, but his eyes never once rested (or lingered) on a single person.

"That guy fucking creeps me out" Scott snarled "He has to be the Wolf, the guy doesn't have a shred of emotion..."

"Yeah" Clementine agreed with Scott, before she found her own voice "But I don't want everyone to kill him. Not yet, there's something... interesting about him" and that was true. Clementine knew what she was getting with Carver, she watched men she had once seen as family go to ruin and become monsters, such as Vince and the stranger had kept up an emotionless façade for quite some time, but there was always a sinister aura about him and when he revealed his true colours he was just as insane as everyone else he looked down upon.

But the wolf was different, Clementine didn't get any sort of sinister vibe from him.

It was like the cure itself, she expected to feel something when she received it and she felt nothing. When she looked at the Wolf she expected to feel a surge of anger, disgust and even confusion flow through her veins. But she felt nothing, no sympathy but no hate either, she didn't feel anything when she watched him get beaten, or when he confessed to his crimes. That's all the Wolf had done, gotten himself caught and confessed his crimes.

Something didn't feel right.

"This... cure" Scott mumbled (as if he could hear Clementine's thoughts) "We know the president worked on it and Wolfie over there helped, so how do we know it's genuine? This could just be water in a syringe for all we know"

"It could be" Clementine suggested "But... I don't know Scott. If you were caught why the hell would you confess all your crimes? That's the thing that's bothering me, the Wolf fights not to get caught, but the second they get him, he suddenly stops fighting and just tells everyone everything?"

"The guy's a mystery" Scott summarised.

"It's like his told us everything, but nothing" Clementine theorised "Maybe he told us all that to put us off guard, we know it's true, we have the evidence now. But he told us so much, so we think he has nothing else to hide".

"I hope they get onto that" Scott concurred to Clementine's point "and I'd like to keep him around a little longer as well, whatever his motivations are I want to know. Besides..." he added with a grin "Everyone deserves a second chance, right?"

Getting over his unfortunate choice of words, Clementine simply nodded in reply.

"Look Clem, I know I was a dick before..." Scott began.

"Good, now shut up about it" Clementine snapped.

"But..." Scott protested.

"Scott, I forgave you a while back. Don't waste your time apologising"

"Had to say something to be polite"

"I appericate it though"

Beaming, Scott left Clementine to her own business as she watched him go. Liking the fact she had gained a new friend in him of all people.

* * *

"Tom!"

"Maria, we have what we came here for" Tom informed her matter of factly "This riot is not going to go well, mark my words on that. We're immune now! Immune!" Tom stressed that word twice as he rubbed his new wound. The police had made sure that cures got around fast and now just about everyone and anyone within Wellington had injected themselves with the cure. Yet despite Tom now repeating that fact towards his depleted group, it hadn't sunk in for any of them. They had all developed a natural knack for avoiding walkers and their bites and keeping well away from the wall due to airborne strain of the virus and it's growing range. But now because of one little injection, they didn't have to worry about walker bites anymore. They could stroll up to the wall once again and breathe in the fresh air atop of the wall, without the gut wrenching fear that the contaminated air could infect you like it did with Edith Jules and that schoolboy Carl Espon.

Despite the enormity of what this meant and the fact many heads struggled to comprehended it, Tom had to adapt. He was a master at adapting to the situations, his years within the armed forces had given him that survival instinct. Whether it was camouflaging yourself to blend in with the greenery around you, or diving in any direction after hearing a panicked yell, Tom knew that all of his experiences had prepared him for this apocalypse, he and Tim had survived years in the woods. While he also led his group to Wellington, but now they had what they needed from what Wellington so it was high time to slip on out of here. Despite Maria's protests.

"We can't just leave these people!" Maria snapped back

"They can handle themselves" Tom retorted cruelly.

"We have friends here!" Maria counter argued "What good are we going to do by skipping out of here now!? There's still food, housing and fresh water for us here! It will be even better if we can stay and rid of that foul president..."

"So what?" Tom challenged "We get rid of one president, how long until the next one comes along and fucks everything up! We've dealt with people for far too long and received nothing back but hate and are you forgetting? That freak over there killed Ana and Oscar!" he pointed directly at the Wellington Wolf at this point before continuing "and Wellington took Wilbert and Brandon from us... as well as..." Tom trailed to a halt there unable to utter the name of his lost twin who he had killed in mercy.

"You think this riot will end up like the last one" Maria summarised aloud.

Tom didn't say anything, but that confirmed to Maria that he wasn't denying her statement at all.

"Look" Luis finally muttered, entering the conversation at long last (he and Terri had been watching it for a while, while JJ sat nearby, gazing at the sky completely gone in his own little world). "I get what you're saying Tom, but we should wait for a bit. We came here to gather some more allies in case this place did fall, I doubt a cripple like me, my aged mother, a teenage girl and... well" all he had to do was glance at JJ for everyone to get the point "...will last long out there. You can look after yourself Tom, you're capable but you can't do this alone. That Luke and his group seem alright and they're are others too".

"Never thought you'd argue your mother's case" Tom bitterly commented.

Ignoring this, Luis ploughed onwards

"If this riot goes badly then fair enough, we can run for our god-damn lives to that wall and be free for good" Luis suggested "But if this riot goes well then... we'd have just wasted running away for nothing and I don't think they'd welcome us back warmly if we abandoned them now".

Tom seemed to be scanning Luis now, as if a completely different person had replaced the usually pessimistic 19 year old in front of him, he wondered whether the successful prison break Luis had conducted with those two other kids had given him a bit more hope for the community. Either way he now had what remained of the Agerz family arguing against him, JJ obviously wasn't going to join in the debate. X-raying his vulnerable group, Tom could only sigh and tun to face Terri to hear what she had to say on the matter.

"We stay" was all Terri had to say, but she did have something else to add "But let's keep out of the way, if the riot goes poorly and we're next to the frontrunners we'll be cut down instantly. Whereas if we take a back seat in this riot we'll be less at risk, but were also not abandoning these guys. It gives us a nice middle ground and we can use the excuse that we need to watch over JJ in his vulnerable state".

Terri's answer had satisfied everyone, although Tom knew her reasoning was probably true and very well spoken. He also knew she wanted to stay to finish off the final stage of her revenge.

"I think that's a great idea!" Maria mused.

"Why the hell not, let's go on that then" Luis grunted, backing his mother up.

"Guess that's the plan then, so all of you sit tight and stay close too me!" Tom ordered of them all.

Tom was gearing for war and just like war he had no idea what to expect for what lay ahead.

All he knew is that the world was always full of nasty surprises.

* * *

"STEPHANIE! COME ON OUT STEF! COME ON OUT LITTLE GIRL!"

Stephanie didn't move, she didn't dare flinch or even breathe all they had to do was check inside of the bathtub she was hidden within and it would all be over.

"ADRIENNE!? DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT!?"

Stephanie gulped.

"HAVE YOU BEEN CHEATING ON ME!? YOU LITTLE FUCKING WHORE!?"

Of course Stephanie wasn't going to reply, it would give away her position if she did so.

"Mr. President, we believe the rioters are getting ever closer..."

The president grumbled something angrily under his breath, "I give them the Domesday report and they fucking riot! I give them a cure and they fucking riot! Ungrateful assholes!"

"Their numbers are swelling above our own..."

"Fine! Fucking fine I'll give my self-pity speech and they should back down" The president snarled, "Have you got any idea why they are rioting?"

"None as of yet sir, but sources tell us they are defiantly gathering for a protest..."

"I'll go out and meet them then, get me a force of armed guards, in case things get hairy" he ordered of the solider next to him, out of Stephanie's line of view.

"Aye sir"

"and get somebody to find that bitch of mine" Schulz snapped "dispose of her instantly and if you can't find her dispose of that boyfriend of her's! Asshole escapes the prison and she lies to me that she has nothing to do with it! It's too much of a fucking coincidence that a riot breaks out instantly afterwards, both of them need silencing for good! Jeopardising my leadership and she must have fed him some cock and bull story about how I abuse her..." the president made a hacking laugh after this "Yeah well I've seen the light, that bitch isn't my Adrienne she's been using me the whole time and that idiot boyfriend of her's is an escaped convict and a madman, if I can turn the tides against them than the situation is sorted. I was getting bored of her anyway with her abstinence campaign she had going on, I prefer a woman who gives me what I want and I want children. That's why Adrienne wanted..." the president fell silent at this point no doubt (and once again) lingering on his lost love.

"Get someone or as many soldiers as you can spare to find her" The president finally ordered after an unnerving silence for Stephanie "and the rest of you come with me, I don't see what they can possibly use against me, I mean what sort of evidence do they have!?"

* * *

Ironically a few hundred feet away from the central hub Violet Moore had all the evidence she could possibly need, if the Wellington Wolf being tied to a pole wasn't enough evidence than maybe the audio files she had confirmed that, added to all the evidence of corruption that the Journalists at the Wellington Weekly had uncovered during this past week... it was all they needed to get rid of him once and for all.

She looked around to find she was near to the front of the marching rioters, in fact... _she was the leader. _She had gone from a scared, apparently crazy little girl, too this... a hardened woman leading roughly 200 people towards the central hub. She looked down at her feet and simply planted one foot in front of the other, she knew Eddie had gone back to comfort Rebecca and AJ on the situation and she could hardly blame him. They needed him and he'd been there enough for her and she could handle herself right now.

As she thought that, she noticed someone cough to get her attention.

"Hello Robert" she greeted the editor of the Wellington Weekly with.

"Violet" he responded formally, before he looked back on the rioters behind them, there was no cussing, cursing or chants. But a general angry hum of the chattering populace behind them, funnelled into a single large crowd meandering through the streets, Violet wished she could carry on this walk forever and feel empowered in this way. But she knew she was merely blocks away from the central hub now and if she was leading this then by some means she had to be the one to announce what the rioters wanted and why they were putting Schulz down, for good.

"A lot of pressure, hey?" Robert asked of her, she must have let her worry show on her face.

"You could say that" Violet replied with a shaky smile, trying hard not to look at what she knew was awaiting ahead of her.

"I just thinking" Robert muttered "When this all blows over, we're going to need a new president, I was considering the role myself but... seeing how you went so far and worked for so long to gain evidence on behalf of the people. I think that position would be rightfully your's".

"Me as president?" Violet inquired of him, bewildered at the prospect.

"You've done the populace of Wellington a huge service" Robert told her "Believe you me, your sister would be proud. A lot of people think the newspaper and Journalism in general is about scaremongering and nosing around into other people's business. But too me it's always been about working to find out the truth, putting your life and morale code on the line. Your sister understood that and your brother died for it. Now you're going to complete their legacy Violet, It only feels right too me".

"Well... thanks" was all Violet could say at this sudden praise hurtled her way. "But let's take out old Schulz before we discuss any future plans" she added, as she finally focused her attention back towards the road ahead of her.

"Hey erm... Violet right?"

Glad to turn her eyes away from the road, she turned around to see it was that man... Nick. Who had addressed her.

"Yep" she replied, behind his tangled mess of black hairs, his wide blue eyes seemed to foretell a plea to her.

"We take down the president right? But what about those that follow him?" Nick inquired "What are we going to do with them?"

"They either turn tide, or we imprison them" Violet muttered off the top of her head "and if they resist too much, we'll have to put them out of their misery".

Nick gulped, Violet had no idea why he of all people had come to ask this question as her focus had mainly been about bringing Schulz down and not focusing on the others that may have still supported him. Maybe this was a poorly planned riot after all, but she had been informed that a few police officers had joined their cause and they had guns hidden in coats, just in case things got too ugly when the confrontation occurred.

"Is this about your ex-girlfriend?" Robert asked of Nick, clearly he knew more of the going's on in Wellington then Violet did.

"I... well yeah" Nick murmured "I want to make sure she's safe, If Schulz or any of those guys know they're going down they might take her down with them too. and... and I want her safe".

"Sounds like you want to win her back" Violet commented "But listen... Nick. A lot can change in a year..." Violet began.

"Don't" Nick growled.

"I'm just saying..." Violet began to explain.

"She'd never turn tables on us" Nick concluded instantly "I know Stef, I know she fucks up a lot, I know she's a mess, but she'd never, ever betray her old group. Her methods of helping them are just... different" he listed off in his mind when Stephanie had an self induced abortion back at Howe's in order to spark the riot and gain more support. Or when Stef had tried to flee the group as they thought they'd be better off without her... Nick knew they had been through so much together and now he was free he wanted her back. They both knew it back in the snow after killing what was left of Stephanie's old group, they were both monsters. But they were both emotionally vulnerable monsters, both of whom wanted to help the group more than anything else but never executed it quite right.

In short they understood each other better than anyone else and Nick needed her back, if he could get Luke back into his life, he could get Stephanie back too.

"If you say so" Violet answered.

"Hate to break up the conversation" Robert told them both "But we're here and it looks like Schulz has come out to play..."

* * *

Alfred Schulz rolled his wheelchair slowly towards the imposing crowd laid out ahead of him, about 20 of his guards lay scattered around him all holding guns to the crowd. The chatter died down at this sight as the crowd paused in it's wake, Violet stood at the front and after a few tense seconds of heavy silence. The president finally coughed and addressed the crowd of people he was supposed to be leading.

"PEOPLE!" He boomed "WHAT'S A MATTER NOW? WE HAVE GIVEN YOU A CURE! AND REST ASSURED WHATEVER IS TROUBLING YOU, I WILL SEE TO IT THAT THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM IS ELIMINATED!"

"THEN THAT WOULD BE YOU MR. PRESIDENT!" Violet Moore screamed in behalf of the people crowded behind her.

"Mummy" came a tiny squeak from near the back of the crowd, from where he was propped up on his mother's shoulders, Alvin Junior Warren had muttered this question. His childish green globes locked upon Schulz.

"What?" Rebecca whispered back.

"Is that the bad man?" AJ asked "Is he the man that... that... caused all of our friends to die?"

"Yes honey" Rebecca snarled, "That's the bad man, but don't worry Eddie, Violet and all of our friends are going to deal with him"

"You mean... like..." AJ whimpered "Kill... kill him?"

Rebecca didn't respond for a few seconds, uncertain of what to say to her 4 year old son but seeing how he had been through so much already and seen so much death. She couldn't continue to hide the truth from him.

"Yes" she responded bluntly "But don't look AJ, when it's all over we'll have a nice new leader, okay?"

"Oh, okay" AJ muttered "I just hope Eddie will be okay"

"He'll be fine" Rebecca reassured her son, but she noticed how his eyes searched the crowd for his father/older brother figure of Eddie, who had rushed forward in order to be by his girlfriend's side. In all honesty Rebecca was hoping this would pass with no casualties... but seeing how so many of the president's guards had guns on them. She was relieved her and AJ were near to the back of the mass crowd so they could make a quick get-away in case something did go terribly wrong.

Also noticing the guns trained on her, Violet knew she had to tread this with a sense of caution but at the same time, the truth had to come out.

"WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH ME!?" Schulz shouted in response to Violet.

"YOU WORKED WITH THE CULT!" Violet roared "YOU FEIGNED YOUR INJURIES ON THE DAY OF THE RIOT AND DECEIVED ALL OF US! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO LEAKED THE DOMESDAY REPORT TO THE POPULATION! YOU'VE ALSO BEEN KNOWN TO BE CORRUPT DURING YOUR TIME IN OFFICE!"

The president's blood ran cold, nobody (not even his guards) knew about the fact he had leaked the Domesday Report or had worked with the cult. He had left one contact alive who knew all of this information and surely... surely they couldn't have...

"YOU'RE LYING!" The president screamed "HAVE YOU PEOPLE LOST YOUR MINDS!? VIOLET MOORE IS A SICKLY GIRL, STILL GRIEVING FROM THE DEATHS OF HER SIBLINGS AND THE FACT...!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Violet bellowed "TREVOR WAS NOT THE WELLINGTON WOLF! HOW DO YOU THINK WE KNOW ALL THIS SCHULZ!? TREVOR WAS NOT THE WOLF, BUT WE CAUGHT THE REAL ONE AND YOU WORKED WITH HIM!"

Violet had to admit she felt like a queen amongst peasants in those seconds, as the growing mob behind her pushed the real Wellington Wolf to the front of the crowd and with a final shove he fell out onto the open plain opposite of Violet, still tied up and bound to his pole. His icy blue eyes met Alfred Schulz's black one's and Schulz felt a chill breeze through him, as he gulped and looked up at Violet once again.

"I have no idea who this man is" he lied.

"BULLSHIT!" Robert bellowed, deciding to join in with the tirade of hatred directed at the president "ETHAN HART NEVER EXISTED! IT WAS AN ALIBI TO COVER HIS REAL IDENTITY!"

"YEAH!" came a wave of supporting shouts, Edward Fyre's being one of the loudest.

"YOU PEOPLE...!" The president seethed.

"WE WOULDN'T HAVE GATHERED HERE IF VIOLET ONLY HAD HER WORD TO BACK HER UP!" Nick decided to yell "SHE HAS AUDIO EVIDENCE, THE WOLF CONFESSED EVERYTHING! WE ALL KNOW! IT ALL ADDS UP, YOU ARE GOING DOWN SCHULZ!"

"You're Nick aren't you?" President Schulz suddenly seemed quite calm as he said it, inspecting Nick thoroughly.

"What's it too you!?" Nick snapped.

"I've got about a dozen men hunting your bitch in the central hub right now" Schulz growled "I know she helped you escape from your little hell-hole of a prison cell, you were meant to go down with Plan X! You dirty little runaway...!"

"NO!" Clementine screamed bounding forwards "IT WAS ME! IT WASN'T STEF! I HELPED NICK ESCAPE!"

"and I'm meant to believe a little girl did it?" The president snarled, his cruel eyes now scanning over Clementine's petite figure.

"I helped the girl" Scott growled, stepping next to Clementine for support.

"HEAR HEAR!" Came another yell from the back of the crowd (Clementine knew it was Luis)

"THE POINT IS!" The president screamed "CALL OFF THIS GOD-DAMN RIOT MR. DURAN OR ELSE I WILL KILL YOUR BITCH, IF YOU DISBAND IT NOW, YOU CAN TAKE THE DISGUSTING WHORE BACK...!"

Nick looked conflicted.

"Nick" Violet pleaded of him.

Nick now looked torn, as his eyes lingered on the central hub and then back to the rioters behind him.

"You led a riot before" The president reminded him "Your sentencing was... unfair. You have people's support Nick, just call this little thing off, or else get risk being called a madman once again. They'll just lock you up again even if you succeed, ain't no..."

"SHUT UP!" Nick screamed "I WAS LOCKED UP BECAUSE OF YOU! MY SENTENCING WAS UNFAIR BECAUSE OF YOU WANTING TO HARVEST AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE FOR PLAN X! AND YOU STILL KILLED A GREAT DEAL!? FOR WHAT!? TO ENHANCE YOUR PUBLIC IMAGE!? YOU'RE AN ANIMAL SCHULZ AND THERE'S NO WAY I'M CALLING OFF THIS RIOT NOW! KILL STEF THEN, BUT I KNOW IT'S WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED!"

"Nick... I'm..." Violet muttered, uncertain of what to say after his rant as he panted heavily from beside her.

"It's okay" Nick told her "I know I'm going to lose Stef now... but... but It will be a great comfort to take the president down with her" yet his eyes still seemed reflective as he gazed at the central hub once again.

"YOU JUST PROVED HOW MUCH OF A MONSTER YOU ARE!" Violet screamed at the wheelchair bound man "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL STEF! YOU'VE GOT GUNS TRAINED ON US RIGHT NOW! ADMIT IT YOU PSYCHO! ADMIT EVERYTHING!"

The president saw no way out of this now, he merely spat at the ground near the Wolf's feet.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" He snarled at the Wolf "I SHOULD HAVE HAD YOU KILLED! I GIVE YOU LIFE AND YOU BETRAY ME IN RETURN!? BY TELLING THEM EVERYTHING!?"

"I was compromised" was all the Wolf said "and tricked into revealing the information"

"Compromised by me" Miss King thought to herself, still in disbelief.

"OH BOO HOO!" The president howled, before turning back to Violet "FINE!? THERE'S THE TRUTH THEN! I DID WORK WITH THE CULT! I DID WORK WITH THE WOLF! BUT HOW THE HELL IS THAT A BAD THING!? I DID IT TO GET ALL OF YOUR LOUSY ASSES A CURE! THE SECOND YOU GET IT YOU ALL TURN ON ME, YOU UNGRATEFUL SONS OF BITCHES! HAVEN'T YOU GOT ANY MERCY FOR A POOR MAN IN THE WHEELCHAIR!? I GAVE UP MY LEGS TO TRY AND SAVE THE WOMAN I LOVED! DOES THAT MAKE ME THE BAD GUY!? I TRIED TO SAVE HER AND I FAILED! I DIDN'T WANT THE SAME TO HAPPEN HERE! THAT'S ALL I'VE EVER DONE FOR ANYONE! I'M THE ONLY ONE WITH THE BALLS TO DO THIS! YOU... YOU'RE ALL COWARDS!"

The President panted heavily to himself after his impressive rant, in which his beady black eyes switched from one person to the next one, daring for somebody to speak.

"We appericate having the cure Mr. President" Violet uttered at last. "and we all know you've had to make difficult choices in order to obtain it. But we can't forgive the fact you deceived us all. Or that you shielded serial killers, or that you worked with a murderous cult...!"

"I'M LOYAL TO PEOPLE WHO SERVE ME WELL!" The president roared "HOW IS THAT A BAD THING!? AND IF I DIDN'T WORK WITH THE CULT THAN HOW THE HELL WOULD WE HAVE FOUND AN IMMUNE SURVIVOR!?"

"AND THE DOMESDAY REPORT!? AND FRAMING MY BROTHER AS THE WOLF!?"

"I KNEW THE CULT WAS BAD! THE DOMESDAY REPORT WAS MY WAY OF GETTING RID OF THEM...!"

"YOU MEAN USE US! TO GET RID OF THEM FOR YOU!" Luke bellowed, joining the heated argument.

"IT WORKED DIDN'T IT!?" The president exclaimed "AND TREVOR MOORE WAS INSANE ANYWAY! ETHAN HERE IS A WALKER KILLING MACHINE, HE COULD'VE COME IN HANDY IN THE FUTURE! AND WITH THE AIRBORNE STRAIN OF THE VIRUS BECOMING MORE APPARENT I HAD TO ACT! I HAD TO DO SOMETHING! WE COULD HAVE SAT BEHIND THESE WALLS AND LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER! BUT THEN THE AIRBORNE STRAIN COMES ALONG AND I REALISE I HAVE TO ACT! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING AND THAT WE CAN'T LIVE IN LA-LA LAND INSIDE OF THESE WALLS FOREVER! AND SO I DID EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO GET A CURE!"

"LIAR!" Violet screamed "YOU SENT A HIT-MAN AFTER ME! YOU FRAMED MY BROTHER! YOU JUST SENT AN ORDER TO KILL AN INNOCENT WOMAN! NONE OF THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH A CURE! LYING TO US HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURE! YOUR ELITE LITTLE BAND OF SOCIETY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURE!"

"FINE!" The president roared, now clearly demented with a vein in his forehead throbbing terribly and his eyes nearly bulging out of his head "YOU WANT ME AS YOUR VILLAIN!? YOU WANT SOMEONE TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING! FINE! FUCKING FINE THEN! NOW I HAVE TO WASTE THE CURE I HELPED PROVIDE! BUT FUCK IT BECAUSE ALL OF YOU DON'T DESERVE IT ANYWAY... BESIDES THE SURVIVORS COULD USE A TEST!"

"MR. PRESIDENT NO!" Luke screamed, knowing full well what he was planning.

**"ONE... FUCKING... BITE!** LET'S SEE IF ANYONE REMAINING CAN HANDLE THAT!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Violet howled, as the guards raised their guns, some were hesitant but they stood firmly by their president's side, despite the fact they were outnumbered, none of the rioters seemed to have guns and the guards all had assault rifles on them, all it took was one quick spray and people would fall like domino's.

The president smiled at the crowd in front of him.

**"KILL THEM ALL!" **

and with that order, the guards open fired.

* * *

The explosion of screams and sounds of opposing gunfire nearly deafened where Stephanie was still hiding within the bathtub, just as she slowly got up to peek out of the bath curtains, there was a sound of shattering glass and she felt glass shards fly all over the room, yelping to herself the black haired woman quickly leapt out of the bath and sprinted down the corridor away from the sounds of gunfire and death.

She kept her blue eyes peeled for any signs of any gun wielding guards in pursuit of her, creeping along the sides of the corridor she knew the only place she could gain a weapon would be the kitchen and she'd need the largest kitchen knife she could find. It wasn't much but it was something for protection.

She shuddered, as she remembered back to this morning as she tried hard not to dwell on the fact Nick could have possibly been dead. But she learnt that he wasn't, in the weirdest way possible. She had been uplifted by the news but also shaken to the very core, as she was still in her nightclothes when the president barged in demanding to know why the hell her "boyfriend" had escaped from jail and what she had done to help him.

Shocked, but uplifted by the news Stephanie felt herself smile.

and that was the admission of her guilt.

_"SO YOU DID THEN!? AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR YOU! YOU GO BACK TO YOUR EX AND YOU FREE HIM!" The president ranted in response to her smile._

_"WHAT! NO!? OF COURSE NOT HONEY... I... LOVE YOU...!"_

_But it was all coming to light now, the revulsion Stephanie had for him was now so glaring obvious by her body language and the way she stumbled on the words " I love you" to the president. It was only because Nick had escaped during this time that the President could suddenly see it, mingled with his sexual frustration and his growing madness, then it was pretty clear Stephanie's "betrayal" left him enraged._

_"I LOVED YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY ADRIENNE! I COMPARED YOU TO HER!" The president actually wept in hurt "NOW I SEE YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A WHORE LEECHING FROM ME!"_

_"I DIDN'T...!"_

_"DON'T SPEAK!" The president screamed "JUST KILL HER! KILL HER NOW! He instructed of his guards who raised their guns..._

Stephanie was thankful she was a fast runner and that she managed to leap out of the bed and sprint down the corridor, the sounds of bullets tip tapping on the architecture behind her. She was lucky she managed to hide in that bathtub without being seen... and as for now her hands trailed over the bullet holes that decorated the railing on the staircase she was currently descending. If she had been a few seconds slower, her corpse and dried blood would be in this spot but once again she had outran death.

How much longer could she go on?

Deciding not to ponder on this question, or of any future she had in mind, or questioning what the hell was going on outside, all she knew is that she had to grab a weapon and sneak out of this dammed place. She could think ahead to the future then, but for now she wouldn't have a future if she simply lingered here. To her surprise she found that she was able to reach the kitchen without being spotted by anyone, pulling the largest kitchen knife she could out of the nearest drawer she could pull open. She held the weapon tightly in her fingers... she could hear somebody approaching now a guard no doubt.

"God... help me..." Stephanie thought to herself crouching on the ground near to the table, the guard was coming to the door to the left. The central hub was a big place, a mix of a courtroom in the centre and another hall for public meetings. They were bedrooms scattered on the upper floors and kitchens and lounges dotted whether the hell they could be placed. Stephanie never asked Schulz what the building's original purpose was, when she was a guide she simply knew it as the central hub, where the courtroom (among other facilities) was located. It simply seemed to serve everyone for everyone needs, hence why it was called the "Central Hub" it was in the centre of Wellington and embodied everything Wellington provided all in one building, whether that be justice, security or accommodation.

Yet Stephanie knew every speck of dust in this building and she knew this guard was defiantly approaching via the left door, she knew God wouldn't save her here. No one would, she had too save herself with the chaos occurring outside attention would be elsewhere so she had to fight her own battle. So she gripped her knife ever tighter and waited by the side of the door to the left until she saw the armed guard walk in she knew she had one shot... one shot to stab him fatally. If she failed now this long journey, her constant struggle to survive would have all been over with the bang of a single bullet.

Inhaling deeply, she raised her knife and leapt forwards...

* * *

Madness.

In those initial seconds the crowd surged as gunfire cut down around 10 people instantly, Clementine had no idea who was alive and who was dead all she knew is that she was knocked to the ground and that someone's foot scrapped across her face leaving her dazed.

"HE...!"

SLAM

Clementine felt something runny leak from her nose.

"HELP ME!" Came a nearby squeal, followed by an implosion of noises nearby.

"JAAAAAKKKKEEE...!"

"MAAAARRRY!"

BANG

"AJ! ALVIN!"

"OPEN FIRE!"

BANG

BANG

"HELLLLLLPPPP!"

"MY BABY! NOOOOOOOOO!"

BANG

BANG

"EDDIE! EDDIE OH MY GOD, EDDIE GET UP!"

"DAD!?"

"EDWARD GET DOWN!"

"VIOLET!"

BOOM!

An explosion ripped through the screams, drowning out the individual one's that prickled at Clementine's ears and instead turning into a louder, more piercing unanimous scream of terror coming from over 200 people, she was still being stepped on and the ground below her feet was being ripped to shreds, she moved (what she surprised to see) a very bloody hand forward and dragged her aching body forwards, only for a horrible sight to meet her eyes.

Scott. Dead.

The black haired boy lay on his back, his body twisted at an odd angle his eyes pried wide open and gazing at the sky above him. Trails of blood leaked from his nose and still open mouth a look of surprise still etched onto his face. It was clear to see that he'd been instantly shot in the head judging by the expanding puddle of blood leaking from underneath his scalp, he was at the front next to her and was one of the tallest people there.

He would have made an easy target.

"Fuck you Schulz" was all Clementine to growl to herself, at the loss of yet another friend left her feeling like she had been punched in the stomach and she was just starting to really like Scott as well. He... he promised her they'd be on the sports together when this all ended...

She'd grieve for him later, but she wished, she simply wished she could have heard him speak one more time. Or known what he was thinking in his last moments, but he'd gone from a bullied little kid to one of the leaders of a resistance against a bully of a president. Clementine knew it wasn't much consolation but whether Scott was now, maybe he was happy in that fact.

Trudging past Scott's body and still reeling from his sudden and sharply impacting demise, Clementine kept her eyes peeled for the corpses of any of her other friends as she kept on moving forwards, but the crowd was everywhere and constantly pushing her back and stepping on her, as more corpses fell to the ground in this massacre, she was struggling to remain conscious as blood leaked into her eyes...

and then she felt herself get hoisted up by some powerful force.

"L-luke..." she muttered.

"You got the L right" came Luis voice.

"Luis!" she wheezed, as she wiped the last of her blood from her eyes to see Luis was carrying her through the impending herd, in the fact he was using his good arm to hold her and his other arm was keeping her legs hoisted upwards, despite the fact it ended with a stump.

"Scott's dead!" was the only thing Clementine could think of shouting to him.

"I know! I know!" Luis shouted back "He seemed like a good ally... I'd be dammed if I lose another!"

People pushed against them, but Luis kept his head low as opposing gunfire from the rioters seemed to dwindle out the amount of gunshots fired in their direction, never the less, they'd all completely forgotten about a new threat. So when a bled out walker suddenly rose in Luis' path to freedom, he could nothing but try and shove it out of the way with his shoulder. But the walker itself latched onto the tasty piece of flesh in it's vision and bit down hard on Luis' shoulder.

"FAAAAAACKKK!" Luis roared in agony, as the thing continued to dig it's teeth further into Luis' shoulder...

"CLEM!" came another familiar yell, Luis gritted his teeth once again as somebody strong, pried the walker off him and it fell to the ground, either to be torn apart by bullets or the crowd's feet themselves. As Clementine saw Luke through her now blurring vision as she felt Luis drop her and clutch his shoulder, luckily for her Luke caught her.

"Jesus Christ..." he muttered in horror looking down at Clementine. Clementine guessed she didn't want to look at herself, as she still felt numb but she already knew the damage done by the rampaging crowd was worse than she previously thought, the blood in her eyes was the first indicator of that.

"Let's get you outta of the way Clem!" He shouted, before his eyes found Luis' "Jesus kid! You've been bitten!" he exclaimed in a panic, as Clementine felt her gut sink at the loss of yet another friend.

"So what?" Luis asked with his trademark cocky smile "Bites, have not got shit on me anymore"

"Immunity! Thank God!" Clementine breathed in relief, suddenly remembering the vaccines they had been given earlier. But then she remembered the doubts that her and Scott had placed against the claims of immunity and prayed to whatever God was listening that this was the real deal. They couldn't exactly amputate Luis from the shoulder and Clementine doubted he wanted to lose yet another limb.

"Wish this could have come about 6 years ago though" Luis mumbled gazing at his other lost limb.

"Well that's all good news" Luke mused "But we need to get you kids out of here, your still both bleeding terribly..."

* * *

Nearer to the front of the central Hub the remaining guards fired away, but Violet Moore the centre of their first targets was somehow still alive, bloodied and shaken but alive and ashamed to say she had used other people as human shields during the initial onslaught, but in the madness it was the only way to stay alive. But now that less guards were about it gave her a window of opportunity to kill that traitor Schulz once and for all (who she managed to see rolling back into the central Hub) with rage filling her gut and a dazed Eddie on her shoulder (who had been brutally knocked to the ground when everything started) she leapt upwards and quickly hobbled towards the door of the central Hub... gunfire grew louder in her ears and they were nearby shouts, but no bullets actually pierced her skin as she felt herself pry open the doors to the central Hub.

"God damn guards are so far up Schulz's ass they pay rent for it" Eddie growled, remembering Kenny's witty insult that he promised he'd use again someday, now was that day. As (despite everything) Violet found herself laughing at this, it certainly was a true fact.

"WAIT UP!" Came a voice from behind her, she was surprised to see Nick had also made it. Although it had seemed to the run here he hadn't been as lucky as Violet and Eddie and gotten himself shot in the hip, holding onto that wound with a steely look plastered on his face he gazed at the back of the President's wheelchair in the central Hub.

"Let's finish this!" he growled as the trio of them burst open the doors to the central hub, only to have the president turn around with a large smile on his face, an assault rifle he had picked clean from a dead guard lay nestled in his grip.

"Pity you don't have a gun" was all he said with a large smile, before his finger squeezed on the trigger...

* * *

The Wolf felt himself hit the ground, out of the way of danger and on a grassy plain at the side of the central hub. He had initially tried to run by himself but found that he was unable too. He was an easy target and very noticeable so he expected to be fatally shot because of this skirmish, yet he found that somebody had dragged him out of Harm's way and saved his life.

"I thought I was dead back there" The wolf told his saviour, whom he saw was a blond teenage girl with curly hair and dead eyes.

"I had my reasons" was all Terri Rogers would tell him. The teenager was lucky to fight her way to the front of the raging crowd in order to get to the Wolf in time, she had seen Luis leap forward the second all hell broke loose and had made the excuse to follow him. (Despite Tom and Maria's very loud objections) Terri suspected that if the Wolf survived this he wouldn't be sentenced death, because despite him killing Ana (who was a master at killing walkers) this guy must have clearly had skills.

She didn't know why or how he was going to be useful if he was alive in the future.

It was just a gut instinct she knew she had to act upon.

* * *

The fallen guard had dropped the gun, as the silhouette of somebody placed his hands around the gun laying on the ground.

The person now holding the gun had seen the president go into the central Hub.

He knew what to do.

* * *

Blood.

It was everywhere, it was in her eyes and her hair and in the creases of her clothes, but Stephanie couldn't let guilt or disgust overwhelm her this time as she glanced down at the dead guard she had murdered and slowly got up off him and wiped her hands of the blood coated on her hands. Pocketing her handy knife she managed to pick up the gun he had previously held and hold it steadily in her grip.

Fleeing through the kitchens with a gun now in her hands, she skidded out into the main hall near to the exit, only to find three individuals she instantly reconsigned as Eddie, Violet and Nick. Held at gunpoint by that psycho Schulz.

"Pity you don't have a gun" was all Stephanie heard him sneer, as he squeezed his finger down on the trigger.

"SCHULZ!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, as the president quickly whipped his wheelchair around and turned to face her, both guns were held towards each other, it was true Mexican style stand-off.

"STEF!" Nick bellowed, recognising her instantly, as Stephanie's eyes washed over him once again. His beard and hair had grown to lengths she had never seen before, yet she could clearly see under all of that excess hair was the same man she had fallen in love with and in many ways she still was in love with him.

"Nick... don't... don't do anything stupid!" Stephanie found herself sobbing now, knowing full well he was planning on rushing forward (being shot fatally within the process) but giving her the time frame to shoot the president once and for all.

"OH... SUCH A TRAGEDY! I FUCKING LOVE IT!" The president howled in sick delight, knowing full well what was going to happen. Either Stephanie fired and he shot her down too, or that Nick tried running forward and he'd be shot down while Stephanie shot him. Schulz hated the pair of them. Hated them! The stupid happy couple that simply existed while his love had been cruelly erased from this world, they didn't deserve happiness... he... he did! So he was taking one of them down with him, so they knew exactly what it felt like!

"Nick... I'm... I'm so sorry..." Stephanie wept, squeezing her finger down on the trigger, knowing full well that if she delayed this decision any longer that Nick would make it for her. She always wanted to live, but she wanted him to live on even more.

"NO! STEF NO! LET ME DO THIS!" Nick bellowed.

Nobody noticed the door to central hub open.

"NO! NICK... I'M... I'M SO SORRY... I LOVE...!"

Nick was expecting her to finish the sentence and for his heart to sink back to murky depths as he watched the woman he loved get gunned down. Just as Sarah had done, but Stephanie didn't stop because of that. She had stopped because president Schulz had turned slightly in his wheelchair and gazed at bewilderment at the person who had entered the central hub unnoticed.

"What the fuck!?" he spat.

"You've been a badman" AJ said, squeezing his finger on the trigger of the assault rifle he had on him.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The boy holding the assault rifle was blown back by it's drawback and his aim was very poor. But as the president fell from his wheelchair and to the ground they all knew that it had actually happened, AJ, a 4 year old boy who could barely carry a gun had lugged the thing into the central hub (unnoticed because of his size) and killed the president.

"A...A...AJ!?" Eddie stuttered in disbelief.

"I was hoping you were okay" AJ mumbled to himself, as he scathed the back of his curly hair "Mummy said the bad-man had to die and he killed Lilly and Sarah and Gertrude and he was going to kill you too... I... i couldn't let him do that again!" AJ wailed, as the reality hit him. He had done a very bad thing, a very, very bad thing he had killed someone, his mum was going to be so angry and he was a bad person.

Eddie saw that change instantly as the realisation at what AJ had done hit the 4 year old hard, he couldn't let him bare the burden of this.

Snatching the gun from AJ and limping forward, Eddie looked down at the clearly dead President and made a show of exclaiming "OH MY GOD! THE GUY'S STILL ALIVE YOU GUYS!"

"Really!?" Stephanie inquired, generally confused.

Eddie fired a shot into the president's already still corpse.

"Not anymore though" he growled, watching the blood spill from where the bullet had pierced Schulz's brains as he stood up and walked towards AJ before placing the gun near to the ground.

"AJ, where's Rebecca?"

"I dunno" AJ muttered, his eyes on the ground below him.

"AJ"

The toddler looked up at him.

"Let's not tell your mother about this and you didn't kill him, you hear? I did."

"But..."

"You didn't fire a single shot AJ, you missed" Eddie explained "He just fell out of his wheelchair because he was afraid he would be shot, but I got him and I killed him. You didn't do anything dude"

"But..."

"His right sweetie" Violet added, joining the conversation "You're only 4 years old, you can barely carry a gun let alone aim it. You were very brave, but we can't let anyone know you fired a gun. Your mum wouldn't want that would she?"

"Well... no" AJ answered.

"Then let's keep this between us in here" Eddie told him, he knew Violet was on-board with him on this and as he looked up at Stephanie and Nick who nodded back at him. He knew this fact would not leave this room and it would lead to Rebecca fussing heavily if it did.

"I don't... I don't like lying" AJ mumbled to Eddie.

"It's not a lie AJ" Eddie said "It's... just bending the truth a little. I did kill the president, but you've been a brave little dude today, walking through all that chaos in order to get here and too help us. Consider this a reward AJ, I'll promise to teach you how to use guns in the future but keep quiet on this. Zip" Eddie instructed, pretending to zip his mouth shut as AJ followed his suit with this action "Not a word. Promise?"

"Oh, okay" AJ responded with a genuine and still innocent smile plastered on his face. In his mind he had now simply distracted the president and not done anything bad at all. But in his eyes (for a few brief minutes) Eddie had seen AJ's eyes were just like his fathers. He moved like Carver and he spoke like him and judging by the sheer amount of trauma AJ had been through, the psycho gene that AJ had inherited from Carver could be trigged very easily. Eddie guessed he'd have to keep a closer eye on AJ, because in his 4 years of living and his personality developing Eddie had seen nothing but his mother in him. But for the first time today AJ had behaved exactly like his father.

While Eddie pondered on that thought, Nick and Stephanie couldn't contain it any longer, surviving their near brush with death and clearly still in love with one another they embraced in the middle of the main hall, sobbing and laughing at the same time.

"I thought I'd lost you too... I thought I'd lost you too..." Nick mumbled onto her shoulder. Digging his fingers into her form as he had done with Luke hours beforehand, unable to believe she was real. After that close of a call and after what seemed like certain death for one of them, they were both still standing and had lived to see another day. The rib breaking hug they shared now proved they weren't planning on leaving each other again in a long time (despite how much Nick's bullet wound ached).

"You've got yourself shot again" Stephanie wept in worry, observing his wound.

"Don't I always?" was the fairly valid point Nick had to make, in order to reassure Stephanie he would be fine and too make her laugh and weep further onto his chest.

"I missed you so much" she croaked.

"Me too" he replied.

They held each other in silence for a little while after that, before Nick muttered "After this Stef, what do you want?"

"For you too cut your hair and beard" she answered, "But what do you want Nick?"

"To get married"

Stephanie smiled, seemingly not shocked with Nick's request at all.

"Okay" was all she said.

"Okay?" Eddie mouthed to Violet "What sort of proposal is that? No getting down on one knee and all that shit, just okay? We'll get married and that's just it? I'll spend the rest of my life with this man without even thinking about it?"

"That's the whole point" Violet informed Eddie "They don't need a show of a proposal, they've always known" and with that Violet gestured for Eddie to put his arm around her shoulders as he did so. AJ standing wedged between them as Nick and Stephanie embraced, with the riot dying down outside Violet simply bathed in the happy ending they had been given for now. Although it was slightly soiled by all the dead people outside, in this world this was as cheesy as it was physically going to get.

So as Eddie used to tell her (and himself).

They had too make the most of it while it lasted.

* * *

**PT.2. Originally chapter 21, but this section kind of serves as an epilogue for episode 2. Enjoy!**

* * *

"It" lasted three weeks.

The list of the dead during the riot composed of 70 exactly. If you counted the President and his guards it came up to 25, with another 50 being the victims of the rioters themselves. Scott happened to be an unfortunate causality along with the walker man Luis and Clementine encountered, but as Clementine had bandages placed over her injuries the aftermath of the terrible riot she expected more of her friends to be revealed as casualties.

"You'll keep opening your wounds if you keep turning around" Maria informed Clementine being one of the many nurses, buzzing around the front of the central hub tending to the injured.

She seemed rather restless applying Clementine's bandages with a bit more force than was considered necessary, from over her shoulder she kept shooting daggers at her son. Seeming both worried and somewhat angry at him in equal measures. Clementine kept her eyes locked upon Luis and waited to see that the cure was indeed a fluke, that the Mexican boy would start bleeding from his nose and mouth and that his skin would become steadily even more pale as time went on but for the moment he seemed to be coping just fine. No doubt Maria's mindset was identical to Clementine's as her reaction had been near enough to blow down a house when she saw the bite mark on his shoulder.

"YOU IDIOT!" She screamed "TOM AND I TOLD YOU TOO STAY BACK! AND WHERE DO YOU GO...!?"

"PEOPLE NEEDED HELP!" Luis shouted back "I HELPED QUITE A FEW TO GET TO SAFETY!"

Clementine felt strangely disappointed that she wasn't the only one Luis had saved, but she quickly washed away those thoughts and wondered what the hell had made the grumpy young man suddenly go on a heroic rescue mission, she wondered if he was more inspired by Nick's jailbreak than he initially let on. Regardless she noticed (like his mother) how reckless his behaviour had become.

"I'VE BEEN VACCINATED MUM! I'M FINE!" Luis continued to rant to his mother.

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SHOT! HONESTLY!" Maria seethed, tugging a bandage over a gash over Clementine's head with too much force. Maria's eyes locked on Luis.

¿Tiene algo para esta chica? Maria suddenly babbled in Spanish the most popular language in what was once Mexico, now Clementine felt left out of something as Luis and Maria communicated in Spanish to one another leaving her out of the loop on what they were talking about.

¡NO! No es más que un amigo mío, me encontré en el choas" It sounded like Luis was denying something.

"Luis..."

Ella es como el 12 de todos modos, no tengo una cosa para cualquier persona" Luis snapped, at the mention of the number 12, Clementine knew she was being spoken about. Rolling her eyes she had to wonder if Luis truly thought his and Maria's Spanish was the Morse code.

"No me mientas señor, sé exctatly cómo eres" Maria lectured.

"Obtener la idea de la cabeza"

"Usted le ayudó en esa misión de rescate imprudente y ahora esto? Luis ahora no es el momento para este ..."

"¡Yo sé eso! No soy tan estúpido"

and with this final burst of Spanish the conversation died between the pair, as Maria finished dabbing the last of the blood from Clementine's face and proceeded to help a moaning man nearby who was clutching his hip. Left alone Clementine faced where Luis was still seemingly seething on the spot.

"She thinks I'm an idiot" Luis growled.

"No surprise there then" Clementine muttered "You acted way too recklessly today"

"That's the thanks I get for saving your and Nick's lives?"

"I'm just worried" Clementine admitted "After seeing Scott, that could have been you Luis and I don't know where anyone else is..."

Luis sighed and couldn't think of anything to say to comfort Clementine.

"You got yourself bitten over me" Clementine stated as a fact.

"I immune anyway" Luis grunted "No biggie"

"But you could have been shot Luis!"

"and I wasn't!" Luis exclaimed "So drop it already!"

" and why were you and your mum just talking about me?"

"We weren't"

"I heard you say 12 and I knew that you were on about me"

"You think your that important that all I can do is talk about you!?" Luis growled, "Get your head out of the clouds Clementine, you weren't the only person I helped today!"

"WHY ARE YOU STILL SUCH AN ASS!?" Clementine roared getting very annoyed with him, only Luis could save her life and they could bickering mere minutes later.

"I DON'T HAVE FOR TIME FOR THIS!" Luis shouted getting to feet and storming away from Clementine, as the 15 year old looked after him completely confused as of what to think. She couldn't define him in a single word because just when she thought she'd gotten to know him, he'd suddenly change his attitude completely. He was a mystery to her and she was always hungry to learn more about him and she knew Luis felt the same way about her, so that's probably what kept them coming back to one another despite their constant arguments.

As she pondered on Luis, she felt a familiar hand rest on her shoulder.

"Luke" she breathed in relief gazing up at his slightly bruised face.

"Clem, it's okay" he mused "Everyone's okay. Everyone else is gathered over there. Stephanie's come back and Eddie killed Schulz. Clem we actually did it!" Luke shouted in joy as Clementine gazed over at her united group, Nick and Stephanie were embracing, AJ stood wedged between Violet and Eddie as Rebecca bent down on one knee in order to fuss over where her son had gotten too this time. Molly was being tended too by Maria, (it looked as though she had injured her hip in the short riot). Tom was having a hissed conversation with Luis (Clementine had seen where he had stormed off to then) while a dazed Miss King was talking too that Journalist Robert. JJ looked blank and lost, while Edward Fyre and his parents stood around the small group in sheer relief at still being alive, while Terri Rogers seemed to stand on the fringe of the group, watching over them all with half lidded eyes.

Despite losing Scott, all of her friends had lived to see a brighter day.

* * *

The next three weeks brought the positive revival that Wellington was long looking for.

Due the deaths in the riot the population was now at 852 people exactly, compared it's peak just over a year ago at nearly 5,000 Wellington's population had decreased rapidly. Clementine looked over the expanded graveyard a day after the riot and remembered that despite the cure now running through her veins that people were always going to be a bigger threat than the walkers.

Wellington had torn itself apart, inner conflicts bringing almost everyone to kill each other in distrust, jealously, rage and vengeance. It was a rather sad story and the only reason it stopped (In Clementine's eyes) wasn't because Schulz had been killed. It was simply because they were simply too few people left to kill now in Wellington. 852 people all worked and toiled in the days following the riots, identifying the bodies of the deceased and cleaning them up. Some were burned and some were buried in the mass graveyard outside of Wellington's main church. A mass service was held by Wellington's sole surviving priest for the victims of the riot. Clementine was sad to see that Scott had no family, nor group that had come to attend his burial. So she plucked up a flower from the field by the back of her house and planted it on his coffin as it was lowered into the earth.

It seemed like she was the only mourner there. Until she saw another flower drop onto the top of the coffin.

"He helped save both our lives" was all Stephanie said, from where she was leaning on Nick for support. Everyone was dressed up for the occasion of these funerals. Clementine had squeezed herself into her black dress, while many of the men wore full suits. Seeing Nick and Stephanie dressed up formally was a strange sight for her. Stephanie had blended back into the group as if she had always been there. All Luke had to do was give her a "Welcome Back" hug and she was back in with them instantly. She had always belonged in the group and Clementine was truly glad to see her back, (despite the fact they hadn't had a one on one conversation yet).

Others soon congregated around Scott's grave like bee's drawn to a honey pot, Luis, Terri, Tom, Maria and JJ (although he still looked spaced out). Violet and Eddie and the Fyre family. Clementine was glad to see Scott got a decent send off, that bully she had met so long ago had certainly stood his ground in the end and could be put into the earth with pride.

"I'm going to join the sports team Scott and I'm not going to forget you" she thought to herself as his coffin hit the ground.

This service reminded Clementine of the service provided after the last riot, last year. Stephanie and Nick now seemed to be paying their respects to a grave neither of them had visited in a year and Clementine simply couldn't bring herself to glance at the gravestone. But it had been a year.

and she needed to give Sarah, a final thank you.

Nick and Stephanie departed from Sarah's grave, a smaller grave next to it was also had a layer of fresh flowers at it's base. Seeing Lilly's grave may have depressed Clementine too much. But as she glanced down at Sarah's grave she knew what she read on the worn stone was not exactly comforting either.

_Sarah Larson _

_March 12th 1990- December 10th 2008_

A solid summary of Sarah's life, all 18 years of it listed on a worn stone in a graveyard and six feet below where Clementine was standing lay what was left of her best friend's bones. The harsh reality of it all made Clementine choke up a tear as she gazed down at her friend's grave.

"Did it help?" she asked of Sarah or of any higher force "I tried, I tried to save you... but I let you down. Or this community let you down, but I promise Sarah. We are going to build something good here now, for you" and with these words leaving her mouth she proceeded to walk away from this scene, as she inhaled and mumbled under her breath.

"and Sarah, thank you too".

As Clementine had departed the graveyard in near tears, Violet Moore face was quite the opposite as she laid down a familiar set of flowers on her siblings graves who were buried side by side.

"I did it" she mused "You two can rest now, Trevor I knew you weren't the Wolf,I I knew it, so... so... rest easy brother" and with a bitter-sweet smile now dominating her features Violet Moore stood up tall, with one of her objectives completed now it was time to rebuild Wellington once again.

The services that day helped a lot of survivors move onwards once and for all, they're dead relatives and friends were now truly avenged in the wake of the president's death. As Luke laid flowers on Gertrude's grave he could certainly say that the immunity now running through his veins was down to her sacrifice and that he would be forever grateful. Even JJ managed to snap out his stupor to realise that he was looking down at his grandfather's grave. He sat crossed legged in front of it for nearly an hour. Before Tom realised he'd been staring at that grave for longer than was natural.

"Hey... JJ" Tom mumbled awkwardly.

JJ's eyes snapped from the grave and gazed upwards at the leader of his group.

"You okay there man?"

"I'm okay" JJ responded, his voice surprisingly light "It's just... granddaddy. I can't believe his gone"

"I know. I know" Tom told him "Wellington's taken way too many of our group from us and it's been shit on all of us. But I promised Wilbert I'd look out for you"

"I appericate that Tom" JJ mused "I know you must think I'm crazy and all and I can't blame you. But, I think I just need space for a while to get my head around everything"

With a smile Tom let JJ fulfil his request to be alone, however as soon as Tom had departed JJ (with wide eyes) peered over Wilbert's gravestone.

"Is he gone?" he asked of TT.

"I have too cover for both of us!" TT snarled angrily "While you hide and you cower...!"

"TT...!"

"NO! You need me JJ! If they saw you, they'd know what a... FREAK! WHAT A FREAK YOU ARE!"

"TT... I can't keep on doing this..."

"You have too!" TT demanded "I know how to behave, they see you JJ as a freak! You know what they do to freaks! Look at that gravestone JJ! Look at it! Look at what they did to your granddad! All of them did this!"

"I looked, but I think... I think I need help TT"

"You don't need help!" TT screamed "You need me! With me you can function just fine, no one will suspect anything! and with me...

"...you won't break".

* * *

Despite all the death there was some good news to come from it, the extra corpses with undamaged brains went onto to be processed into more vacations for future generations. Any of Clementine's previous doubts about the cure being effective were squashed when she (and most of the population of Wellington) saw Luis at the funeral. Typical of his luck and hating the attention placed upon him, Luis was the only person to be bitten during the riot and him not turning proved to everyone that the cure was indeed legit.

But in the next week people brave enough, ventured towards the wall and stayed within it's shadow for a number of hours before returning to their homes, unaffected by the airborne strain of the virus. So the cure was effective and one bite was simply nothing to worry about anymore.

"If only you were here Lee" Clementine mumbled to herself one day, while glancing out her bedroom window "Then that one bite wouldn't have killed you"

She got no response other than silence, but in her head she imagined Lee's comforting voice responding to her "Don't keep worrying about me sweet pea, what's happened has happened. You've come so far since Savannah and look what you and the others have achieved it's been amazing, you've made me proud".

Clementine smiled and bathed in the thought of her lost guardian comforting her. She needed a bit of tranquillity, Scott's death, the riot, the cure, jail-breaking Nick, Stephanie's return, Schulz's death at Eddie's hands, things had changed so drastically in such a short space of time that Clementine simply laid in her bed most days. Mostly because her physical injuries from the riot needed properly healing before she was back to being her one hundred per cent self, but also because without a leader and with so much change coming about with so few people left. Their house had become a bit of a run in centre...

People popped in and out, discussing information and plans with any of the adults who happened to be downstairs, while Clementine simply stayed upstairs. Whatever the adults were doing, she'd leave them too it.

She'd carry on being a lazy teenager for the time-being.

* * *

Since the cure worked and due to his apathetic nature, something very surprising happened to the Wellington Wolf.

"Ethan Hart" was found after the riot on a grassy plain, having managed to escape the conflict by some means (he did not reveal that Terri had saved him, it was the only thing she asked of the Wolf in return for her saving his life and he kept his word to Terri's relief). Despite Violet suggesting they burn him or maul him to death (and gaining many angry rioters support on this, in light of all the recently deceased). They were some who were against this.

"WE CAN'T KILL HIM LIKE THAT!" Robert of the Wellington weekly bellowed "HIS NOT A COMPLETE ASSHOLE LIKE SCHULZ WAS! AND HIS TOO CALM! HE HAS TO BE HIDING SOMETHING! THERE'S A LOT WE CAN LEARN FROM HIM!"

"LEARN!?" Violet screeched "LEARN HOW TO BECOME AN EMOTIONLESS SOCIOPATH!? LOOK AT ALL THE DEAD PEOPLE BEHIND YOU! THAT'S ALL ON HIM!" She jabbed a wild finger at the bled out corpses of rioters behind the arguing editor.

"We should just kill the dude!" Eddie shouted in agreement with his girlfriend.

"Look!" Luke exclaimed joining the debate "I hate that man's guts and he deceived us all... but... slaughtering him here feels pointless! I mean Robert's right the guy's got skills and he had to learn them from somewhere! If we quiz this guy we could learn where his from and why he did this"

"His got a point!" Edward shouted over many others "Besides it would hypocritical of us to claim we're better people than the president and his guards and then proceed to slaughter someone who can't fight back!" and this was a point that had to be taken into consideration as the Wolf looked at the crowd around him with lifeless eyes. He didn't seem enraged nor did he seem to be boasting at anyone. To Clementine he almost looked like an empty shell in those moments and she felt strangely sorry for him.

"OR WE COULD KILL HIM SLOWER!" Someone in the crowd bellowed "KILLING HIM HERE WOULDN'T DO EVERYONE HERE JUSTICE WHEN WE COULD MAKE HIM SUFFER FOR A LONG TIME!"

It was this suggestion that sparked another debate but eventually those that wanted to kill him, settled on imprisoning him, while those that didn't want him dead and wanted information from him or believed that somehow he could be redeemed believed imprisonment was also the best option. So torturing him for information seemed like the deal that satisfied the large majority of Wellington's population.

"We should have just killed him!" was all Violet could say. Unhappy with the solution reached.

"It would be nicer for the dude, just to end his suffering now" Eddie concluded, partly agreeing with his girlfriend as the two proceeded from the central hub.

"I thought all bad men had to die" was all AJ could mumble on the matter.

"It's... it's complicated sweetie" Rebecca tried to explain to him, completely unaware that her son was the one who fired a gun at President Schulz and killed him. and seeing the Wolf be spared had confused little AJ even more, he had tried to help his friends and succeeded. That president was a bad man and he knocked the man off his wheelchair so Eddie could kill him.

AJ was 4 years old, as far as he could remember people he liked had simply "gone away and never came back". He remembered playing with Lilly and after that burning house... she wasn't there anymore. Then the nice girl Sarah went away too and everyone started acting funny. Everyone was sad and then Gertrude went away who AJ saw as a Grandmother figure, he simply wanted people to stop going away and if the President kept stealing them from him. Then AJ simply had to stop him, he had seen so many people use guns before and had seen so many bodies. He had seen too much and despite what his mother had told him this was the world he was born into and this was the world he had to constantly learn to survive in.

While AJ had to wonder if the Wolf was going to start taking people away in the future, Edward Fyre approached Clementine with a sad look on his face.

"Maybe I just don't know what people have been through" he muttered sadly to her, as Clementine turned around to face him "Maybe I am too sheltered from the world outside, I always have been... but Clem. This doesn't feel right, torturing this guy for information..."

"His no saint Edward" Clementine decided to remind him.

"I know" Edward hastily said "I just... well...I must sound like a peace loving hippie to you"

"You do" Clementine bluntly admitted as Edward's face fell "But not many people have an attitude like your's. It's a refreshing change Edward, don't change for anyone"

These words lit up his dark day.

"You mean that?" he inquired.

"Of course" Clementine informed him as if he was stupid "Besides we're rebuilding Wellington now, an attitude like your's is exactly what we need"

"Well" Edward seemingly whispered, scratching the back of his brown hairs and feeling his cheeks grow warm "It erm... well it means a lot that you should say that Clem"

She grinned back at him.

"Oh and one more thing" she mused.

"Yes" Edward dared to mutter, getting his hopes up as he inspected Clementine's face and...

"I'm joining the sports team" Clementine informed him "and I'm going to be awesome at it. For Scott and Sarah so get ready to have your ass kicked"

Edward (despite not getting what we really wanted) found himself smiling at her regardless.

"That's great Clem!" he exclaimed "But I should warn you, I'm a soccer pro..."

"Well then prove it too me in a few weeks, _Soccer pro_"

She left him there, grinning like an idiot.

* * *

A fortnight passed since the riot, Clementine's injuries were fully healed and it finally seemed like things would be dying down.

Enjoying a full dinner with her group once again, Clementine devoured the potatoes in front of her with more gutso, than she had done beforehand. She liked the way their group was back to it's cosy little self and now that things were settling down...

Well she had to scratch that off the list.

It was then Nick decided to be very rude and stand up and announce him and Stephanie were getting married in the Wellington's church next week on the Saturday. A beaming Stephanie (cheeks flushed) accepted all the surprised congratulations that rang across the table. Rebecca also knew about it and had used the money she thought she'd have to use for the cure to pay for the wedding. For people to bring food to the wedding and alcoholic drinks and to pay those who were setting up equipment for the after-party.

"That's awesome dude's!" Eddie shouted.

"We could use something good happening around here for a change" Molly mused.

"Congratulations" Clementine muttered.

"I can't believe your getting married man, shit..." Luke said more to himself than he did too Nick.

* * *

The week leading up to the wedding was a blur to Clementine.

She should have been happy, she should have been getting excited for the thing Sarah wanted so badly, but she felt as though she was a silent spectator watching the happy events occur through the other end of a tunnel. Never remembering a single conversation she had with people although there had been a lot of them apparently.

"Dresses...!" Rebecca squealed one morning, as Stephanie's bridesmaids all of them were required to wear matching white dresses for the upcoming wedding. Molly and Clementine weren't the most keen one's to try on dresses and despite Molly demanding that she could do it herself. Watching her trip over for the ninth time certainly proved a different point.

"Can I just go in jeans?" she whined to Rebecca.

"No!" she snapped at Molly "This is a very special day for Stef, we have to look our best"

"You had to mention looking to me" Molly groaned, "I'm going to be a difficult position when all the ladies start handing out compliments on how beautiful they look on the day, and I'll be able to say is I'm sure you look great and get a load of bullshit sympathies..."

It was then Rebecca noticed Clementine giggling under her breath.

"You are a bad influence on her" Rebecca lectured to a clearly disinterested Molly "Now Clem honey, let's work on trying the next dress on you"

"But it's the fourth onnnnneeeee..." Clementine droned.

"Now I'm sure Stef would do the same for you, if you were getting married Clem..." Rebecca told her.

"I'm never going to get married though" Clementine protested "I don't like the idea of..."

She was cut off as Rebecca tried to forcefully stuff on some dresses on her. Clementine would have usually snapped at Rebecca by now to stop what she was doing, but Clementine still felt disconnected from reality at the moment and hadn't the energy to argue with Rebecca once again. But she could tell Rebecca was getting frustrated at her.

"Rebecca I'm sorry" Clem suddenly said.

"Oh... for what honey?" Rebecca replied, rather surprised by Clementine's sudden apology.

"For everything... I know you've just been trying been trying to help me"

"Don't worry yourself Clem, all teenagers go through that phrase" Rebecca reassured her "I was worse when I was your age, used to give my parents hell" she mused remembering her troublemaking days of her youth.

"I just..." Clementine muttered "I just feel disconnected from everything right now Rebecca. Like I should be excited for this wedding, it's what Sarah wanted. But... But I'm just not".

Rebecca sighed and looked Clementine in the eyes before she spoke up next

"Of course you're going to feel a little bit overwhelmed by it all" Rebecca summarised "I know I am and it's been tough on you and AJ's been the same Clem, sometimes the good things can confuse us even more than bad things" Rebecca lectured, her phrase being something that instantly stuck in Clementine's mind and she knew it was a quote she was going to be keeping around.

"But try and see this as a celebration" Rebecca told her "I think pretty much the whole of Wellington will be turning up for the wedding. and out of all of those people who do you think actually likes or knows Stef and Nick? Huh?"

"Not a lot" Clementine answered.

"Exactly" Rebecca stated "It was so easy to arrange this wedding, because... yes it's a wedding. But after everything Clementine, people want something to celebrate again. This wedding is more like a symbol of a celebration for everyone that good times are coming. So you're not feeling excited now but believe you me when you get to the wedding that will all change..."

* * *

Rebecca was right of course.

For the next few days Clementine remained zoned out and disinterested in loads of things going on around her. Until suddenly she was being ushered into a dress and squeezed into the back of a big, black car.

December 21st 2009, was the wedding day and judging by the fresh layer of snow that now lay on the grounds across Wellington (it had snowed heavily the night before) it would be the winter wedding that Sarah had always wanted. It wasn't until Clementine sat squeezed between the pristine white bride and a fussing Violet that she began to let a sense of excitement chip away at her.

"Are you okay there Clem?" Stephanie asked of her.

"Fine" was all Clementine could utter, careful not to bite down on a mouthful of white lace in front of her.

"This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for you" Stephanie informed her, "Me and Nick, we're forever grateful for this. For you for helping us"

"It's fine" Clementine told her "I'm glad you came back Stef, it's what Sarah and Lilly would have wanted".

Stephanie seemed to go misty eyed for a few seconds before she regained her composure and muttered "Yeah... still my wedding day. I'm getting married. I'm getting married. No matter how many times I repeat that I can't get over it, I just... I want today to be the best day of my life. After all the shit we've all been through..."

"I know Stef" Clementine muttered "I'm going to make this the best wedding for you and Nick"

Soon after Clementine promised Stephanie this they were all ushered out of the car by Rebecca and the bride and her four bridesmaids, Rebecca, Clementine, Molly and Violet stood awaiting at the front of the church. Clementine had to marvel at the winter decorations and coloured lights that lay around a single red carpet that stretched over the snow.

"It's... it's beautiful" Violet muttered in awe, reflecting Clementine's thoughts.

* * *

"...a holy union is sacred! and after everything it's nice to be in a scene like this, so that's why were here Luis" Maria lectured her son for the ninth time that day.

"Can't we just go to the after-party?" Luis whined like a four year old.

"N-O, young man" Maria stated firmly "We are clearly in with good graces with Luke's group, we're on the front row so we have allies with us. Just in case things do go wrong..."

"She's right" Tom backed her up with.

"Your mind is always on business Tom" JJ muttered, now apparently in a more merry state than he had been weeks beforehand "Can't you just admit that you're here for the alcohol, the partying and general social interaction and bit a fun?"

"Social interaction is not my strongest point" Tom pointed out "But seeing as Wellington isn't falling any-time soon, we're safer here for the time being. Besides, maybe we can have a little bit of fun for once..."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that" Terri remarked.

"Never thought I'd ever dress in a suit again" Tom replied, looking at where himself, Luis and JJ stood tall and delegate in spotless tuxedo's, while Maria had cropped for a green dress and Terri a plain blue one.

"Never thought I'd be stuck here listening to all this..." Luis began to whine, before the sound of an organ being played cut him off.

"Quiet!" Maria hissed "The bride's coming!"

* * *

Nick stood there as tall as he could be facing the altar silently his hands crossed over each other, half tempted to resume his old habit of reaching up one of his fingernails to bite away at them. But seeing the amount of chattering go on behind him he kept himself as still as statue and his posture steady. With each passing minute butterflies stirred away in his stomach and he felt his nerves grow, he tried to take some heavy breaths to control his breathing. But he felt like he was going to break out into a fit of hysterical laughter if Stephanie didn't arrive here soon.

"You're shaking" came a comforting voice from behind Nick.

"You ever tried getting married man?" Nick sharply inquired of the best man of Luke behind him "It's freaking nerve whacking! I don't like everyone watching me from behind and talking about me..."

"You look fine man" Luke informed him, as he stepped into Nick's line of vision and helped to straighten his tie "This is meant to be happy day for you, enjoy it!"

"It's so easy for you to say" Nick grunted "But I'm the one getting married here Luke! All eyes are on me! What if... what if I mess up or something, or laugh or smile like an idiot? Or if I trip over or..."

"Nick" Luke muttered placing a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder "Calm down"

Nick took a few deep breaths and tried to calm his frayed nerves as he kept uttering "I just... Luke I can't actually believe I'm marrying this girl. The girl I met at Howe's, the girl I joked with, the girl I travelled with through hell and back and the girl I was with for two years here. I wanted to marry her after a while, but... I don't like all this. I don't like the attention and the gossip, I mean... everything will stay the same right? Me and Stef won't change just because we're husband and wife? It will be the same right?"

"Nick" Luke muttered "You've never cheated on Stef with anyone else, you raised Lilly while both having jobs, you bickered occasionally like every couple... you've been married to Stef ever since you first moved here man" Luke's words certainly seemed to comfort Nick as his brown haired friend continued "Ain't nothing going to change, you'll just be husband and wife that's all and that's what you'll call each other occasionally"

"That makes me sound so old" Nick groaned to himself.

Luke had to laugh at this.

"Well you're getting older, it's only fitting" Luke muttered before, Nick spoke up next.

"Luke, I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't keep believing in me..."

"Don't get soppy on me man" Luke moaned "Hell, I'm the one getting emotional now, it's just... seeing you actually getting married after the 20 years I've know you. We've been through the ringer man and we've lasted through all of it" he muttered.

"Yeah" Nick agreed.

"I've known you since you were a boy Nick" Luke continued "It's just... seeing that boy getting married now. I just can't believe we've lasted that long as friends"

"I know, fucking weird" Nick grunted "I still remember when you used to run across the school pitch looking like an idiot"

"We need more man time once this whole wedding drama is over" Luke instructed "We gonna burn daylight Nick, we're gonna make some more memories for ourselves".

"Fuck yeah to that" Nick agreed with, before the sudden sound of a organ playing cut him off and he felt his heart rate accelerate as he turned back to Luke for reassurance.

"You'll be fine" Luke urged him "Now go and get married"

Nick turned back around with Luke's words in his ears tried to remain calm as the familiar wedding jingle played across the church, as he knew Stephanie was walking down the aisle he struggled not to turn around and control his own frayed nerves, yet he simply could not stop smiling. A few weeks ago he never thought this would have been possible but his friends had come back for him and had taught him...

To smile again.

* * *

To Luis' relief the service was fairly short.

The groom was grinning like an idiot at the front when he turned to face his wife to be, who failed to suppress a large smile of her own. Clementine's eyes were drawn the Christmas like decorations that blinkered back at her in every direction, while the coloured stain glass windows of the church only added to sense of Christmas ambiance over this wedding. Shining golden and silver ornaments hung from the celling, glittering from the lights seeping in from the church windows. Large, decorated Christmas tree's lined the sides of the church stretching to about 8 feet tall, all of them adjourned with rows of red, silver, green, gold and orange tinsel that hung off the spiky green branches.

"You would have loved this Sarah" Clementine mumbled quietly to herself, gazing at the Christmas wonderland of a wedding around her and at the angel on top of one of the Christmas tree's.

"Dearly beloved" The priest began "We are gathered here today..."

Clementine realised then that this was the first wedding she had ever been too and all of the priest's lines were recited from things she recalled seeing on TV, she simply stood there next to Violet as she scanned for her friends in the crowd. Luke was stood near to her and behind Nick as Luke was Nick's best man it would make sense of him to have his best friend's back at this time. Luke caught her eye and winked at her in which she returned a small smile, on the pew opposite of her stood Luis' group. His mother was wiping away a few happy tears (Clementine guessed she was one of weddings) her son looked bored out of his mind. Which Clementine could have expected from a mile off, she'd be worrying out of her mind if Luis was smiling or crying happy tears like his mother.

JJ seemed rather bemused with the wedding, Terri was simply being Terri and staring ahead as she always did while Tom had his arms crossed over his chest, his face looked impassive but would occasionally flicker with some sort of emotion. In the row behind them Clementine made out the form of Miss King who was (typical of Miss King at a wedding) trying to wipe her running nose and hoping no one would notice. A few rows behind her Clementine caught Edward gazing directly towards her, the seconds their eyes met he quickly dropped his gaze to the ground. While Clementine's gaze flew naturally elsewhere not really thinking much of what Edward staring at her could possibly mean, she simply put it down to him being bored and trying to find friend's in a strange crowd.

Next to her Violet was sniffing slightly at the happy event occurring in front of her, Rebecca was quite similar but holding herself better together. While Molly bandaged gaze was directed slightly to the right and her head swayed to the side slightly, but judging by the small smile on her face she seemed at ease with what she was hearing. Eddie was standing next to Luke in a shirt and tie (no matter how many times Clementine had seen him in fancy clothes, it was still strange to see him of all people wearing that stuff) AJ was holding onto Eddie's hand and keeping very quiet for a 4 year old at a wedding. Never the less many of the women gushed about how cute he looked in his small suit and tie. AJ was now more currently invested in something on his finger than he was on the wedding itself.

The rings were soon exchanged as Nick and Stephanie locked hands, the wedding vows were being exchanged (and Clementine was grateful for this, her feet was starting to hurt but the actual wedding had come about much faster than she had anticipated).

Nick took a deep breath, preparing himself to say his wedding vows that he had memorised, he couldn't panic... not now. Not with so many people staring...

"I Nick Dennis Peter Duran" Nick seemingly breathed heavily rather than constructing his full name in a sentence "Take you Stephanie Erica Mary Clarke to be my wife"

Now Clementine felt the happy butterflies truly swirl in her stomach, as she leant in a bit as Nick continued to read out his vows.

"To have and too hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and health" Nick continued to state "to love and cherish till death do us part according to God's holy law and this is my solemn vow"

Now Clementine felt herself... buzzing.

Nick was saying "I do..." he was accepting Stephanie as his wife.

"and do you... Stephanie Erica Mary Clarke, take Nick to be your husband?"

"I do" Stephanie declared.

The priest didn't even ask if anyone objected to their holy union, he launched straight into the famous saying...

"You may now kiss the bride"

and so Nick and Stephanie kissed and the second their lips broke apart a wave of cheers swept up through the church along with heavy clapping. The sight of something this happy had drawn many of Wellington's woman (and a few of the men, Luis was alarmed to see that JJ was teary eyed and Tom had a few tears rolling down his cheeks).

Too many maybe this happy sight meant so much more to them than just a weeding, but the symbolism that Wellington was entering a new era and maybe many were crying because their lost relatives weren't here with them. In this winter wonderland to hold onto them, to smile with them while watching two complete strangers get married and as Clementine saw a small bee suddenly whizz across her line of vision and heard an all to familiar buzz ring in her ears. She knew exactly who had come along to see Nick for a final time.

Before anyone knew it Nick and Stephanie were making their first steps back down the aisle, but it was then that Clementine felt something surreal occur, a hand that slid perfectly into her own. Suddenly nobody was there, the church was empty and the only things Clementine could see in a completely black, backdrop were the Christmas tree's and the decorations.

"I always loved Christmas" Sarah boomed cheerfully, her excited tone crashing over Clementine's ear drums as Clementine gazed in disbelief at her friend.

"S-s-s..." she stuttered.

"I had a dream about something like this" Sarah mused cheerfully her wide brown eyes gazing intently at Clementine

"I dreamt that there was a big winter wedding and everyone was happy"

Clementine felt the first tear slide down her cheek once again, as her shoulders heaved with sobs.

"But thanks to you Clementine, that dream's come to life!" Sarah mused before she turned back to Clementine "So thank you!"

"S-Sarah!" Clementine croaked in desperation, the tears now freely falling from her eyes.

She looked up to find Sarah give her one last smile, before she faded from Clementine's vision. Clementine found herself back in the church whatever hallucination or whatever the hell she had just experienced had driven her freely to tears, as they cascaded down her face. She didn't care if she was sniffing too loudly or that people were going to notice her heaving shoulders or gasps for air between her sobs, she simply needed to cry. In happiness and sadness and as Clementine felt eyes finally start to turn in her direction.

"Hey, are you alright?" a sobbing Violet asked of Clementine, everyone was crying happy tears but Violet instantly recognised that Clementine's crying was different from the few light salty tears of joy that was echoing throughout the church.

Hearing the commotion from Clementine, Nick turned to face her.

and that's when he saw Sarah.

He froze on the spot, Stephanie noticed this and as she did, she felt the palm of a tiny hand slip into her own and looked down to find Lilly gazing back up at her.

"I always wanted you and daddy to be happy" she babbled to her mother "Now you can, have a great life mummy!"

Stephanie was stunned while Nick watched as Sarah ran over to him and crashed into his form and hugged him from around the waist.

"You look better with short hair" was all she mumbled onto the fabric of his suit. Referring to Nick's now drastically shortened hair, cut to groom himself for the wedding. Nick remembered then a long time ago that Sarah had said his hair had looked better shorter, in that trailer where she first cut it.

She was the one who had first given him this look.

"I like it" Nick muttered, feeling his throat clench and his eyesight grow blurry as he wrapped his own arms around Sarah and hugged her tightly, "Thank you for everything you've done for me Sarah... I... I wish you could actually be here..."

"I am here" Sarah mumbled into his suit "I came here, so you could tell me what you always wanted too"

Nick felt the tears fall freely now, as he held onto Sarah ever tighter he knew what she meant, as he muttered the words he never got the chance to say to her.

"Goodbye Sarah"

She sniffed, crying herself as she gazed back up at him.

"Goodbye Nick"

and then she was gone, Nick was back in church again to anyone watching it had simply appeared that he and Stephanie had frozen for a few seconds before Nick's own shoulder started to heave heavily and the tears fell freely from his eyes. Upon hearing him sobbing and both coming to realisation of who wasn't here with them on the happiest day of their lives, it was enough for Stephanie to start bawling herself as Nick placed a hand on his forehead and groaned "Oh God..." and felt himself slowly sink to the floor, Stephanie falling by his side as the pair of them wept their hearts out.

People came forward and comforted them as they managed to get back on their own feet and walk down the aisle, still crying but... both of them feeling happier than they had ever done before. Smiling and sobbing in equal measures an equally as upset Clementine trailed behind them, as Luke placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, Clementine turned around to see he was crying too.

"They were meant to be here Clem" he wept "For once... I gotta admit, I'm not fine... but I am, if that makes any sense"

"It does" Clementine told him "Luke, it really, really does..." she sobbed before the two of them embraced for a rib cracking hug, Clementine looking at the wedding around her and the man she was hugging with all her might right now.

Sarah had come back to answer her question, she had asked by her grave.

_"Did it help?"_

Had her second chance helped anyone? The wedding, Luke still alive and happy and all of the happy people around her.

She took great comfort in the fact... that yes it did.

Her second chance had mattered after all.

* * *

The wolf sat there in his prison cell later that night, everyone else was busy with a wedding today they would get back to the important things once they had sorted themselves out.

Such as rearranging jobs again...

He heard a distant creaking noise, he stood up in his cell and limped over to the window and peered out from behind the bars.

Jobs... such as construction.

_Do **anything** to get it and I mean **anything**, regardless of how many people have to die, or how many lives you destroy._

Viktor's words were replaying in the Wolf's mind, he knew this was going to happen very soon.

He had deceived everyone, even the president himself.

Did they all actually believe they're was such a thing... **_as an airborne strain of the virus?_**

Telling Jena that flu they found at the lodge was part of a weaker strain of the airborne virus, the plan was too have her as backup for his airborne virus story he had going on in order to convince the leaders in Wellington that this was a real threat. But when Jena perished, his credibility for this story plummeted and the cult and the president did not believe him... at first.

Who would bother to find a cure, when you had big, strong walls to protect you?

Another creak in the distance.

But what if something changed? What if something could get over that wall? What if the Wolf needed help from people in order to ensure he found an immune survivor? After the screw up with Ryan... he dive-bombed into the option...

Of making up an airborne strain.

He'd been protesting about the airborne strain for months and with Oscar as an apparent suspect of immunity, The Wolf had to change public favour and make the airborne strain a threat in order for the public and the cult themselves to react and ensure that a riot took place and that the Wolf could retrieve the brains of Oscar without much trouble or protest.

That part of the plan went well. All he had to do was fill a syringe with infected blood from a walker he and the cult members had snuck into Wellington and there had the material to infect someone and make it look like an airborne strain was occurring.

and Edith Jules was the perfect victim. She worked at the wall, she was going out to greet those men outside of the wall that morning. Thanks to the cult spying on everyone, the Wolf knew what Edith was doing and knew that if he snuck into her bedroom and injected her with the walker blood the night beforehand. She would begin displaying symptoms of turning around midday or in the evening.

She barely stirred with the Wolf injected her bare foot with the virus, it left a tiny mark... so tiny it was gone by the time the autopsy had occurred and even then the foot was not a place analysed closely. But the forensics panicked unable to find out why she'd turned they'd been tipped off by the cult members about an airborne strain and rather than investigate it fully, jumped onto the "There must be an airborne strain of the virus" bandwagon. As there seemed to be little to no other explanation. Most of the "forensics" in Wellington weren't true scientists at all, all thinking that the common strain of the virus was also the airborne strain and that by curing the common strain they were able to cure the airborne strain as well.

and when the cure was taking too long to be developed, The Wolf had to pile the pressure on the lacking president and inject that school-kid with the infected blood as well. Of course killing someone under the guise of a "revenge murder" from the riot and allowing the said person to become a walker so the wolf could kill him and take his infected blood was all part of the plan. He knew those group of foolhardy school students liked to head on near to the wall as a way of a dare and to pass the time. So the wolf injected the boy as he slept, just like he had done with Edith.

and he turned.

The result, more panic, more pressure on the president to produce the cure and he did.

Ethan knew once the plan he had started needed to be completed as soon as possible, because he knew that Wellington wasn't going to last.

The drawback of making an airborne strain of the virus seem so real to the population.

No one was watching the wall.

No one was maintaining it.

After being weathered away for a year and with heavy snow on top of it now, Ethan watched the wall creak and splinter in places as it groaned loudly, he knew the time had come.

He was meant to lie low, but then he had to come up with the alternative plan once had been caught and thankfully had been spared by them (just about) but he doubted in his injured state and behind bars he'd be able to guide any of the survivors who survived the onslaught. The option had been clear to Ethan Hart since Day one.

Not make up an airborne virus and let everyone live happily ever after behind these walls, despite a future risks of the wall falling, the community falling, walkers breaking in and even a real airborne strain becoming apparent one day.

Or...

Sacrifice Wellington in order to ensure a genuine cure was created.

People could survive walkers now, yes there was still the threat of people being ripped to shreds by the walkers but... they could survive that one bite!

The true survivors were about to reveal themselves, the Wolf was meant to guide them away from this place when the time came. His capture had jeopardised that but he still lived in faint hope that someone may have come back for him.

However things had turned out, all Ethan knew is that his plan had lead to this, he had to save the human race from extinction.

and his plan had been a risky move.

He was about to find out, if what he had done had been right choice.

He watched (as with a massive groan and crashing noise) a section of the wall crumble in onto itself, as it did a mass dust cloud shot up from where it had fallen into twisted rubble.

and in the dust cloud the Wolf could just about make out hundreds of black, stumbling silhouettes, heading directly towards Wellington.

The walls were falling.

Clueless survivors were bawling.

and death was calling.


	21. Party Poopers

**A/N: Glad a lot of you liked Chapter 20 and now onto answering reviews!**

**AquaDestinysEmbrace- Glad you liked the chapter and the fact that Schulz is now gone as his time as a central villain (I felt) had come to a natural end, also about the ending the wall has collapsed leaving walkers to swarm into Wellington. Also thank you for your OC Scott, as he was a great character to write and develop and in the end he symbolised everything that embodied Wellington and what Clementine thought of Wellington. At the start she resented Wellington and the people of Wellington resented her, however by the end the people of Wellington helped her and she grew to like them as much as they grew to like and respect her as well. So once again thanks for the OC Scott it was pleasure writing him!**

**Zombieslayer995-Glad you enjoyed the chapter, but you'll have to jog my memory on your OC Jason as I've completely forgotten about him. Send me a PM of any updated details on your OC etc... and I'll be sure to include him when I can within the oncoming chapters.**

**Paradoxilla- Sorry for making you cry and as for the shipping and Clem's sexuality I will shed some more light on it this chapter, so get ready...**

**TWDRUNNER37- Thanks for the 10 out of 10 rating! Loving your reviews as always **

**Shattering Soul- The Kill them all line was meant to reference the Governor from the comics and I'm glad it paid off here and thanks for the correction of Maria and Luis' Spanish conversation as I knew something seemed off about it when I translated it, if I edit the chapter in the future I'll be sure to correct it. and I thought Sarah appearing was some sort of vision/hallucination experienced by the characters in the height of the moment. Originally Schulz was meant to be killed by Stephanie as he was ranting on top of the central hub before Stephanie pushed him off the edge putting an abrupt end to his life. But something seemed anti-climatic about that scenario, so I had AJ kill Schulz as tiny moments of his development in Episode 2 have built to this moment. For instance everything Schulz has done for what he feels was "the greater good" has traumatized AJ. AJ a 4 year old whose grown up knowing nothing but misery and loss of his friends, is quite like his father now his personality is developing in which he'll do anything (in his childish mind) in order to protect his friends, no matter what extremes he has to go too. AJ has the genes of psycho in him and was raised in a community with a leader of similar mindset, although his still very young and has limitations, I'd advise readers to keep a close eye on him...**

**Yomi-Roken- Thanks for another great review and seemed Scott's death caught you off guard, I like to do that in these fics I wonder if the next set of chapters will live to the hype and shock I created in Going to Ruin? I can only hope...**

**Chameishida- Yep, the first two episodes in this story centred on Wellington on it's troubles, character development for the 2000 days group. Focusing on the plot and characters that made Wellington run and ultimately fall, tying up the loose end plot point of the cult and introducing the supernatural element to the story. The second half of this fic will carry on the supernatural theme but now the community and political stuff that reflected NGB is over, the survivalist agenda of GTR will kick in. I'm glad you think the scene with Sarah doesn't need explaining as I wanted to leave it that way and simply have the reader come up with their own conclusions. It could be supernatural, or (what I feel is more fitting) could simply be Clem, Nick, Stephanie and Luke to a degree realising whose not with them on that day and hence having Sarah and Lilly "appear" could be all of them coming to terms with what has happened and finally learning to move on through the wedding but not without saying their final goodbyes. **

**Glad you enjoyed the little Clem-Luke scenes as I know your a die hard fan of dynamic duo and tiny scenes like these were last minute additions to add to the really long plot last chapter. I'm glad I did now and I'm glad they left an impact on you. As for the Clementine and Luis thing floating around I simply enjoy writing it too much to make it go any further than it is. The age difference is a factor, if Clem was say 20 and Luis 24/25-ish than it would be better. But at the end of the day Clementine will always be that little girl we fell in love with in Season 1 and having a character not in a relationship is a refreshing change in this fic. So no Clem/Luis at the moment, I'll give some more time for the relationship to grow and see where it goes from there. If Luke's the big brother figure for Clem, I imagine Luis is like the bratty middle child figure to her for the time being. Thanks for the encouragement as I'll always try to stay determined and get this fic done no matter what and no matter how long it takes!**

**ffapathy- See your liking the Wolf and his back-story. The airborne strain of the virus being a lie was planned for a while (The wolf lying to the president, only two people being infected by the strain out of hundreds of people in Wellington. Edward going on about returning to wall to rebuild it as foreshadowing for what would happen later...) can't say much more other than thank you for reading and I'm glad I was able to surprise you even at this stage. I guess Rebecca's quote about good things happening that can confuse people just as much as bad things happening applies to you. An influx of darker and lighter scenes will be incoming for the next part of the fic...**

**Okay so thanks you all for reading! Now another popularity poll has opened for the remaining characters so feel free to check it out on my profile and vote away for your favourite!**

* * *

How did they all end up here?

It was a question a lot of people would ask themselves, even after the party last night at Nick and Stephanie's wedding reception had gotten completely out of hand and the guests had spilled out and had drunkenly headed back towards the church. JJ had vividly remembered following them, lost in his own merry haze as the screams and shouts echoed around him...

He giggled to himself, good times.

Now he sat there gazing at the sleeping guests propped up on pews in front of him, covered in last night's spoils.

Alcohol and vomit was plastered onto their bodies and clothes, all of them seemed to be awake, or at least partly, so although their eyes remained downcast as they recovered from their roaring hangovers. JJ didn't need anything to drink last night as he had danced like an idiot and made a new friend...

"I see you're awake" Edward mumbled from where he appeared next to JJ. Still rubbing his sore eyes as he let out a hurricane of a yawn.

"I didn't drink" Was all JJ replied as smug as he cat, as the wild blonde haired boy grinned from ear to ear.

"Yipee for you" Edward commented sarcastically punching JJ lightly on the arm, before his eyes softened as he gazed back at the residents sprawled out over the church floor.

"Kind of disrespectful to be in here" was all Edward said after a lingering silence.

"We could have passed out in the graveyard"

"True" Edward agreed with JJ's statement before his eyes found the high celling to the church, before his eyes rested on the ground once again. A small smirk contorted his features as he gazed at where Clementine was curled up near to the pew, her eyes seemed downcast as Edward continued to gaze at her.

"So... did you get her then?" JJ inquired, anticipating Edward's answer.

Edward opened his mouth to answer...

* * *

_**"HERE I LIE, IN A LOST AND LONELY PART OF TOWN!"**_

The speakers blared the lyrics to some of the cheesy 90's hits Clementine had heard played so many time at her friend's birthday parties. Back when she was 8 and would dance or musical chairs and bumps to anything that had a catchy beat to it. and unlike many of the adults and teenagers around her (the sober one's at least) she was proud to admit that she would still dance to these songs regardless of whoever was watching and what they thought. She didn't need alcohol in her system to give her the confidence to have a good time, she just let her body move to the beat of the music.

Dancing.

She hadn't danced for... well as long as she could remember. Something about what she saw at the wedding today had given her the joy that celebrate this wedding with every fibre of positivity that she had helped to build within herself and the others around her. Sarah... Sarah had come back to tell her that her second chance had mattered after all. Clementine getting up off her ass and actually doing something had resulted in this, the president dead. and around 100 people crammed into the central hub dancing in a room designed to be rented out for occasions like this.

**_"TRAGEDY, WHEN THE FEELINGS GONE AND YOU CAN'T GO ON IT'S TRAGEDY!"_ **

It was all too cheesy, it was all too happy... but a lot of surreal things had occurred today so rather than try and relax and let it all process through her 15 year old brain. Clementine simply went with the flow of it all, she was aware of herself spinning and her curly hairs bouncing off her forehead. As she paused to gain breath, her eyes locked with that of Edward who was dancing a point mere feet away, their eyes locked as Clementine flashed him a smile (one he was very happy to return). Deciding she'd rather want to dance with someone she knew rather than being surrounded by strangers, she made a beeline for Edward.

Luke, Molly, Rebecca, Eddie and Violet had all sat on some chairs by the bar for the night. When the hits started playing (and feeling like an 8 year old again, surrounded by cousins, aunts and uncles) Luke had sensed the child inside of her. and rather than stay and listen to adult chat (she could barely hear it over the music anyway) she kept her eyes peeled on the dance-floor, when enough people had started dancing so she could simply blend into them and not be seen by her merry allies. She tapped Luke on the shoulder.

"I'm going to go dance" she told him simply.

His eyes brightened in some sort of glee.

"Don't trip over Clem" he chirped brightly "Knowing you, with your duck feet..."

Getting over Luke's unfortunate choice of words on her late friend, she managed to muster up all her sass to comeback to him.

"Says the lousy ass who can't bust a move"

"My dancing has got me all the girls in the past Clem"

"Out of pity most likely"

"Out of my sheer awesomeness more like"

"Idiot"

"Freak"

With these charming words exchanged Clementine departed for the dance-floor. She didn't think she could grow any closer to Luke than she already was but after the year of spiralling depression Clementine had been through and after she saw him say (for the very first time) that he wasn't "fine". Both Luke and Clementine had seen each other in a much more vulnerable light and Clementine would happily call the man her big brother if anyone ever asked. She always wanted a sibling or someone to play with when she was younger and she guessed Luke filled that void. As well as that, the pair of them had been the only one's to know what a second chance was really like, both of them lead Howe's together, both of them had lost loved one's.

Luke lost Jane. Clementine lost Sarah. Both suffered depression for a nearly a year afterwards and would never really recover from that one loss.

Both Sarah and Jane had died avoidable deaths, both were shot and all Luke and Clementine had to do was push them out of Harm's way, to save the people they loved. The people that gave them a purpose and after they died both Luke and Clementine had lost that purpose. So Luke drifted to Clementine during his difficult time and now Clementine was finding herself drifting to him. After the wedding today and after hugging him tightly after what she had seen... she had her purpose back. Her second chance meant something again. Despite absolutely everything Clementine had been through during the 4 years she knew him, Luke was still here.

and she was going to celebrate that.

She was going to celebrate that her friends had come this far and survived so much, she was going to celebrate the new friends she had made, she was going to celebrate the lives of those that had died. Gertrude taught her to move on, Sarah taught her to love life despite what it threw at you, Brandon had taught her that love was not as straightforward as it seemed, Ana taught her not to judge people based on their pasts, (ironically reflecting what her late husband had also taught Clementine) Scott taught her that there was good even in the worst of people, Oscar taught her that actions spoke louder than words, Trevor and Stacy taught her how to fight for justice (as messed up as their tactics were). Lilly had taught her about the innocence she thought she had lost...

All of those people, from what she had seen or read, they all left an impact on her.

She remembered back on the first day of school at Wellington High, nearly a year ago. She didn't know it at the time but Luis had been right, they hadn't come to Wellington to learn sums.

They had come to learn about each other.

and a year later she had learnt so much, how to live, how to let go, how to love, how to survive...

_That's what she had learnt in Wellington. _

* * *

The music was still blaring as Clementine slid next to Edward who was bobbing his head like an idiot to the beat of the music...

The song switched to something which (to Clementine's ears) sounded more... techno. However she soon found herself making robotic movements as lyrics she was vaguely familiar with bounded across the dance-floor...

**_I LIKE TO PARTY_ **

_**EVERYBODY DOES **_

From over the twisting, turning and tumbling bodies all around her Clementine's almond shaped orbs locked momentarily on where Stephanie and Nick were whizzing over the wooden dance-floor. Stephanie's white dress was seemingly swishing past the other dancers as Nick swept her round and round within his arms to the music pumping across the brightly lit dance-floor. Everyone attending this after party had to watch them as they had their first romantic dance and after gobbling her way through the wedding meal (most of the cake still lay on a table ignored) and after Luke's best man speech (Clementine would not recount it here, for bad language, sexual references and Nick's already declining dignity) the rest of the dancers were then free to dance romantically alongside the newly-weds. Or else demand cheesier music and dance like idiots, the latter option seems to have won over the majority of the crowd and judging by a comment she overheard from Nick "thank God they aren't just staring at only us anymore" the newly-weds seemed grateful in joining the idiot dancing trend that had prevailed in the end.

Happy for Nick and Stephanie were having a good time, Clementine turned back towards Edward, as his eyes brightened and after wiping his sweaty face he proceeded to do a spiltz right in front of her. Before returning to his original position.

"Not bad Soccer pro!" she shouted over too him.

"Thanks wannabe sports star!" he yelled back, the smile never leaving his face as he winked at her.

_**MAKE LOVE AND LISTEN TO MUSIC**_

As the lyrics boomed overheard Edward extended his hand as Clementine playfully took it (in her happy state) she thought nothing of it as he laughed harder than she had ever done in a long time as he span her around. All she was thinking about was how happy Stephanie seemed while Nick had done this too her. She guessed she should have seen the comparison then, but she was too busy thinking about the move itself and how much fun she was having and not the implication behind it.

_**YOU'VE GOT TO LET YOURSELF GO**_

Edward helped her steady herself as her world straightened up.

"That was fun" she gasped to him.

and then without any warning what-so-ever he lifted both of his hands forward so they each planted themselves on Clementine's cheeks and dive-bombed in for a kiss...

* * *

"Well?" JJ asked uncertainly gazing at Edward, as the silence in the church grew far too loud. JJ felt himself fidget uncomfortably as...

In response Edward merely sighed and turned to JJ with narrow silts of eyes.

"I told you last night JJ" Edward suddenly snapped in a cold tone "Don't make me fucking repeat it"

* * *

If Clementine wasn't so used to evading walkers and learning when to leap back and fight (added to her status as an outcast at Wellington High who was ready for an fight to roll her way) than Edward would have gotten to feel his lips against Clementine's own. However Clementine leant back instantly and craned her head so far away from Edward that she lost her balance and toppled to the ground, Edward's arms failing to catch her as they had done moments beforehand.

"Ow..." she moaned under her breath.

"You erm... need help?" Edward asked openly, his face now actively burning as Clementine had seemingly been repulsed by his attempt to show her some affection and that hurt and embarrassed him more than he would ever let on in front of her.

"I'll be okay... I... I need some air..." she hurriedly uttered to him, she couldn't bare to look him in the eyes. Now knowing full well what had just happened and how awkward things were now going to be between the pair.

"Erm... okay" Edward whispered seemingly paralysed on the spot, Clementine didn't hear him however, she was already tunnelling her way through the dancers. Now more an obstacle rather than people she could bounce against and were a symbol for her joy expanding to others. It as if she was swimming through a herd of catfish desperate to reach the surface for some oxygen as the dance-floor now felt so crowded and humid...

Reaching the open doors she allowed herself to bathe in the freezing night air outside of the central hub, gulping down the fresh air as others sat nearby. Some already sat down, puking their guts out on nearby stairs. It was a lot later than Clementine realised it was, the night sky was as black as a chalkboard and the stars in the night sky seemed none existent at this time. Clouds must have been obscuring them from her vision or the light pollution from the central hub had blotted them from her sight.

It was a dark night for Wellington.

Careening to the side and trying to regain her breath, Clementine planted both of her hands on a nearby railing on the stairs as she made her way towards her own secluded corner. Where the only things she could hear were the chirping of the night-time crickets and the distant pounding of the party, she kept flicking her eyes back towards the door hoping that Edward wouldn't follow her out here. She really didn't want to see him right now, she felt rather shocked at what had just happened but had to curse her own stupidity...

The staring in the church... the fact he was always so friendly too her... all the signs were leading up to tonight. She could usually see people in love a mile away... Luke and Jane. Eddie and Violet... but she never imagined it would be her in that position. Never. Which was odd considering all the messed up stuff she had to tell the stranger about herself and Luke, after everything she knew about love and sex and relationships and after having a crush on Sarah she... for some very strange reason never thought someone would crush on her.

What she had with Sarah was special, it was built on years of companionship and mutual affection for other and respect and even then Clementine still didn't know the true extent of her feelings towards Sarah. Before she died, all Clementine knew is that she wanted Sarah close and that she started to develop more than friendly feelings towards Sarah. Clementine simply wanted to express all her feelings and gratitude towards Sarah in more than just friendly hugs but... but something a little more. But Sarah probably wouldn't have accepted that as she always wanted a boyfriend... but at the same time Clementine could imagine Sarah being happy and comfortable with her...

Why didn't Clementine just say something!? Was why love so complicated!?

Trying to regain her senses, the bottom line was she simply felt comfortable with Sarah. Everyone else she knew she simply saw as friends or enemies she was still 15 and never really considered getting a boyfriend. After attacking boys who leered at her in school she simply assumed boys would be boys and they would always make those remarks and they would never really get near her or actually be interested in the real her and that had rang true for a year since Sarah's death. The more she thought about it however the more she realised how stupid she had truly been...

"You should have seen this coming a mile away" she muttered to the grass below her, her body maturing, being a woman in this world. What had happened to Sarah in the woods. Stephanie, Rebecca and Jane in Howe's... and God knows how many others here In Wellington.

She had been ignorant to this for a long time.

But she felt like the world was trying to enforce it upon her, feeling slightly sick she stumbled slowly to the left, trying to get as far away from the party as possible. But that's when groans and gasps stopped her in her tracks, when she stopped the groans and gasps stopped as well.

"Eddie..." Violet panted from a point somewhere from beyond Clementine's line of vision.

"We don't need to stop Violet, no one's there..." came Eddie's suddenly husky voice.

"I swear I heard someone approaching..."

"The whole fun of it, is the risk of being caught Violet..."

There was a short pause.

"Well whoever it was must be gone now... I suppose you're right Eddie" this was followed by a series of low pitched giggles before Clementine heard the faint whisper "I love you..."

"Love you too..."

The noises continued (at a much lower volume however) deciding she'd rather not see what Eddie and Violet were up too, Clementine quietly walked back towards the party doors. Feeling more alone and more sick than she had done before, what Eddie and Violet were doing... back in Howe's it was simply something she could laugh at along with Sarah when they caught Vince and Kelly in the act. But right now it seemed to sicken her that her friends were at it, even the most laid back and comedic of the group was doing it... Clementine didn't know why this was bothering her so much. She knew full well what Eddie and Violet got up too, but after a simple failed kiss, it had somehow opened her eyes to the fact she truly wasn't a little girl anymore. That not just her enemies, jerks in school, or rapist bandits in the woods wanted her for dirty purposes, but now her closest friends would start looking at her differently. Even decent people like Edward would have crushes they couldn't control and Clementine didn't want to be thrust into any sort of relationship any time soon. She loved her friends as friends and nothing more...

So if Edward had a crush on her (by some strange means as all she had done is be a depressed asshole to him) than if she was as happy as she was tonight how many others would start crushing on her? What would it lead too.

"You just need to say no to them" Clementine thought to herself, they couldn't force her into a relationship.

She was happy thinking that, that was until she passed where Robert Allen was having a discussion with a group of men and women about a "re-population policy"

"Wellington was designed to hold about 5,000 people" Robert was telling them "If I became elected president here, it would be one of my policies to ensure we got the population back up once again. We have enough cure's at the ready to support the new generation but we'd need as many women who can possibly give birth to help with this. I mean we might not even need the cure's for the next generation. There's a very likely chance the babies will be born with natural immunity regardless we need the extra numbers ladies and gentlemen, otherwise we won't be able to expand and maintain Wellington and we need to keep maintenance on the wall..."

Clementine had heard enough, she rushed back inside and simply wanted to find someone... anyone... who would comfort her at this time.

* * *

As Clementine waded her way through a romantically dancing crowd, Luke and Molly stood hands interlocked as they joined in with the couples swirling about the dance-floor.

_**WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY APPEAR**_

_**EVERY TIME YOU ARE NEAR? **_

"Just because I agreed to dance with you" Molly decided to remind a doe eyed Luke "I doesn't mean I'm going to make out with you, take you out back, kiss you or even..."

"You know you want too really, my dear wife" Luke couldn't help but say slyly, Molly could hear the sly smile in his voice.

"Oh Luke..." Molly suddenly shrieked in a high pitched voice, catching on with the long-running joke between the pair "Of course I want too really do all that. I'm simply head over heels in love with you. Oh Luke my beloved, wrap your muscled arms around my narrow waist..."

"Oh my graceful swan!" Luke proclaimed dramatically "I will pick you up and trail my fingers over your soft, warm skin..."

"and that's when a groan shall escape my parted lips..." Molly dramatically added...

"As limpid tears fall from my eyes... as I remember all the friends we have lost..."

"I'll gently comfort you, by running my fingers over your manly stubble..."

"followed by us interlocked, in a passionate lovemaking session..."

"Oh my God! Luke! Luke! Luke! I will scream in desire!" Molly exclaimed, turning many curious heads in their direction. Before the pair of them burst into fits of very-unromantic and not very subtle laughter, which made many, much more serious minded couples gracefully manoeuvring across the dance floor glare in their direction.

"Every-shitty-romance-book-ever!" Molly gasped into herself, red in laughter at her and Luke's cheesy reactant of cringe-worthy fictional romances.

Both of them also had just enough alcohol in their systems to pass it off as a joke, but also both of them were also giddy as can be, as having said that too each other and being able to get away with it.

"But seriously though" Molly muttered after she managed to stop herself from laughing "Hilda used to love this song, me and her just to spend hours on end dancing with mops we pretended were our future boyfriends or something like that..." Molly trailed off there, clearly getting lost in the song itself.

_**JUST LIKE ME**_

_**THEY LONG TO BE**_

_**CLOSE TO YOU **_

Luke was aware of Molly planting her blonde head against his chest at this point.

"Course" she mumbled into his white-t shirt "Comparing mops to husbands was simple an insult to the mop. At least the mop could clean up things..."

"Does this stem down to my dirty socks?" Luke inquired.

"Of course" Molly responded bluntly "Being without sight enhances smell Lukey boy, and my God I don't want to know what grows on your foot to produce those odours"

"Sweat" was all Luke said.

"Shit more like" Molly responded, before she made a quick (and very cheeky) move of pinching Luke in the area most commonly associated with... manure. (As a certain 15 year old in their group would still call it). Luke felt himself go beet red once again at Molly's gesture.

"That's where shit comes from" Molly told him to back up her point "The ass, not the foot. I don't know how you manage it Luke, I simply don't know..."

Luke laughed faintly as the music drowned out their conversation once again.

_**WHY DO STARS, FALL DOWN FROM THE SKY**_

_**EVERY TIME YOU WALK BY?**_

_**JUST LIKE ME**_

_**THEY LONG TO BE**_

_**CLOSE TO YOU **_

"My parents met to this song" Luke suddenly mumbled, hearing this Molly looked up at where she envisioned his face to be. While Luke was looking down at her, at where he could see where his parents golden locket lay next to Molly's blonde hairs.

"My dad told me" Luke muttered "They'd always play this song during their anniversary and... it's always been a special song for me"

"I think I know why" Molly decided to tell him "You crying today, admitting to Clem you weren't fine..."

"It was their anniversary today" Luke informed her "The day my best friend gets married... was the day my parents got married. I didn't think it was a big deal but my folk always took a shine to Nick and it just made me think... they should have been here! They should have been here and I was so happy today but sad in the same way..."

"It's a strange little world we live in" Molly mumbled "all these colliding dates and all that..."

"Yeah" was the only word Luke had to say to show he agreed.

Their was a short silence between the pair as Luke continued to slowly dance on the spot.

"Thank you" he suddenly told Molly "Thanks for telling Clem to look out for me"

"I'll always try to cover your ass country boy" Molly remarked to show her appreciation for Luke's thanks.

* * *

Edward was not happy.

What more did he have to do? As he pushed his way to the bar in a huff, (nearly knocking over where JJ was sat and where Luis was drinking, Luis mouthed a sharp "Watch it!" but Edward paid no attention to him, while JJ gazed at the boy his age in more curiosity) as Edward slumped down on one of the bar stools and ordered the man behind the bar to get him a Jack Daniels (seeing as all drinks for this party at least, came for free and no form of ID was needed. Wellington's legal drinking age had been long since established as 16 as the Government understood that younger survivors may have needed some release. Drinking wasn't the best option but then again neither were smoking and drugs. But the main reason had simply been that stopping hardened young survivors from drinking and smoking was near enough impossible as it was so wide-spread. So by lowering the age and making it seem less rebellious, it was hoped more young people would simply not indulge in the trend as much, whether it helped or not was still a mystery but tonight anyone who looked older than 14 according to the barman got served).

and Edward fell comfortably into this trend, grabbing his glass (and indulging in the fact it was free) he downed the strong drink in a mere minute.

"Whoa man..." was all JJ could mutter in awe as Edward asked for another glass.

After downing his second glass, JJ was seemingly transfixed, while Edward felt no different, he still felt embarrassed and hurt and simply wanted to blot out the pain he felt.

Third glass... still no difference.

"Jez-sus!" came a slightly slurred voice further to his right "What a fucking show off!"

"Luis, people died today!" JJ lectured as sober as could be (he hadn't drank that night at all) "Let the man do as he pleases..."

"What-fucking-ever!" Luis snapped, quite drunk himself as he lopsidedly stood up and looked back at Edward in disgust "I can stand fine! It's... just people right now! So... I'mma... I'mma... be confused in the twilight! Don't let mum see me JJ, but be vigilant... and be blonde"

JJ could only look on bemused as the rambling, drunken form of Luis shuffled through the dancing crowd.

"He makes absolutely no sense, but still comes across as a grouchy ass" JJ mused to Edward who had just finished downing his fourth glass.

"Well then you are going to hate me" Edward snarled "Because I plan on being the most miserable, drunken cunt in this entire fucking place"

He continued to drink, leaving JJ rather taken aback by his use of bad language, but it wasn't just the bad language Edward was using that had shocked JJ. From what JJ had seen of him in school Edward Fyre was a bright, cheery boy who used bad language merely in surprising situations, he didn't spit it out in malice like he did now.

"So... what is the problem?" JJ dared to ask, venturing into Edward's business as he continued to drink.

It didn't take long for JJ to decipher Edward's reply, the brown haired boy had gotten drunk quite fast over what he had been drinking and having no one else to open up too and propelled by frustration (and a lot of artificial alcoholic courage) he laid out the extent of his problems to JJ.

"My fucking problem!?" Edward snapped "Clementine! You know her... pretty girl. Tough as nails. I was nice to her when no one else was, I thought I had a shot with her and lately she starts smiling back at me! and then she says she'll join the sports team and I'm thinking to myself, Edward man you are in there! You've got this pretty girl who've you've crushed on for ages and she's finally making effort back to you and I'm getting all the right signs from her and..."

JJ continued to listen, intrigued with the tale.

"... and tonight she was dancing all up next to me! So I obviously go in for a kiss to make this official and she just turns me down and runs off! What sort of bitch leads a guy on like that!?"

"Did she say she wasn't interested?" JJ asked.

"Well..." Edward mumbled, his eyes suddenly glazing over, he looked uncertain of himself before he found his voice once again "...she obviously wasn't! She tripped over trying to avoid me. Like I was a fucking walker! I could see it in her eyes she was fucking repulsed by me! After all the signals she gave me..." he looked at his own reflection the alcohol, a sad expression lingering on what was usually a happy face.

"Then again maybe I'm just fucking pathetic" he spat at his reflection "I actually thought I had a chance with a girl like her? She'll go with the survivalist types, those other guys who don't shut up about their conquests! Those guys who killed a billion fucking walkers! Bad-asses like that get the girls, not whiny, wannabe optimists like me! I can't help not facing walkers! I was raised here and Clementine told me not to change... yeah don't change Edward stay in the friend-zone and live a life of celibacy..."

"There are plenty more fish in the sea" JJ churned out that classic catchphrase, as the obvious advice Edward would need at this time.

"But I like her!" Edward stressed "She's not like the other girls, all I want is her and... oh what's the point? Why do I even try? No one has any idea how hard it is too stay positive all of the time! They think it's so easy but when your surrounded by the depressing assholes on earth..." he sighed there and took another sip from his drink.

"I bet you are loving this" he spat to JJ "Innocent little Edward reveals he has this... this dark side..."

At this point JJ felt himself smile sinisterly, feeling more a kinship with Edward than he had done a few seconds ago.

"Everyone has a dark side Edward, you don't have to be ashamed of it" TT told him, yet maintaining JJ's light persona as Edward looked back at the blonde haired teenager.

"I'll tell you, I liked Clem's friend Sarah" TT began "Do you remember her?"

"One of the specs and one arm?"

"Yeah her" TT replied "Anyway I got the feeling she liked me too"

"and what happened?" Edward inquired.

"Died" TT spat out bluntly "Dead before I could say anything to her. I moved on, I got another girl and had a good time and they'll be more girls out there for me, I know it. But Edward being nice is only going to get you so far..."

His eyes darkened at this point.

"Sometimes if you really want something, you just need to embrace that dark side of yourself" TT told him "You need to let Clementine know you are human and your feelings are the same as her's. She thinks what she feels is above what you feel! You were right Edward those hard-asses get all of the girls, because they take what they want and that's what being a man is all about! It's how you gain a girl's respect!"

"Are... are you sure?" Edward asked of him rather uncertainly.

"I wouldn't be sitting here telling you this if I didn't work for me" TT told him "Don't be a pussy about it! If you really like Clementine let her know, let her know loud and clear and if she keeps on rejecting you than fuck that miserable soon to be spinster and go find yourself a girl who will give you want you want"

"You're making out as if they only thing I want is sex" Edward snapped "Listen... JJ I know you're trying to give me advice and I appericate it but..."

"But?"

"But I don't think that's... right"

"Fine. But don't blame me when you die of blue balls" TT informed him "You never know when your time is up Edward. Better live life to the fullest while you're still breathing..."

"That's what I try to do" Edward mumbled "But sometimes life is a serious bitch..."

"Then let's just forget it all and fucking party tonight!" TT exclaimed.

"Well, that I can drink too" Edward mused and with a smile he downed the rest of his drink and looked over at JJ/TT once again.

"It is JJ isn't it?"

"Yeah" TT lied.

"Well thanks for the chat, it helped" Edward informed him "It's nice to have someone who will listen. Someone to have a conversation with..."

With the more grim topics blown behind them, TT slowly reverted back to JJ himself as more lighter topics filled the gaps in Edward and JJ's conversation. The two cheery boys both with hidden dark sides bonded very fast in a very short space of time.

"This is going to be the start of a great bromance" JJ thought to himself that night.

* * *

In present JJ watched as Edward ascended some nearby stairs, muttering under his breath "My head still fucking hurts JJ... might try and get my bearings from the balcony, you coming with me JJ?"

"Oh erm..." he was cut off by what sounded like some sort of snore/moan from where Violet was sat slumped by a pew. Next to Eddie's whose eyes remained downcast, nobody was looking up at JJ and there was no doubt they were still lost in their own little worlds. Deciding he would rather prefer Edward's company over that of the still recovering party-goers, JJ nodded and followed where Edward was ascending the stairwell.

JJ was glad he and Edward were now friends.

* * *

Skidding next to some familiar faces, Clementine was pleased to see Rebecca, Tom and Maria trying (and failing) to bust some moves in their drunken states.

"Clementine!" Rebecca shouted recognising the 15 year old "Why don't you join us seniors, Tom was just trying to impress us by cartwheeling!"

"It was so funny!" Maria gasped from between her bursts of laughter. The ends to her chubby cheeks were a beet red colour and her brown eyes (an identical shade to her son's) were wet with mirth.

"There's still some life in this old man, I'll tell you ladies!" Tom bellowed, obviously the alcohol was getting to the former military man.

Clementine knew she wouldn't get a word in with these three and she didn't want to spoil their good night with her stupid problems, Rebecca had already done enough for her and if she wanted to laugh at Tom's bad dance moves, with her friend in the form of Maria. Than Clementine was going to allow the middle aged mother her break for a night. Hell Tom and Maria needed it too after all of the hells they had also gone through trying to protect their group.

"We should have some Sinatra on! Then you'll hear me sing...!"

"If it's as good as your dancing Tom! Then I'm all for hearing you sing!" Maria shouted in glee.

"Are you okay baby bear!?" Rebecca shouted over both Tom and Maria in order to direct her question towards Clementine.

"I'm fine!" Clementine decided to shout back and deciding not to bother them anymore she proceeded on back towards the dance floor. Keeping a very clear distance from where she could see Edward chatting with JJ over the bar. She didn't want to go near him, she didn't want all that awkwardness and she had to clear her head first before she could figure out what to say to Edward without hurting his feelings. She had absolutely no interest in him romantically what so ever, but she desperately needed advice on what to say or what to do.

Nick and Stephanie... no it was their wedding day and even though Clementine could clearly see Stephanie's beaming white dress from a mile away, she wasn't going to disturb them on the happiest day of their lives.

Rebecca, Tom and Maria already too drunk to be of service to her.

Edward and JJ, of course not.

Eddie and Violet... well she knew what they were doing.

AJ... (well what advice was a 4 year old going to give?) either way Rebecca had put her tired son away to bed, in one of the rented child's rooms in the central hub.

Luis? She'd rather burn herself alive than go to him about this sort of thing. Besides she couldn't see him anywhere.

Miss King? Well, considering her British teacher was now dancing on a nearby table. Clementine got the impression discussing boy problems with one of her students. Was the very last thing on her mind.

Robert Allen? He was outside and seemed okay... but he was pushing forward a re-population programme and Clementine didn't know him all to well.

So that left... Luke and Molly. They seemed like the perfect people to go to chat about this sort of thing. The trouble was, she couldn't find them anywhere, they were simply too many people about...

SMACK

"Sorry" Clementine squeaked instantly to the person she felt herself collide into it.

"It's fine" came the voice of a girl above her, Clementine looked up to see that Terri's cold eyes weren't even locked on her, but on the distant figure of the headmaster of their school, dancing away in the distance.

Terri! She'd forgotten about Terri!

"Terri!" she yelled up to the girl she barely spoke to.

"Clementine wasn't it?" Terri asked tonelessly, finally tearing her eyes from the headmaster and back towards the 15 year old next to her.

Clementine nodded.

"Can I be of any assistance to you? Considering you're still here and you look like you want something"

Once again, Clementine nodded.

* * *

"I couldn't hear myself think in there" was all Terri said the second she and Clementine had left the party, which was steadily growing more rowdy with every passing minute.

"Me neither" Clementine found herself agreeing with the blonde haired girl, as the pair of them gazed off into the dark night. Empty alcohol bottles lay strewn all around them, several people were passed out or vomiting on the stairs. Clementine saw Luis slumped down nearby, slowly cradling his head in his hands as he moaned to the night sky above. Ignoring the moody Mexican teenager, Clementine turned back to Terri and decided to see if the girl she knew so little about and barely ever spoke too could help her deal with some teenage drama.

"Terri, I'm sorry for dragging you out here, I just need some advice"

"On what?" Terri asked, turning to face the younger girl.

"Well... boys. Have you had any boy trouble?"

Terri's eyes seemed to shine dangerously in those couple of seconds.

"Yes" she responded flatly "Way too much to be quite frank"

"Than, if a guy's interested in you but you're not interested in him. How do you... tell him that?"

Terri let a devilish smile line her features.

"Is this about that Edward kid?" she inquired "I saw him trying to make a move on you..."

"Yes" Clementine admitted "I just ran from him and I know it's pathetic to be discussing all this bullshit teen drama now... it's just well you're a girl near enough my age too and I thought you might be able to help me out with it"

Terri sighed and looked around her, finally her unblinking gaze rested on Clementine's form once again.

"You want my advice then?" she inquired of the African american girl.

"Yes" Clementine responded.

"Let Edward know, loud and clear you have no interest in him what-so-ever" Terri muttered right off the bat "Don't flash him a coy-smile and tell him awkwardly that you can still be friends. He'll get his hopes up, he'll think there's still a chance. Make it clear too him that there is never going to be a chance and if he can't be friends with you after that, then tell him go screw himself or another girl somewhere if that's all he's after"

Slightly taken aback by Terri's advice, all Clementine could do was stare at the bottles below her as she gulped and imagined her laying down the law right in front of Edward. She had been through a lot but and become very emotionally strong. But she just couldn't imagine her saying those things to Edward with such an authority, he had always been nice to her...

"I can't just go up to him and say all that" Clementine knew she sounded whiny when she said it, but she couldn't help herself.

"You like him don't you?" Terri inquired instantly.

"No"

"Not at all?"

"Not in that way, but... his a good friend. His nice..."

"But you have absolutely no romantic interest in him at all?"

"Of course not!"

"None?"

"None at all!"

"Will you ever be romantically interested in him?"

Clementine opened her mouth about to shout "No!" back to Terri, but she found her mouth closing by itself as if she were a dying fish. She guessed Edward was nice and would remain a friend but if she was looking at things realistically, maybe in the distant future she may have grown to like Edward in that sense. She remembered when Sarah used to tell her stories of romantic things boys would do to win over girls and admittedly it did make Clementine's heart flutter sometimes. and thinking about it she only ever saw Sarah as a friend she never envisioned she would end up liking Sarah the way she did. She had to think in the same way if she was really that adamant about saying No, then she would have said it by now.

The silence answering her question for her, Terri let out a smug grin of victory.

"You can't tell can you?" she inquired of the younger girl "That's why you can't say that all that"

"Then how can you be so sure!?" Clementine snapped, rather annoyed with Terri at this point "If you had boys in the past who felt something towards you! Then how did you tell them all that!? How could you know you'd never be interested in them!?"

"Believe me" Terri answered on monotone "I knew and that's all you need to know"

and with nothing else to say and muttering to Clementine "Well, I've got no time for teen drama Clementine, sort it out as soon as possible and enjoy the night"

"I'll try" Clementine mumbled back to Terri, who departed back inside of the party without so much as glancing at Clementine. That was the first full conversation she had ever had with Terri and it was certainly true she lived up to her so called cold reputation, those dead eyes of her's... it made Clementine shiver. But she didn't find herself annoyed or even scared of the icy eyed girl, yes she was intimidating but Clementine found herself rather interested to learn more about Terri. She was certainly different to her brother, yet if what Brandon had told had been true than Clementine could only hazard a guess at how many messed up things Terri had been through to get to where she was today.

* * *

The party was in full swing, Rebecca, Tom and Maria were on the floor laughing at something bizarre, Miss King had fallen off the table in typical Miss King fashion and had smashed a dozen glasses in the process. Edward and JJ were laughing amongst each other, Edward very clearly drunk and relying on the kind hearted JJ to keep him held up steady. Terri had just re-entered the room and was still being... Terri. Luke and Molly were sitting down chatting about something,sweat coating their skin as they had been up dancing for so long. Violet and Eddie (having finished their earlier business) were entertaining some of the other guests at a large table. Eddie no doubt telling a ridiculous joke that got everyone laughing...

"What a night..." Nick muttered, gazing over the scene of the party, everyone was seemingly having a great time.

"Hey Nick?" Stephanie mumbled from next to him.

"Yeah?" he responded, as Stephanie yawned, Nick himself felt as tired as could be. The earlier buzz and adrenaline was finally dying out at this stage of the night. As they had been up none stop and danced with just about everybody and accepted so many gifts... suffice to say they were both exhausted.

"We better get going now, or else my legs are going to fall off" Stephanie admitted with a small smile.

Nick could relate, he looked at the nearby door and the preoccupied party goers, no one would notice if they slipped out now. He still wanted to say a bye to Luke, but seeing as his best friend was on the other end of the dance-floor he couldn't do that without attracting attention and he didn't want to be greeted by a dozen rowdy voices and snide comments on what he and Stephanie were going to do to consummate their marriage.

"Let's head off then" Nick mused, he quickly (and traditionally) lifted Stephanie up by the legs and swept her off the dance-floor and out of the door before anyone could notice. Climbing the empty stairs towards their designated double bedroom for the night, Stephanie couldn't help but notice the still shot up railings of the central hub. A couple of weeks ago she had almost been killed her, now she was being carried by her husband up the same flight of stairs she had fled past.

She looked up at him, happy to have him here.

"Corn-dog" she called him (her phrase for a corny individual)

"Klemo" he responded with a smirk (referencing Stephanie's mispronunciation of people with her condition).

Beaming at each other, they proceeded to enter the double bedroom, tomorrow morning it would be official, they would be husband and wife.

* * *

"Wait for me Edward!"

Ascending stairs like Nick and Stephanie had done the night before, (and just as happy and as excited as they were). A wild eyed JJ raced up the worn stone steps after his new friend when he reached the balcony where the choir would usually sit, he looked around, past the beaming form of Edward, JJ eyes lingered on a nearby glass window and all the colourful glass decorations...

His face dropped.

* * *

"CLEMENTINE!"

Clementine barely had any time to react as a strong arm planted itself across her shoulders and the whiff of alcohol smashed up her nostrils, she turned to see it was Luis that had approached.

"Oh great..." she thought to herself, now she had to deal with this as well.

"YOU KNOW!?" Luis boomed letting whatever he had drank go to his head completely, Clementine was to caught up in her drama to be surprised by Luis' changing attitude. Then again Luis seemed to change his attitude just to annoy Clementine to the greatest ends.

"I know?" Clementine left the question hanging there, as Luis regained his thread of conversation and flashed Clementine a dozy smile.

"YOU KNOW! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THIS TOO YOU!"

and with that he too grabbed Clementine by the cheeks and prepared to dive bomb in for a kiss. This time Clementine was frozen, she should have seen this one coming too. What Sarah wrote in her diary, the basic bickering between the pair... how had she been so stupid? Feeling her gut sink she simply let Terri's words wash over her, hearing Robert Allen's plans, what was the point of fighting it anymore? She may as well just let it happen and be stuck in a miserable relationship she felt like society was forcing her into...

She closed her eyes and awaited for Luis to simply kiss her and be done with it. She hated drama and simply waited for...

Nothing happened, the only thing she felt was her familiar cap get knocked off her head. Daring to crank open a single eye she had seen Luis had simply put his hands (or hand in his case) on her cheek to stop her from moving her head as he knocked her father's cap from her head.

"So that's what you look like without your hat!" Luis proclaimed in victory, Clementine wanted to argue with him for some reason. But found that she couldn't if Luis really was interested in her he would have taken that chance, but he didn't... he really didn't...

"Oh... Oh Thank God!" Clementine mused to herself before she began to laugh hysterically and simply couldn't stop herself. She also grew to like Luis a hell of a lot more in those moments.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Luis asked, serious of all a sudden. Clementine's laughing must have made her look crazy even in his drunken and hazy mind.

"I don't know! Too much alcohol maybe!? Joy!? Relief? It could be anything!" Clementine exclaimed in a crazy blur of words, smiling all of the time as Luis simply shrugged his shoulders and muttered "Crazy" under his breath.

"I just did that because you looked fucking stupid wearing a cap with your dress" Luis muttered in the hope of calming Clementine down.

"I know!" Clementine bellowed "I know I looked fucking stupid! My style Luis! My style!"

"I think you've had more than alcohol in you tonight" Luis remarked.

"Nope!" Clementine chirped "No alcohol, no drugs and thankfully no penises!"

"Now that's a bit of term for a 12 year old!" Luis told her sternly, yet there was a playful inkling in his tone, deep down however he was quite taken aback by what she had just said.

"Edward tried to kiss me!" Clementine exclaimed to Luis "I said no! I said no Luis I turned him down! I don't have any interest in him! If I'm being honest with myself Luis, I don't see the appeal in relationships at all! I don't care! I think I'm asexual!"

Still smiling, Clementine had no idea what on earth propelled her to say this, she just felt so happy that she simply had blurt out all of the honest feelings that seemed to clog in her mind, as mucus would clog her chest. She had said what she felt out loud and it felt damn good to say those things! She didn't care how Luis reacted, but as long as she knew she had a friend than she was happy.

To her surprise, Luis began laughing too. It was the same sort of hysterical laughter that Clementine had gone through merely minutes beforehand. The 15 year old simply let him laugh to his heart's desire until he finally calmed himself down and with a wild look in his eyes he opened his mouth to speak...

"I KNEW IT!" He roared "ASEXUAL PRIDE RIGHT HERE CLEM! FINALLY SOMEBODY FUCKING GETS IT!"

"You're... you're not interested in girls?" Clementine inquired.

"Girls, boys, animals, children and intimate objects, fuck them all!" Luis shouted "I've never given two shits about relationships and nobody seems to get it! All my group think I'm some sort of sex machine! I honestly think there's something wrong with me Clem! I can't get off to anything! That's why I came up with the idea for me and JJ to go to that strip club! I wanted to feel like a man! I didn't feel a damn thing! A damn fucking Clem! and nobody-gets-it! Nobody!"

"I do!" Clementine continued to shout (ignoring the dirty looks coming her way) "I know Luis! It feels like I'm being forced into this crap, with all this wedding shit going on and all that..."

"You know what I want to do!?" Luis quizzed of Clementine and before she could answer, he grabbed an empty bottle from below him and hurled it at a nearby tree, where it shattered into a million pieces.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luis' war like cry echoed across the central hub, someone with an aching head bellowed "SHUT UP!" in his direction which he very clearly ignored.

"That felt so good!" Luis exclaimed, never feeling more alive, he grabbed another bottle and passed a second one to Clementine.

"Come on, it feels great Clem!" Luis urged her, as Clementine gazed at the bottle in her fingers, before she chucked it at the tree, the smash it made filled her with a burst of adrenaline and made her heart beat faster. She felt her face burn and the large smile ingrain itself on her face, as she and Luis began to chuckle to themselves at the excitement of throwing bottles at a tree and watching them smash into a million pieces.

"FUCK SOCIETY AND YOUR FUCKING EXPECTATIONS!" Luis roared before chucking the next bottle.

SMASH

"I LOVED SARAH!" Clementine bellowed, chucking a bottle herself.

SMASH

This whole experience was uplifting in a way Clementine couldn't explain, it was obviously something she may have regretted in the morning but her and Luis were bellowing their confessions and having that out of their systems, Clementine imagined those troubles being sucked into the bottles and then imagining those problems smashing into a million pieces along with the bottles. Her and Luis didn't need to say a great amount to each other but it defiantly was a bonding session between the pair as the laughed away into the night, while chucking as many bottles as they could find...

* * *

SMASH!

JJ's eyes widened in horror, that smashing noise... it was familiar... so familiar, no... it can't have been...!

"JJ!" TT snapped all of a sudden, turning around to face his darker side, JJ felt his gut sink.

"JJ look at me and stop acting like such a freak...!" TT roared.

* * *

SMASH!

THUNK!

This was slightly different noise, Clementine saw the glass bottle bounce of a man's forehead was steadily approaching the central hub.

"CAREFUL MATE!" Someone yelled from behind Luis and Clementine "THESE TWO ARE PLAYING ARCHERY GAMES WITH BOTTLES! BEST CLEAR OFF BEFORE YOU GET GLASS IN YOUR SKULL!"

Pausing in their tracks, Luis let the next bottle he was about to throw, fall loosely to the ground.

"Let's wait for this piss-head to move" Luis told Clementine.

Clementine however simply watched the pale man, a familiar feeling of dread washed over her for reasons she couldn't explain. But as the man grew closer and she heard that all too familiar groan and in the light of the Central Hub illuminated his face, it confirmed her worst fears.

"WALKER!" She screamed to the high heavens above.

The man lying passed out on the stairs didn't hear her in time and it was only when the walker stood over him and ripped a chunk of his neck with his teeth and when the man screamed and his fresh crimson blood spilled and sprayed in every possible direction. Did everyone else still standing outside get the message.

"WALKER!"

"THERE'S A FUCKING WALKER HERE!"

"NO LOOK! WALKERS!"

Luis and Clementine's eyes automatically locked on the grassy plain in front of them, where already tens of walkers were converging on the central hub, their empty white eyes rested hungrily on the building as if they could sense all the living and warm flesh they could devour inside of it.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THEY COME FROM!?" Luis roared, breaking out of his drunken stupor for the time being in order to deal with more pressing matters.

His inquiry was answered a few seconds later, from the garbled panic behind them, someone turned on one of the central hub's strongest floodlights. The narrow beam of seemingly white light was powerful enough to cut through the smouldering blackness of the dark night and lit up things in the distance that couldn't have been seen beforehand. and one of the most important things being that of the wall which seemed to still be standing...

Until the light flashed against a narrow section of the wall, with a glaring gap in it, showing the dark horizon beyond Wellington.

and the thousands of walkers squeezing into the community.

"Holy shit" was all Clementine could mutter.

Without even thinking about it, Clementine and Luis sprinted back inside the party where the guests were now trampling over each other in a mad panic as a repeated scream rose above them all...

"...THE WALL'S DOWN! THE WALL'S DOWN! THE WALL'S DOWN...!"

"HOW DIDN'T WE HEAR IT COLLAPSE!?" Someone mindlessly inquired in the madness.

"LUKE!? MOLLY!? REBECCA!?" Clementine screamed for her allies as she kept close to Luis' powerful figure (so she wouldn't be knocked over herself) her bright eyes scanned the fleeing populace for her friends, she could hear the groans of the walkers behind her as they grew ever closer...

But...They were immune.

Then again... That guy on the stairs was immune, fat lot of good that did him.

Someone knocked down one of the speakers in the madness as the first screams of dying filled the cold night air, as the speakers blared...

_**But I knew that I was out of luck**_

_**The day the music died**_

_**I started singing **_

_**Bye, bye Miss American Pie...**_

* * *

"Oh please. JJ end this, now!"

"NO! Edward's my friend!"

"DO IT! YOU CARRY ON LIKE THIS PEOPLE WILL THINK YOU ARE WEIRD! THEY WILL KILL YOU!"

"THEY'RE ALL NICE! THEY WOULDN'T DO SUCH A THING TT!"

"THEY HAVE AND YOU KNOW IT! THEY LEFT HIM TO DIE...!"

Eddie ascended the church steps, a heavy feeling in his gut, he felt sick to the stomach listening to this.

"THANK YOU EDWARD! THERE YOU ARE YOU SEE TT! EDWARD THINKS EVERYONE'S NICE...!"

**"EDWARD-IS-DEAD!** ACCEPT THAT ALREADY YOU FUCKING FREAK!"

Eddie reached the top of the stairs.

JJ was there, drenched in blood and bits of flesh that weren't his own were nestled in his clothes and wild tangled mess of blonde hairs.

"EDWARD IS RIGHT HERE!" JJ screamed, pointing to thin air just to the left of him "HE AIN'T DEAD!"

"HIS DEAD YOU IDIOT!" JJ shouted once again, (in a different voice however) "ACCEPT THAT!"

"NO!" JJ screamed.

"BREAK THEN YOU FREAK!" JJ screamed back at himself.

Eddie couldn't take it, he didn't know how to comfort the boy he simply felt himself descended a few steps and felt the tears roll into the palms of his hands. Seeing that kid like that... it made him realise how fucked up everything truly was. He was drenched in Violet's blood and... and...

He gulped, everyone down there, Clementine, Luke, Rebecca, AJ, Molly, Nick, Stephanie, Maria, Tom, Luis, Terri, Miss King, Violet along with the 10 others who had managed to get here. 25 of them were stuck in this church, 25 of them were alive. Eddie shuddered. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to smile anymore or crack a joke to lighten the mood. The situation was dire and if didn't find Violet medication soon...

He shuddered and wept to himself harder, he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't lose someone else.

The group were still down there reeling from events and now they were in this situation.

Barricaded in Wellington's church, with tens of thousands of walkers outside.


	22. Blood Brothers

**A/N- Okay here's chapter 22! Thanks for the reviews last chapter and I got the general gist that last chapter was one of you guy's favourite from the trilogy which is a great way to open Episode 3 of this fic! Hopefully the high standard will continue into the second part of Episode 3!**

**Paradoxilla- Glad you enjoyed the chapter and considered it up there amongst your favourites of the trilogy thus far! **

**ShatteringSoul- Thanks for your review and it seems the lighter scenes from last chapter made it one of your favourites, the Luis/Clem bottle throwing scene in particular which was great to write about. As I like to think that the reader knows everything there is too know about a character. But then adding extra layers to them is always great (as you'll discover this chapter) and I'm glad you're growing on Edward as giving him a dark side was a way of giving him a complex range of emotions other than loveable goof-ball, in a similar fashion to how Eddie got development in GTR. and finally Luis really seems to be one of your favourite OC character's (although you'll have to update me on what POC means as I got the other reference) but I hope you continue to enjoy!**

**ffapathy- Again thanks for your review, Luis' asexuality was always planned as I wanted to surprise the reader by having it so Luis seemed like the type who would have a slow burning relationship with Clementine. Even if that option has not been completely been blown out of the window, it makes the reader see Luis as a more rounded, cynical, sometimes light yet ultimately grumpy character. As he has been surviving alone with his mother for so long and developed a very survivalist type mindset, I imagine his never really thought or considered a relationship and him gaining a reputation as a ladies man has made him feel more isolated as people don't seem to understand him at all. His a very interesting character to write and his development comes naturally, some of it planned. While some of it are last minute spur of the moment things, but yes expect to see a lot more of him. **

**Also Clementine-centric chapters are always great for me, Edward and JJ was something else I had planned for a while now and seeing them interact will affect things this chapter as well. Terri will always be Terri and Robert Allen...well this chapter you'll have to wait and see what becomes of him and finally your request to see Terri with Ana's sword, does sound like a good way to cement Ana's legacy and the other points you mentioned in the final paragraph were very interesting things to consider as well and this chapter I will answer a few questions this chapter.**

**Okay, thanks reviewers! and as for the poll so far Clementine and Rebecca take the lead with 2 votes each! While Luke, Nick, Stephanie, Luis, Terri and Miss King take second place with one vote each. I'm surprised to see Rebecca and Miss King are so popular but I suppose that's a good thing and expect more from their characters in upcoming chapters. I was expecting the original group to get some votes (Luke, Nick and Stef) while Terri and Luis seem to be the stars of the 2000 days group. Now for the one's didn't get votes, Molly and Eddie I was quite surprised about (but then again you only have a limited number to vote for) but everyone else I kind of expected, so we'll wait and see how things go. **

**Anyway the poll is still open and will be for a few chapters! So head onto my profile and vote away! It will really help me get a gist of which characters you are liking and which one's are trailing behind.**

**Now sorry for the wait, but I've been busy lately. However here's Ch22, Blood Brothers which was a surprise to write as it turned into a very Nick-Luke centric chapter. Which is not what I originally had planned at all, t****his chapter I feel is very slow and doesn't really move the plot along as I hoped it would, but next chapter things will propel into life. Although this chapter will touch on character fates etc... most of the main action will be reserved for next chapter. About how most of the group truly got to the church etc... anyway I hope you like this chapter regardless.**

**So feel free to leave reviews to let me know what you think! Anyway here's the next part of the story...**

* * *

_"Come on Nick, I saw her go in this way" _

_Nick blinked, he wasn't in his martial bed next to Stephanie anymore, he was approaching a fence that was seemingly foreign to him as he tried to glance around but quickly found out that he couldn't move his head in the slightest and the words that tumbled out of his mouth next, were certainly not his own._

_"Okay... okay... Luke..."_

_He wanted to shout "What!? Luke what the hell is going on!?" but his lips remained firmly sealed shut. As he tried to adapt to what the hell he was witnessing, the air around him faintly stung at his skin confirming he was somewhere cold. The scenery around him was a simple forest setting and the grey meshes of wire that made up the fence in front of him seemed vaguely familiar. He racked his brains to as where he had seen this fence before, but he simply had no idea at that time being._

_He was also aware of his he seemed to be clenching his lips and teeth together and that's when he became aware of the searing pain in his right shoulder. He found (to his relief) the past version of himself turn towards the wound, as it gave another powerful throb of agony and a few more droplets of blood began to soak through his old black t-shirt..._

_His old black t-shirt!_

_He could feel his old hat perched on top of his head, he had lost the red thing all those years ago after Sarah had been shot by Lilly and he made a mad dash to escape. The cap should have been rotting somewhere by the cabin now, not perched on his head like this! and his old clothes, he remembered wearing them when he first met Clementine and judging by how long he could feel his hair and facial hair were, he was quickly able to deduce he was witnessing something that had occurred 4 to 5 years ago, when his group had first come across the girl in the woods. _

_He knew instantly this wasn't some sort of dream, the way he stumbled onwards, his head feeling light from the blood loss he had endured. How his left arm was aching dully as he was trying to apply pressure on his right shoulder to stem the bleeding, and holding his arm in that position had caused it to ache the way it was doing now. His breaths were sharp and he found himself gasping a lot, sweat coated his whiter than usual skin. So he had gathered he had been running a lot, although he had to wonder how on earth he had gotten himself in this sorry state._

_"Nick" Luke suddenly called, as Nick found himself looking ahead and gazing at his best friend. Luke looked worn out and was also dressed in his old attire, he seemed to have taken a recent beating from someone, as his face looked puffy and bruised._

_"There's an opening here" Luke informed his friend, as Nick turned automatically towards a hole in the fence._

_It hit him then._

_This was the gap in the fence where he had barely escaped with his life beforehand, if Sarah hadn't been there, then..._

_He shuddered, not wanting to go through that unnatural rip in the fence, something about it felt wrong, he shouldn't have been here. Yet as Luke ducked under the fence and squeezed his way through. Nick felt himself do the same, thankfully for him he didn't catch his clothes on the mess of tangled wires._

_"She's probably hidin' in a trailer somewhere" Luke muttered, his weary eyes quickly surveying the scene around him. The abandoned trailer park Nick and Sarah had fled from a lifetime ago, was now swimming with sharp colours in his vision. He wanted to wipe his eyes or pinch himself to see if this was all truly real, but he was once again dismayed when he came to the realisation he wasn't in control of his own body._

_"Probably" Nick felt himself utter, as he lugged one aching foot in front of the other._

_However as Nick glanced on, Luke drew his old machete up to his chest defensively, Nick could see walkers that lined his vision were few and far between. But they were more than enough to give some cause for concern._

_"Fuck" Luke swore "We gotta keep quiet here Nick..."_

_"Keep quiet?" Nick felt himself question of Luke "Luke! We should try and find help! I keep tryin' to tell you this and now with those walkers over there we won't be able to take them on alone"_

_"We can do this" Luke snapped back "We'll get Sarah and then we'll find the group"._

_Nick guessed that in this point in time both he and Luke were in very bad moods, it seems the beatings they had received and the lack of food (that reflected in Nick's growling stomach) had led to this and they seemed to hold differing opinions for the time being which was never a good sign especially not here._

_Nick... Nick dreaded what was going to happen next, he just knew something awful would occur, he could feel it in his bones._

_"Luke I'm fucking exhausted!" Nick felt himself finally snap "I can't keep going on like this! We need to find help!"_

_"and leave Sarah behind!?" Luke snapped back "Is that what Carlos would have wanted Nick!?"_

_"Carlos is dead!" Nick felt himself shout "I'm not saying we abandon Sarah! I'm saying we come back to her with the others..."_

_"We won't find the others in time!" Luke bellowed, getting fairly annoyed now._

_"WE HAVE TO TRY!" Nick screamed, snapping at long last and causing many walkers to plant their empty sockets in his general direction. "WE CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!"_

_"GODDAMMIT NICK SHUT THE HELL UP!" Luke roared, turning back to his best friend, a look of fury evident on his pale face. _

_"DON'T TREAT ME LIKE A FUCKING BABY LUKE! I'M FUCKING SICK OF IT!" Nick screamed "WE CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS ALONE OKAY!? LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN HOWE'S! YOU TRIED TO TAKE THAT ON ALONE AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED...!"_

_"I MADE ONE MISTAKE!" Luke screeched "IT AIN'T MY FAULT KENNY LOST AN EYE...!"_

_"YOU CAME UP WITH THE RADIO PLAN!" Nick accused._

_"I WAS TRYING TO HELP!" _

_"FAT LOT OF HELP THAT DID!"_

_"IT WOULD HAVE BEATEN THE ALTERNATIVE!" Luke screamed "NOW WE'VE HAD TO RESORT TO PLAN B BECAUSE OF THAT FUCKING RECKLESS SHIT-HEAD KENNY! WALKING THROUGH A DAMN HERD! CARLOS IS DEAD BECAUSE OF IT AND GOD KNOWS WHO ELSE! WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED AND PLANNED SOMETHING NICK! WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN STRONGER IN OUR ARGUMENT!"_

_"MORE OF US MIGHT OF DIED IF WE STAYED!" Nick counter argued "LUKE DON'T GO DOWN FUCKING GUILT TRIP LANE WITH ME HERE! WHAT'S DONE IS DONE! WE NEED TO FOCUS ON FINDING THE OTHERS...!"_

_"THEY'LL BE FINE...!"_

_"YOU DON'T THINK THEY WILL BE, DO YOU!?" Nick questioned, when Luke didn't answer, Nick knew he was onto something "YOU'RE TOO AFRAID TO GO LOOKING FOR HELP! YOU THINK EVERYONE DIED BECAUSE YOU FAILED TO BE MORE ASSERTIVE AND MAKE THE RIGHT DESCIONS FOR THE GROUP!"_

_"SARAH'S ALIVE!" Luke bellowed "WE SAW HER GO THIS WAY! I FAILED CARLOS IN THAT HERD NICK! I FAILED HIM AND... AND I CAN'T FAIL HIS DAUGHTER...!"_

_"FUCKING HELL LUKE!" Nick roared "THINK ABOUT THE WHOLE GROUP HERE! NOT JUST ONE HELPLESS GIRL! SARAH MIGHT ALREADY BE DEAD, WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE OTHERS! IF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DIED THAN WE HAVE TO SUCK IT UP AND LIVE WITH IT! BESIDES IT'S NOT ALL OUR FAULT! WE ARGUED TO STAY! EVER SINCE THAT SHIT-BAG KENNY'S BEEN AROUND WE'VE BEEN DROPPING LIKE FLIES! HELL THE GUY'S A BADASS I'LL GIVE HIM THAT, BUT HIS RECKLESSNESS HAS KILLED ALVIN AT THE LODGE AND NOW CARLOS DIED BECAUSE OF HIS PLAN!"_

_"It wasn't all Kenny though" Luke remarked sadly "Others thought of that plan too and not to mention he took out Carver for us and all I did was get captured and preach bullshit morales, when no one was listening..."_

_"Luke..."_

_"Did you see Clem?" Luke inquired of Nick "She didn't even blink when she saw Kenny gutting Carver like a fish. Nick that little girl is something special and watching her go to ruin like that... just... God!" Luke exclaimed rubbing a hand of his eyes "You don't find many kids in the world anymore Nick, Sarah and Clem they're the one's I'd die to protect! I can't sit there and watch as Kenny and the others fill their minds with grim bullshit! I need to find Sarah, I need to help her! I need to help Clem, I need to save them! They keep seeing all that shit and they'll be nothing left human inside of them! Nick, I have to find Sarah, I have to do something..."_

_"You can't do everything Luke!" Nick told his friend "I know you want to protect the kids, but think with your head... I'm not liking the group all that much at the moment. I don't want to face them or what's left of them, but we can't go on a suicide mission, they'll need us around! Well they'll need y..."_

_Nick was going to hazard a guess that he was going to say something along the lines of "Well, they'll need you around. I'm the useless liability here not you" but he never got to mutter that sentence. As Luke turned around and angrily shoved Nick to the side._

_"Don't try to stop me" Luke snarled._

_Nick became aware of himself tumbling straight into the towering form of a walker, it must have snuck up on the pair when they were arguing. Before Nick could even lift his arms to defend himself the walker (probably propelled by the fresh blood coating Nick's shoulder) dived on him and for a second Nick felt nothing, as there was a sickening crunching sound and he saw the walker had a chunk of his neck in it's rotting mouth._

_Luke turned around to see what had happened to Nick, a harmless shove had suddenly become an act of murder._

_He was frozen in place._

_Nick retched as the pain hit him, his jugular vein must have been cut because blood poured out of his neck like a hosepipe as he retched for oxygen that wasn't there. Panicking as much as he trying not to drown in his own blood as his shaky fingers trailed over his agonising injury..._

_"elp... me..." he croaked._

_His vision was a blur, he stumbled away from the walker only to feel himself trip and land directly on..._

_That rip in the fence._

_His arm was painfully stuck in place, as he must have held it up, to try and break his fall, but now in sheer agony his vision was blackening. His weary body finally shutting down as blood poured out of his system from that single walker's bite. Nick could see nothing in front of him other than the trees that breezed lazily in the cold wind._

_He had no idea where Luke was, maybe merely feet behind him. _

_But here Nick was now, cold, hungry, self-pitying and alone in death._

_He felt a final tear leave his eye._

_Luke was in shock, he could utter a word at where he saw his friend stuck on the fence. His head had gone limp, as blood continued to stain the grassy floor around him._

_"Nick" Luke called._

_Silence._

_"Nick" Luke called once again._

_Silence._

_"Hey, Nick! Come on man! Get up!" Luke called to him playfully, a smile forming on his face._

_Silence._

_"Remember when were 10 and we raced down that hill in those barrel's?" Luke recalled "Fun times, huh?"_

_This time, he was met with only the groan of the walker that had killed Nick. _

_"Nick, come on... Nick I'm... I'm sorry okay"_

_The walker was lugging it's way towards a shell shocked Luke._

_"I didn't mean to push you" Luke muttered "I didn't mean too... Nick come on! I just pushed you! Get up! Please get up!"_

_Walkers were now beginning to surround Luke._

_"NICK PLEASE GET UP!" Luke screeched, a torrent of tears, bursting from his eyes in those moments. _

_Still, there was silence._

_"They'll need you too man!" Luke sobbed "The group need you too man, not just me! Nick... I... I need you!"_

_Only the cruel silence engulfed Luke once again._

_and with that Luke ran to avoid death, but also completely numbed by the event. In complete disbelief that it had happened, he never told anyone in the future of what had truly occurred. He was too much of a failure as it was and saving Sarah became the only objective in his mind, when that also failed. He completely lost any sense of meaning in this world._

_He kept on the composure of acting alert and up to date with the group's troubles, but his mind was someone else altogether. Hell, why not have sex with Jane, what else was there to do!? Why not scream and rant at Kenny about wanting something good in the world!? Why bring up his birthday for no reason, no one should have cared, but hell they all needed a bit of light at that time! and why give his life to protect the one girl that meant to the world to him?_

_He had given into reckless abandon._

_Yet little did Luke know, that Nick's final tear was something of a happy one. Because just before Nick died in this timeline, he had heard everything Luke had said..._

_and then with a final spasm of pain, the world went black._

* * *

"AH SHIT!"

Nick sprang up in the bed, his skin was shiny with layers of sweat and his heart was beating at a million miles per hour.

"What the actual fuck was that!?" he exclaimed out loud, unable to contain his shock at what the hell had just happened to him.

There was no way in hell that was some sort of dream, that was way to realistic and he felt every ounce of pain that was being inflicted upon him. That... that had to be some sort of vision! It was like the visions Luke and Clementine said they had experienced...

and now Nick had experienced it himself. He had experienced his own death and judging by what he knew, he had seen his death in Clementine's timeline.

_"We found you dead on a fence..."_ he remembered Clementine telling him.

"You didn't know Luke killed me" Nick murmured "He never told a soul and Luke himself doesn't know because Clementine is the only one that experienced that timeline..." he paused there as the realisation hit him.

Luke, not matter how accidental it had been, had killed him.

In Clementine's timeline, he killed his best friend and hid the truth.

In his own timeline, he killed his best friend and he hid the truth. (About him killing Kenny and the others)

It was the same pattern, Luke always ended up killing him and was this vision meant to symbolise something to Nick? Maybe a fore-warning that Nick would meet his end at Luke's hands once again? Nick liked to think he knew his best friend better than anyone else on earth. and suffice to say Nick did, he knew Luke's darkest secrets. Things Luke hadn't even told Clementine, things Luke preferred never to mention but Nick had found out anyway. Nick had kept those secrets for so long and buried them with time (as Luke had done).

But with this recent vision now haunting him, Nick was over-analysing everything he knew about Luke.

He knew his best friend, but he never knew what Luke could be capable of.

He could deduce, that Luke had a heart of a gold, but was a...

_Very disturbed individual._

He had now heard it with his own ears, Luke needed Nick as much as Nick needed Luke. Why had Luke kept on coming back to the prison every week? Why did Nick go back to save Luke when he was injured in the forest? Why did Nick insist on helping Luke back at Howe's, despite Luke's attempts to keep pushing him away?

Nick's problems were well advertised for everyone, depression, suicidal thoughts, losing Lilly, Sarah, Pete and his mother, self harm, wrongful prison sentence. Shitty alcoholic of a father, tough childhood, serial killer on occasion, anger issues, drink issues, confidence issues... but he had gotten through that all and had nothing to hide.

All everyone else knew is that Luke's stresses involved losing Jane, second chance issues, being wrongly accused of rape, vilified wrongly, guilt at failing to protect his group, pressure of leading the group.

But Nick knew there was more to it that all that.

"Luke" he thought to himself "What the hell is going on? All this time travel shit and my vision, it's got to mean something, right?"

He received no answer, however it seemed his ruckus earlier had stirred Stephanie in his sleep and right now his new wife cranked open her eyes. Her gaze planted on where he was sat up almost instantly.

"S'matter?" she grumbled.

"Just a bad dream that's all" Nick muttered, as he crashed his head back down on the pillow and gazed back at the raven haired beauty in front of him.

"On your wedding night?" Stephanie inquired with a raised eyebrow, as Nick began to trail his fingers through her long, black hair. "We're married now, we should share secrets, husband"

She giggled after this comment, going red Nick smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. Suffice to say, it was a short while before the flustered pair broke apart once again.

"Remember the first time we kissed" Stephanie suddenly reminded him "In that cramped little sleeping bag, in the forest a couple of years ago. It sounds weird but it's all I can think about right now and how far we've come since then..."

"At least Molly will be vandalising my head with a factual statement this time" Nick grumbled "If this really is like that first night, than I imagine she will do"

"Blind or not, I doubt that's going to stop her" Stephanie mused.

"I doubt anything's going to stop me right now either" Nick grinned, before he leapt on Stephanie once again, the couple bare and nude in their wedding bed, enjoyed intertwining their bodies against each other in those moments. Digging her nails into Nick's left arm and torso and planting her head on his chest. Stephanie lay on top of her new husband, planting an ear against his chest to hear the steady rhythm of his heart while Nick absently mindly trailed his fingers across her back and hips.

"I wish we could just stay like this" Nick informed her.

Stephanie nodded in agreement and raised her arms so that her hands lay in Nick's messy black hairs, as she began to ruffle with it.

"We've always been two little outcasts" Stephanie remarked "I never felt I like belonged anywhere Nick ever, thanks for giving me a home"

Nick smiled "Thanks Stef, that... that means a lot".

Stephanie coughed.

"Oh, right, Thanks Wife, that means a lot"

Stephanie smiled.

"and now that compliment is out of the way" Stephanie said "We now go about being husband and wife and hating each other till the day we die"

"Married life..." Nick muttered "Bring it on"

The pair smiled, Nick simply enjoying lying here feeling Stephanie's body pressed up against his own. But he wanted to pull her closer, he wanted to tell her how much he had grown to care about her and that she (like him) had survived against all odds and come this far. He had lost nearly everyone else and couldn't afford to lose her, she was the girl that stayed for him. She offered him company when he was being vilified at Howe's...

"So this dream" Stephanie piped up suddenly "What was it about? Molly, with a permanent marker pen?"

Nick chuckled heartily before he sighed and muttered "I wish it was, but... it was weird as fuck Stef. I was dreaming about myself and Luke and..." he paused before diving into his tale.

"Stef, I don't know how to explain it, but wasn't a dream! It felt so real! I... i..."

"...watched yourself die" Stephanie finished for him "and you felt everything, didn't you?"

Nick gasped.

"When...?"

"Just before the second riot"

"What...?"

"I was outside Howe's I felt myself get ripped to shreds by walkers".

"I got killed by a walker and stuck on a fence" Nick recalled (omitting the most obvious detail in his story).

"I thought I was the only one" Stephanie mused "I... I thought I was going crazy or something but..."

"Maybe it's happened to the others too" Nick summarised "Stef! Everyone's probably thinking like you or me and trying to brush it off! But these visions were having have got to mean something! If we match what happened to what we know, what we saw and experienced were our deaths from Clem's timeline..."

"Because I never joined your group..." Stef muttered.

"and I died at the trailer park" Nick murmured.

"What's triggering these visions though?" Stephanie inquired "Because... the last thing I remember was... well was..."

Nick thought back and before he had drifted off he remembered the waves of pleasure that coursed through his body, as he and Stephanie consummated their marriage. He could certainly say that as he lay there, nude, proud and feeling like a real macho man with a beautiful woman clinging to his side. That as he let out mischievous grin and gazed up at the celling as he slowly drifted off too sleep, he could certainly say he was grateful too her. He was grateful for her for breaking him out of prison and motivating him to do all this and he went to sleep thanking her, more than he had ever thanked her before...

"Appreciating Clementine" Nick and Stephanie said as one.

They looked at each other again.

"So that's it then" Stephanie mumbled "Nick, these visions are happening because we're grateful for what Clementine helped give us and when we truly appericate all that's she's done for us, that's when we get these visions of our violent ends and what could have happened to us..."

"What is this? The time, traveller's, God's, way of saying... oh now you're grateful of the person who prevented your death, so we'll make you experience it anyway in their timeline so you'll be even more grateful..."

"I don't know" Stephanie commented "I'm just theorising here... maybe... maybe these visions are about acceptance"

"Acceptance?"

"Yeah, like we've finally come to realise the value of the person whose given us a second chance at life!" Stephanie theorised wildly "So... us seeing our deaths in their timeline is like that timeline being permanently erased and this new timeline being the only reality that can exist..."

"But if that timeline was erased" Nick muttered "Then this timeline wouldn't exist either"

"I don't know" Stephanie said "I want to believe these visions are good thing Nick! But I can't help get the vibe that something sinister's coming from all of this... something really doesn't feel right and scares me..."

"Well let's stop making wild guesses Stef" Nick muttered as he pulled her closer to himself "This is our wedding night, we don't want to linger on this shit. We want to enjoy ourselves for once"

"You're right" Stephanie told him, a genuine smile returning to her face.

As the pair of them began to kiss each other deeply once again, a frantic knocking suddenly echoed from the double doors in front of them.

"WE'RE BUSY IN HERE!" Nick shouted at the door "UNLESS THERE ARE WALKERS IN THE BUILDING, I'M NOT INTERESTED!"

Luke burst into the room anyway, giving only Stephanie and Nick a second to cover their decency, which they just about managed, Nick was about to bellow a very angry remark in Luke's direction. But his best friend spoke first.

"There are walkers in the building"

* * *

"Hey Stef"

It had been the first time Nick had spoken that morning, from where everyone was either trying to gain sleep or recovering from their injuries, or simply suffering from shock and trauma... the church was bathed in a heavy silence. Only broken by JJ's delirious chants from a distance, Violet's occasional rasping, or the coughing, or light sobbing of the other survivors who had gotten into this church on time.

"What?" Stephanie replied.

Her voice was low and faint, her eyes unfocused and she was shaking harder than ever. The only thing she and Nick had managed to grab was a matching pair of thin white t-shirts. (It was a present from Violet). One read Husband and the other Wife, which was rather fitting to inform anyone who didn't know of their marital status at that moment. But there legs were bare with only their underwear to cover their modesty. However since their clothes were drenched in drying blood, it didn't leave that much to the imagination.

"Remember that conversation we had last night?" Nick seemingly whispered, his voice was also subdued. But his bright eyes remained alert, from where he was sat slumped next to Stephanie. Then again he didn't have a great big purple bruise on his forehead, after suffering from a nasty fall.

"Yeah" Stephanie mumbled "That one about the time travel and shit..."

"I was thinking" Nick muttered, "If we appericate Luke than... than maybe we'll get a vision of our deaths in his timeline too..."

"Why would you want that?" Stephanie inquired of him "Nick, you know what happens in that timeline..."

"I don't want to experience that" Nick informed her "We all know what happens to me, I was just thinking, no one knows what happens to you"

"I run away" Stephanie answered.

"But how do you die?" Nick asked "Stef, I'm not asking you to see your own death in Luke's timeline. But you are the one person in the group, who might have experienced something in your pre-life that is going to make this whole time-travel shit make sense..."

"Nick" Stephanie groaned "Why the hell, are you asking about all of this now!?"

Nick didn't respond, his gaze was locked on where Luke was quietly murmuring something to Clementine.

"Nick"

Nick continued to gaze at Luke.

"Oh I see" Stephanie stated, following Nick's gaze, as her own gaze planted onto Luke himself. "Nick, Luke's still your friend. What happened back there was an accident..."

"It's not that" Nick answered "Stef it happened before, his done it before"

"What are you talking about?"

* * *

Clementine was lost in the madness as people scrambled out of the Central Hub, all she knew is Luis was trailing her and that Luke had gone to fetch Nick and Stephanie and alert them of the threat.

"MUM!" Luis roared over the widespread panic.

There was no response, however Clementine caught sight of Luke (with a very skimpily dressed Nick and Stephanie trailing behind him) as they thundered down the stairs. Upon spotting the walkers that were already devouring the first surprised victims at the wedding party, Nick bellowed "FUCKING HELL! GIVE US A BREAK!" In typical hot-headed Nick fashion, while Stephanie merely groaned aloud.

"At least those dying won't be coming back..." Luis decided to tell Clementine, as she blindly ran towards Luke, with Luis directly on her tail.

"What's this Luis?" Clementine ventured with a heavy doze of sarcasm "Is that a positive thought? Surely not..."

"It's curiosity" Luis snapped on the defence "Seeing as everyone is now immune, they can't come back after they die, so do the walkers just eat them down to the bone then?"

"They might still turn" Clementine grimly added "Remember the guy that bit you"

"Not everyone was injected by the time the riot took place" Luis spat "He was an unlucky bastard and so I was for being near him"

"Oh poor..."

"LUIS!"

That could be no one else other than Maria, who nearly sent her only son toppling to the ground after spotting him the crowds of screaming and running people. Hugging him tightly, Clementine looked over Maria's shoulder to see the rest of his group were also present. Terri and Tom looked calm, JJ was currently covered in guts that weren't his own and was shaking like crazy, being supported by the one and only Edward Fyre who looked pretty panicked himself. Edward's brown eyes connected with Clementine's for a second, before both gazes hit the ground. Both still embarrassed, despite the situation currently exploding around them.

"CLEM!" Came another shout, as Clementine was relieved to see Luke, Stephanie, Nick were behind her. and it took mere seconds for Rebecca (carrying a sluggish AJ) with Eddie and Violet trailing her to join with the group. Tom looked around and muttered "ALRIGHT PEOPLE, WE GOTTA MOVE!"

"WHERE TOO THOUGH!?" Violet screamed.

"WE DON'T HAVE ANY WEAPONS, TO TRY THE WALKER GUTS METHOD!" Luke bellowed.

"WELL THEN WE'LL HAVE TO FIND WEAPONS!" Nick suggested "BEFORE THEY RIP US TO SHREDS!"

"HANG ON!?" Luke suddenly gasped, gazing around "WHERE'S MOLLY!?"

His worried enquiry was answered merely a second later, as a walker approaching the group suddenly went stiff and fell to the ground. Behind the walker stood the smirking form of Molly, as she pulled the ever-present form of Hilda from the back of the walker's head. As bits of brain and blood dripped off the end of her much loved ice-pick.

"Right here captain" Molly answered.

"Wait, where did you get that weapon from?" Terri asked.

"I never leave home without Hilda" Molly replied.

"So you kept that in your dress somewhere!?" Rebecca inquired, clearly appalled "Were you expecting to fight off walkers later on?"

"No, but any asshole who tried to touch me..."

WHACK!

While the group stood there debating about Hilda's location and purpose, they were all unaware of two walkers that were sneaking up on them. Tom (senses always alert) quickly managed to turn around (and lacking a weapon) swing his fist directly at the walker's face. It's flaky nose broke, as the walker collapsed to the ground. However the second one had snuck past Tom (as this thing didn't have legs it crawled across the ground) planting it's teeth around Stephanie's ankle. Who stood furthest from the centre of the group.

"What the...?" Stephanie babbled, before she glanced down to see that living corpse, had bitten her on the ankle.

"OH SHIT!" She screamed, as everyone (tearing their eyes away from where Tom had punched a walker in the face) turned to her, as she panicked and tried to stumble away from the rotten, little sneak that had bitten her. Yet she lost her balance and felt her forehead connect sharply with the edge of the stairs next to her. With a loud THUMP that sounded as painful as it was for the newly-wed, she lay sprawled on the stairs and briefly lost conscious.

"STEF!" Nick roared.

SPLAT!

The walker groaned in Nick's direction as he bellowed, altering Molly to it's presence. With a swift swing of Hilda, her ice pick found itself in the walker's skull. She pulled it out once again and breathed happily to herself. She truly was back in the game!

But while Molly gloated to herself, Nick looked down at Stephanie in sheer panic, as his blue eyes found the bite mark on her ankle.

"Oh shit, shit, shit!" Violet panicked "SHE'S BITTEN! WE HAVE TO CUT OFF HER FOOT!"

"OH GOD... GOD NO! SHE'LL DIE OF BLOOD LOSS! I CAN'T! I CAN'T DO THAT!" Nick agonized to the high heavens.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT YOU IDIOT!" Luis bellowed "IN CASE YOU'RE FORGETTING WERE ALL IMMUNE!"

A short silence followed this statement, Clementine could almost hear Luis' smugness in the air, and was very tempted to hit him where it hurt once again. However he seemed prepared for such an assault this time around, as his long arm was already tactically covering his private parts.

"Well" Edward muttered to break the silence "I guess it's going to take us all some time, to get used to this immunity thing, huh?"

There was a universal nod of agreement at this statement.

"But it's still dangerous here" Tom observed "The bite might not kill her, but's she hit her head pretty bad"

"Will she be okay?" Nick looked up at Maria for guidance on this matter. Seeing as she was a skilled nurse here in Wellington, she seemed like the most sensible person to ask. The Mexican mother crouched down and planted a hand on the painful looking bruise already developing on Stephanie's forehead. As she slowly regained conscious she winced as she felt Maria's cold hand press against her injury.

"It seems like it's swelling" Maria observed "Most of the time these are harmless bruises, but she'll be dazed for a while. However she starts getting frequent painful headaches, than she may have fractured her skull or suffered internal bleeding and unfortunately there's not a lot we can do if that's the case".

"You don't think..." Nick whimpered.

"No. It's highly unlikely that's the case" Maria concluded "But keep an eye on her, if she doesn't get any headaches in the next 24 hours then she'll be in the clear. Just look after her and make sure she takes it easy, no more bumps to the head or anything like that"

"Alright, okay..." Nick breathed, as he helped Stephanie slowly get to her feet.

* * *

Thankfully for Nick, Stephanie hadn't complained of a headache so far and it didn't seem like she would, casting his mind from the past events that occurred when Stephanie suffered from this injury, he brought himself back into the present and answered his wife's question.

"In his past life... he... Stef... can you keep a secret?"

"Nick, whatever you need to say, say it" Stephanie begged "I'll keep it a secret, I swear"

Smiling, Nick looked down at the palm of his hand. He used his own finger to suddenly scratch down on his hand, hard. So that a thin trickle of blood fell down a palm and a small cut formed there.

"Nick what the hell!?" Stephanie gasped.

"Give me your hand Stef"

Bewildered, she could only do so, as Nick repeated the process with her, wincing from the pain slightly (it wasn't lethal, but hell...) Nick then clamped their slightly stinging hands together.

Yet compared to what the rest of the group went through last night, two small cuts was nothing.

* * *

"It could have been worse" Tom boomed, referencing Stephanie's injury as she steadied herself, "But the fact remains, is that if we stay here. We'll die

"Yeah we kinda get that, Mr. I punch walkers in the face" Eddie commented.

"I guess Wellington truly has fallen" Terri muttered, as she and the rest of the group backed away from the walker corpses lying on the ground and proceeded slowly up the flight of stairs, as even more walkers flooded into the building now.

"At least we have allies" Luis duly noted.

"Yeah, but so far the blind one has proved the most useful" Tom said.

"Oh, stop it!" Molly blushed, accepting the compliment regardless.

"We need to find a place to hole up for a while" Terri noted.

"In here's, pretty much a no go" Luis deduced.

"I'll distract these walkers, the rest of you get out of here" Tom instructed "Keep running and stay close to each other! We'll go to our houses later but we can't afford to spilt up now..."

"Good point" Eddie agreed, clearly impressed.

"But where are we meant to go too!?" JJ shrieked, clearly panicked by the whole situation. Seeing his new friend in this state of distress, Edward managed to offer the only bit of advice he could throw in at this point.

"The church!" he exclaimed "It's pretty fortified and I heard some of the others saying they were going to meet up there...!"

"Church, sounds good!" Luke shouted over the defining growls of the approaching walkers.

"Can't we go for the walker guts method!?" Nick inquired, "I mean we've got a weapon now...!"

"Too many walkers, not enough time!" Tom concluded, "Molly, give me the weapon, it might help me out"

"Break Hilda and I'll break you, just a warning" Molly added with a cheeky grin, holding out Hilda in the palm of her hand, as Tom took her prized weapon from her.

"Tom, you don't have to do this" Maria muttered, as the walkers drew ever closer.

"No, I do" Tom counter argued "I'll be fine Maria, I'm accustomed to this type of thing. Just make sure the rest of the group get to the church. If you keep on running they won't be able to swarm you and at the worst you'll get a few bites and scratches, which aren't lethal now. Keep quiet and keep fast, I'll meet you in the church"

and with that he bellowed "HEY OVER HERE!" as a dozen walkers turned to face where he was located, whacking Hilda on the nearby wall it created a clanging, that sent walkers swarming after the ex-military man. Tom distanced himself from the others and ran down a separate corridor, the group looked after him sadly many wishing him luck as he left a clear path for the group to run through.

"Okay people, quiet and fast, let's go!"

and with that Luke (with Molly closely by his side) lead the group into the hell that awaited them.

* * *

_"Okay Luke, promise you won't tell anyone that" _

_"I won't, I promise!" _

_"Pinkie Promise?"_

_"Pinkie promises are for girls Nick, men like us have better ways of keeping promises!"_

_At 10 years old, Luke and Nick were hardly men just yet, but Luke's stubborn way of thinking had made him promise things in a much more "manly" matter. He grabbed a small pin from the ground next to him (he and Luke were cramped around in Luke's room, covered in sleeping bags and just having finished watching an horror film, rated way above their age, yet neither of the boys were scared by it in the slightest). So as a form of entertainment they decided (at 2 in the morning) to play truth or dare and since both were too tired to dare, they stuck with truth. Hence Nick admitting he wet the bed the other night, was something he didn't want Luke telling anyone else. _

_"Here" Luke said brightly as he swiped the pin across the palm of his hand, leaving a small cut behind. _

_Before Nick could pull away, Luke repeated the process on him._

_"Ow!" Nick winced, glancing at the new cut on his hand, "Luke that hurt!"_

_"Don't be a baby!" Luke taunted, before he grabbed Nick's bleeding hand and pressed it up against his own._

_"We're blood brothers now!" Luke announced "I saw it in a play once, and as blood brothers, we can now take a blood oath. Listen to me, I Luke Harris, am making a blood oath so whatever Nick tells me I will keep secret until I die, okay now it's your turn" _

_"Erm..." Nick muttered "Well I Nick Duran, am making a blood oath so whatever Luke tells me, I will keep secret until I die" _

_"Great!" Luke mused, "Now we can never tell anyone else our darkest secrets... or else the blood oath will break! Or if you make a blood oath with someone else!"_

_"I don't think I will" Nick mumbled._

* * *

"...I Stephanie Clarke am making a blood oath, so whatever Nick tells me, I will keep secret until I die" Stephanie inhaled then and looked around to see that no one had overheard her, before she turned back to Nick.

"Okay, that felt weirdly childish but good in a way" she muttered to her husband "So now tell me, what did Luke do? What's so bad?"

Nick inhaled and plunged straight into his story...

* * *

Insanity.

That was the only word that could describe the chaotic scenes outside of the central Hub at that time. Clementine could see nothing but death and destruction around her as walkers littered the surrounding area. People were screaming, some were dying. People who weren't at the wedding reception were asleep in their homes and were only just becoming aware of the threat, as they ran from their houses screaming, or were already barricading themselves inside.

"We should have watched the walls" Clementine suddenly heard Edward mumble from behind her, "We should have sent someone out to maintain the walls!"

She turned around to find that Edward wasn't even looking at her, but was looking directly ahead of him, a single tear rolled down his face.

He was gazing at where walkers were tearing his parent's cadavers to pieces.

"Edward..." Clementine muttered, "I... I'm so sorry"

"I should have been with them, not with you guys" Edward stated blankly, taking a absent step towards his already dead parents.

"There's nothing you can do man!" JJ shouted, holding Edward back, as he tried to get the shell-shocked boy to move forward with the group, Edward buried his head in JJ shoulder, as the kind hearted blonde boy gave him a shoulder to cry on.

"Clem, keep next to me!" Luke shouted from a point ahead of him.

Clementine was about to move, but then she heard a scream and felt herself get knocked out of the way by someone.

"CRISTINA!" Violet roared.

Clementine had no idea what the hell was going on, it was too dark to see anything. She heard her British teacher shout something, as Violet approached her. The group had suddenly seemed to separate in the madness as Clementine found herself surrounded by strangers. Trying to keep calm in this situation her eyes locked on the distant outline of the church, all she had to do. Was keep quiet and...

She tried crawling through the mud, but then there was a loud hissing sound, like a firework, but Clementine knew it was something else.

"EAT THIS, YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" Came the mad howl from (who she recognised) was Robert Allen.

"NOOOOOO...!"

BOOM!

An explosion lit up the night, as a ton of smoking, dismembered bodies flew past Clementine's head. Some hit the ground and continued to groan in agony. Whoever had been caught in that explosion whether walker or human, had felt the consequences.

The pitches of the screams only grew louder, the chaos more intense, as Clementine desperately searched for any of her group. Her eyes finally locked on the red faced form of... of course it had to be Edward Fyre.

"JJ! JJ! WHERE ARE YOU!?" He was yelling out into the night.

"EDWARD ARE YOU OKAY!?" Clementine asked, managing to get by his side. She could see his face was white in fear and that his eyes were still bloodshot, as he turned to face the girl he had a crush on for so long.

"Clem" he muttered "Why is any of this happening! It's not fair!"

"I know, I know" she reassured him "Edward... I saw my parents as walkers when I was 9! and I know it sucks! It fucking sucks okay! But you've got to keep on moving now, you can grieve later, now come on!"

and with that she managed to lift the burly boy to his feet. Edward gazed down at her and it that moment time seemed to stand still, as Edward admired her bright eyes and hair... and God he just loved everything about her!

"You're amazing Clem" Edward announced loudly and clearly, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him. As Clementine felt herself seize up on the spot.

"Clementine, kiss me" Edward begged.

"Edward, not now!" Clementine protested.

"Come on!" Edward pleaded "Clementine I like you! I always have done! Just let me kiss you!"

"Edward...!"

She struggled in his grip, but he suddenly pulled her closer and dived in for a kiss, which he planted on Clementine's cheeks. The African american girl, struggled harder to avoid her lips meeting his own. While Edward (lost in grief) was now fully focusing on the advice TT had given him. Clementine had to want him now, he had been through more than enough tonight! He had lost his damn parents! He wouldn't be a pushover anymore! He would be assertive and have that one tiny luxury of kissing the girl he knew he loved. One kiss wouldn't bring his parents back, it would only make him feel a tiny bit better.

But he needed comfort dammit!

"Clem... please..." Edward gasped, between his slobbery kisses, managing to plant one on Clementine's cheeks and several on her forehead, as Clementine kept him from landing on her lips.

"Edward... just...stop!" Clementine was now begging of him, she wanted to tell him she wasn't interested. But everything was so chaotic right now she couldn't utter a word. There had just been an explosion, the group were separated, she couldn't see a thing, walkers were all around them and despite all that trouble. She was struggling to break out of the grip of a boy who loved her. Couldn't he do this later!? Why now!? They had other things to focus on, he just needed to realise that!

She struggled harder, but Edward's grip only grew tighter, as she thrashed wildly...

"HEY!"

An angry bellow, Clementine had never been happier to hear Luke in her life.

However that was also a bad time, for Nick, Stephanie and JJ to come running to the scene, to see what happened next.

Thinking something was attacking Clementine, Luke furiously grabbed Edward by the neck and shoved him violently to the left. As Clementine breathed a sigh of relief, however they also all saw Edward fall straight into the path of an approaching walker, it only took one bite...

and a chunk of Edward's neck lay it's in mouth.

Edward gazed up at the sky, his eyes wide and shocked as everything stood still for a second. Clementine, Luke, JJ, Nick and Stephanie all frozen in place at what they were witnessing, and then they couldn't see Edward anymore. As a dozen more walkers closed in on a downed prey and tore him to shreds. The ripping of his flesh and chomping of the walkers, as they stuffed Edward's organs into their mouths.

He didn't even scream, that was the most haunting thing. He was just shoved to the side and ripped to shreds within seconds.

"Oh shit..." Luke groaned "Oh shit... shit... shit..." he cursed himself in increasing frequency, as he held his head, in his hands.

"Luke" Clementine whimpered.

"EDWARD!" JJ roared in disbelief, he raced forward, but Nick whipped his arm around his waist.

"There's nothing we can do now kid!" Nick shouted "We gotta get to the church!"

"NO!" JJ howled "HE COULD STILL BE ALIVE AND YOU'RE LEAVING HIM! YOU'RE LEAVING HIM TO DIE!"

"Stop struggling!" Nick begged of the wild blonde boy, "Stef help me out here!"

As she did help restrain JJ, Nick looked up at where Luke gazed back sadly at him and that's when the link hit Nick like a ton of bricks.

How Luke had killed Edward, it was exactly the same to how he killed Nick in his previously life.

and Nick had received his vision, just before the same fate had befallen Edward Fyre.

"Come on man" Nick told his friend "We've gotta go"

Luke looked down to the ground at Clementine, as she whimpered "Luke... it was an accident, don't blame yourself for this..."

"MURDERER!" TT suddenly spat at Luke, with wild eyes he kept spitting the phrase at Luke.

"MURDERER! MURDERER!" He shrieked "AND YOU!" He turned to Clementine "YOU COCK TEASING WHORE! YOU LED HIM TO HIS DEATH! THIS IS YOUR FAULT AS WELL! BOTH OF YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!"

"JJ! IT DIDN'T HAPPEN LIKE THAT!" Clementine screamed back.

"LYING WHORE!" TT roared in response "YOU KILLED EDWARD BECAUSE HE WAS MY FRIEND! YOU ALL HATE ME! YOU HATE JJ AND YOU HATE ME AS TT AS WELL!

"What the hell are you on about kid!?" Nick panted struggling to hold JJ in place as he dragged the deranged boy, towards the church which was slowly growing larger in his vision.

"MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER! was the chant that rang in Luke's ears. Luke sadly looked down at Clementine, there wasn't a need for words, but merely a quick hug between the pair of them. Before they followed the raging JJ and the shocked Nick and Stephanie towards the church...

* * *

"So you're telling me Luke killed you in a pre life, just like he did with Edward" Stephanie concluded, as Nick nodded and looked back at his best friend.

"It just makes me think" Nick muttered "Maybe we're just destined to repeat our fates and no matter how many chances we get, we're always going to doom ourselves. Maybe the timelines aren't being erased Stef, maybe we're stuck in sick time loop or something like that..."

"Don't say that" Stephanie whined "Nick, we've been through enough in the past couple of hours, without all of this to add on top of that".

The young woman then leant her head against Nick's shoulder and mumbled "Anything else I need to know about Luke"

"Not really" Nick lied.

"Well that's a scrap of good news" she muttered.

But deep down Nick was worried out of his mind for his old friend, he had repeated an old mistake and gotten Edward killed. Now JJ had gone delirious and he certainly wasn't going to forgive Clementine or Luke anytime soon. They were trapped in this church with thousands upon thousands of walker's outside, Violet needed medical attention urgently and who knew how Eddie would react, if the redhead died. Not too mention all Nick knew Luke better than anyone. If Tom was too fall, than Luke would be their leader and if this hell carried on then Luke would break for real this time.

He lost Jane, but he managed to get through that, because he had a store full of people too lead.

He lost Bonnie, but he managed to get through that, because he had a group to lead in Wellington.

But now things were different, Luke kept his darkest secrets so close to himself, that he never mentioned them to anyone other than his best friend. Nick never spoke a word, hence the cult never found out and neither did the Domesday report. But now Nick just had a gut feeling ,that if Clementine, Molly, himself, Stephanie and the others were going to get Luke through this. Then they needed to know everything.

He needed to help his blood brother.

"Well" Stephanie mused, breaking his train of thought "Married life huh? You said bring it on and it's barely been a half a day and look at us"

"I got told it was pretty rough" Nick mused in light humour "But this is ridiculous"

The couple laughed after this comment, before Stephanie fell silent once again.

"I'm glad we didn't give up though" Nick remarked "Sarah, Lilly... they would have wanted us here. We're needed here"

"We know what AJ really did and now we know about Luke too" Stephanie mumbled "Nick, we need to help this group in anyway we can"

That was a promise the newly-weds, were planning on sticking on for the moment. They didn't really have any other plans, all Nick knew at the time being is that he was going to try and protect his wife and have his best friend's back. He could only do the very best he could and he prayed in that church, that his best...

Was enough to get them all through this.

But while the new couple pondered on that, others had plans on what to do next.

Tom, braced himself and stood up tall. They could sit in this church and wonder on what to do forever, or they could move on and live and now was the time to get moving once again. Survival was going to be difficult but if they could escape Wellington...

Then he could see a brighter sunset, on the horizon for them all.


	23. Lying Little Leader

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait (work got on top of me) but I'm Back again! Poll will be closed by the time next chapter comes around, so if you haven't voted for your favourite character already, go ahead and vote away. So far Clementine takes the lead with 4 votes, Luke,Nick,Rebecca,Luis and Terri are all the runners up, all with 2 votes each. While Stephanie, Molly, AJ, JJ, Miss King and The Wolf himself take up third place with 1 vote each. and all in last place with 0 votes are Eddie,Violet, Tom and Maria.**

**Once again thank you for the reviews last chapter.**

**Chameishida- I see you liked the Luis/Clem scene then from chapter 21, along with the Terri-Clem interaction as I brainstormed for a while to try and imagine how those two would interact with one another and what was written in C21 was the final result. However expect more interactions from them in the future and as for Molly/Luke I thought Nick/Stef in this fic are a more serious minded couple so I'd thought Molly/Luke would be more humorous, to contrast with that.**

**For C22, yeah I feel bad for Luke in NGB he didn't start to play a massive part until past the half way point, then shit starting to get heavy for him. GTR from start to finish was basically me throwing every sort of hell imaginable at Luke's character, yet he survived to RTR. Where (for the first 10-15 chapters) he lay pretty low and in the background, but now the intensity is increasing Luke will once again find himself pushed to breaking point. However he still has Clem, and Edward's death is the first sign of how far Luke will go to protect her in this fic. Don't worry about reviewing late as I understand life gets busy at times, so take your time.**

**ShatteringSoul- Yeah I'm experimenting with the format at the time being, It will carry on throughout this chapter before things get back to normal/present day narrative in next chapter, but I'm elated that structure wise they succeed in telling the story. Luke accidentally killing Nick (I can confirm) and also to answer Chameishida that Luke did lie to Clem and Jane during the canon events of Episode 4 and in Clem's pre life. As he lied to the others in GTR in his pre-life so it's character trait that reflects the dark side of his character (get the reference? Episode 7 was awesome!) but the idea that Luke may have killed Nick in a fit of frustration and then having deal with the guilt of it afterwards, was a theory in my sadistic head for a long time. Due to how Luke acted in Episodes 4 and 5.**

**Also characters such as Scott, Lizzie, Edward, Brandon were killed off to show that tragically (and with these four being teenagers in their prime) how their lives can be cut short, when they had so much potential. Both character wise and with plots that could go anywhere. I sometimes felt like I could have rounded their stories off a little better, and felt like they had completed an actual arc of development. But with so many characters being brought in, some characters had to go. Anyway ramble over, thank you for your review! **

**ffapathy- Once again thank you for your detailed review, I'm glad you made the comparison between old Nick/new Nick, as Nick in the canon is never seen speaking to Sarah, although it's apparent he would go to protect her, there was no emotional bond that built up between the pair. Hence with himself and Luke in danger and injured, irritated himself (with his short fuse) I imagine he would say those things.**

**thedomdotcom- Thanks for reviewing once again, it seems Chapter 21 has impressed a lot of people including yourself, so I'll try to keep on doing what I do best in developing characters.**

**Also for the whole timeline thing it is something... there's the canon timeline, Clem's pre life, Luke's pre life, the current timeline so that's 4 timelines I have to keep in check, so it's challenging at times but I have a plan in mind I'm sticking too and as for the second chance affecting the others and Molly, is something that remains to be seen...**

**and finally AquaDestinysEmbrace thanks for your review and now onto a tom-centric chapter! I figured he could use some development, so here is chapter 23, hope you enjoy!**

**Also zombieslayer995, your OC Jason will be introduced this chapter, his back-story may be changed slightly. **

* * *

_"TO THE LEFT! TO THE LEFT! TO THE...!" _

_BOOM _

* * *

The quick flashback that replayed in Tom's head, cropped up as randomly as it always did. The short burst of trauma had nestled in his nightmares and on the odd occasion it would leave him stunted for a few seconds, while up and about. Yet Tom shook his head and proceeded, to run down the corridor of the central hub. With several lumbering corpses, limping after his fleeting form, aware of the growing amount of growls, hisses and moans, this led him to clutch onto that ice pick within his grip, just in case one of them did manage to get to him.

But really, what was there to fear?

If Tom was being completely honest, walkers didn't scare him at all. It had been 6 or maybe 7 years since the dead first rose, (Tom had lost count) but the undead had failed to terrify him as they did everyone else. The dead were rising... zombies! Walkers! Lurkers! Whatever you wanted to call them, they were a cartoonish concept in Tom's, battle hardened, brain and even seeing them for real, Tom expected to feel something, but there was nothing. The dead were rising, their guts were hanging out, these things were once people... all of that was just lost on him since Day one.

In present day, their ability to bite him was also ineffective, was there any reason Tom should fear walkers at all now? Why else had he volunteered to draw them off, while everyone else ran for safety? He would find a way to escape them, he had already planned ahead, there would be a window ahead in any room that he'd be able to crash out of. There simply had to be, the central hub had several windows (many of them still shattered by the bullets, that bounced off the large building, during the last riot a few weeks ago) it would be easy for him to escape.

Besides, he always survived.

Tom wasn't a cocky individual by nature, it was just a fact. There had been so many times he expected to die. The riots here in Wellington, Plan X and almost every day in the woods. He and Tim would run out of food... they'd be caught off guard and killed savagely by bandits... a walker would bite one of them in neck...when he led the group, they'd form a mutiny and turn on him... the cult would slaughter them, when they got caught... the list was endless. Yet here he was reminiscing on it now, while running for his dammed life.

The group he wanted to lead, dying one by one while he simply survived. He had failed them, he failed to protect his brother from Wellington. But the reason Tom was lamenting on his failures now, wasn't because he was thinking about the horrors that would befall his tiny group, if he didn't escape this place.

No, he knew for a fact he would be escaping this place. He was thinking about this now, thinking about it deeply, because he knew he'd be clashing with that man... Luke when they reached the church, over the position of leader. From what Tom gathered Luke was a much warmer man, than he would ever be, that fact worried him. This wasn't a community anymore, there wasn't a thousand other people to turn too. No strangers to blame, no anonymous Andy's of advice, no romantic rendezvous with some mystery partner.

When the group reached that church, they were trapped with each other.

and most likely would be, until they all met their demises.

The wall was down, the dead would surround them all. They could only turn to each other, speak to each other, live with each other in confined spaces.

and owing from experience, a group of people confined with one another for a long period of time, would lead to nothing good in the long run. Someone attempting to kill Wilbert, the attempt to escape the once, the changing of leaders, the tension that that threatened to boil over. Every day he and his group stumbled onwards attempting to fruitlessly find Wellington.

They were pro's and con's of survival in a contained group, although Tom could already see the major flaws, they were amplified this time around. Because the first time around however much he and his twin brother, would fight over the position of the leader, but they'd never, ever go as far as too kill one another. (Unless it was a mercy kill). However the point of the matter was, he had actual _family_ in his old group. His brother, the charismatic, connoisseur who could lighten any moods and control Tom's growing anger and frustration by the day (whether it be Wilbert being Wilbert, Ana and Maria's bickering, Brandon being rash...) and Tom could connect and help his brother.

The other 8, he had come to know them all and regard them all as his family. Wilbert was an asshole, but Tom always sensed he had gained the old man's respect. Brandon was thick headed and certainly not the brightest bulb in the box, but the burly brother of Terri, had a heart of pure gold. Oscar was likeable and something of a joker without even having to say a word to prove it, not to mention himself and Ana could look after themselves. Ana herself was the best fighter Tom had ever seen and could also be relied on. All of them and his brother had been taken by this fucking shit-pit of a community.

Leaving him with Luis, Maria, JJ and Terri. 3 teenagers and a middle aged mother, that's what remained of his group. 4 of them. He may have led and had the respect of four people, but in this case, what scared Tom was the fact this time around. He would have much less respect and authority with this group, Luke's group seemed alright, but Tom wasn't one to sociable with them all that much.

The bottom line of Tom's troubles?

He was going to be trapped with a larger group.

A group, that didn't know him.

A group, that probably weren't going to like him.

He barely scrapped through the wilderness the first time around.

This time around, he honestly doubted his own chances and that of his group.

As he sprinted into a bathroom (the one Stephanie hid in, when the riot was in full swing) he saw his exit passage of a shattered window, directly in front of him.

"Here we go again" Tom muttered to himself, holding his breath, as he seemingly breezed out of the building. The middle aged, African american man had been in this position before, always running. He had always been running from trouble...

Back in his army days.

Back in the group.

He grimaced as his large form, hit the grassy plain below him, a painful memory causing him to wince, rather than the physical impact of the fall itself.

Back in the group, he honestly had to wonder how stupid they all were sometimes.

His beloved group, he suspected a certain blonde haired girl may have picked up on it. They may have all done, but not said a word.

Because wasn't it funny, how Tim said if Tom didn't find Wellington within the next week, he'd take over as leader and merely, the very next fucking day, they came across Wellington? Tom had been leading his group in the wrong direction for so long, he knew where Wellington was. He knew the group were close to it the whole time and had kept them close to Wellington, in case worse came to worse and they needed to go to the community.

Tom had deliberately kept his group away from Wellington, for as long as possible.

Until his leadership was threatened and with tensions high, he had to give in.

He wasn't the fighter.

_He was the runner._

* * *

_ "LUKE! LUKE!"_

_Screaming. Clementine's screaming and she was calling out for him! Luke looked around wildly, his eyes quickly adjusting to the scene around him._

_It was bright, far too bright and intense and a low roar and snapping and crackling behind him indicating a fire. A large fire, in fact he found himself, dragging his scorched body across dry yellow straws on the ground. Hay... crops... fire... a field... grey-ish smoke clogging his vision, so he couldn't fully tell exactly where he was._

_"I'M OVER HERE CLEM!" Luke bellowed, into the infero "CLEM I'M OVER HERE! I'M OVER HERE...!"_

_He kept on shouting this, he heard Clementine's replies get forever louder, she was getting closer to him. It was urgent that she found him soon, he couldn't stand up and run to her, his body had been burnt. His clothes were still smoking and his hands that he placed in front of him were still ruby red with burn marks, but he was also aware of the fact his leg had been broken. It had cleanly broken by the knee, rendering his ability to run on both legs, useless. So now he had to crawl through this god-damn field and find Clementine, before..._

_Before they found him first._

_So they did, his shouting and the general roar of the fire had drawn them to the scene. As Mousetraps would lure unsuspecting mice to their deaths._

_However as the walkers, stumbled towards him (seemingly appearing out of the orange haze, all of a sudden) caught Luke off guard. He was injured and defenceless and the blank, soulless eyes of these hungry corpses. Were actually going to find a feast in the fire._

_Panicking now and with even more cold sweat developing on his skin, Luke turned back towards the fire, he couldn't go back... but then he couldn't go forward either..._

_Then he heard the groans, inches from behind him._

_"CLEM!" He roared as he felt about three walkers fall on top of him, as they made instant work of biting down on his flesh, in agony, Luke clenched his eyes shut..._

* * *

"AH!"

Bolting upright, Luke leant forward, realising his vision was no longer filled with fire or walkers and that he was merely gazing down the floor of the church. Inhaling deeply, he wiped his forehead which was covered in cold sweat. What he had just experienced now... that wasn't a dream like his others. In the others he was aware of the fact he was dreaming, whereas that dream felt more natural. He just went with the flow of it, although what it foretold wasn't comforting to him in the slightest.

_What was foretold._

Luke sighed, rubbing his tired eyes as he came too. It took him only seconds to realise that, what he had experienced was a brief burst of his future. These visions had come through to Clementine and now they were finally happening to him too. All the visions Clementine had gone through, they had all come true, so he was going to be attacked by walkers in a burning field, at some point.

Could he prevent it?

Probably not, but neither of Clementine's visions had killed her. But both seemed to occur after (or just before) Clementine found herself seriously wounded, with her life hanging in the balance. (Before she was shot by Kenny and the cult arrived and after Sarah pushed Clementine off the cliff). So now Luke could expect a grave injury in the near future. Yet to his surprise, he wasn't stressing about this more than he thought he would be. He was going to get injured... in a burning field. That was a fact, but he couldn't keep on stressing about that. At the moment he couldn't see any fields in sight and he was more concerned about the state of his group at the time being (and later on). Why was that fire ablaze? How did he get injured?

"You've gone quiet"

Luke whipped his head around, to find Molly leaning on a nearby pew, a small smile etched onto her face. Hilda lay within her clutch, with tons of dried walker blood lay caked on the dull silver of the aged icepick.

"Ain't I always?" Luke muttered in response, as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Not a few moments ago, kept murmuring Clem's name under your breath" Molly explained to him.

"I must' ave been dreamin'" Luke grumbled.

"Something troubling no doubt" Molly summarised, as Luke looked down at her. Despite her blindness, all he had to do was gaze at the new bandage wrapped around Molly's eyes, to know that her would-be-look. She could see right through him completely, her lips lay in a defiant straight line, that demanded a further explanation to Luke's grumble.

"Remember those visions Clem said she had" Luke began to describe, as Molly nodded.

"So the mind-fuck, time travelling, shit has returned?" was all Molly needed to say. His silence was as good enough, as a nod for Molly.

"I had a vision like that" Luke muttered "Strange shit, I didn't see anyone else other than Clem. But I was calling for her and I was stuck in a burning field..."

"Grim" Molly mumbled "But hey, let's not make that a reality" she mused, with a bright smile beginning to light her features.

"You don't want to waste your second chance, country boy"

As she said this, a passing Luis swept a quick glance at Luke and Molly. Luke and Luis' eyes met for a second, his single brown eye, radiated with suspicion after what he overheard. Taking his time to gaze back at him sternly, Luis eventually dropped his gaze and proceeded to walk down the aisle, between the pews. Luke guessed that kid was probably looking into things too much. The second chance thing was a secret shared in-between their group only, trying to explain it too outsiders would have been near-enough impossible.

"Yeah" Luke muttered back to Molly, who was unaware of Luis' suspicions.

"Anyway, came to wake you up because the group are having a meeting" Molly informed him "You better haul ass over there, you being our leader and all".

Luke couldn't formulate a response to this, last night he had murdered an foolish (but innocent) teenager and he was going to end up in a burning field, injured. Where would the rest of his group be? Was it his idea to burn the field? Who was dead and alive at that point? and was it his fault, once again for that action?

If so, was he really fit to be leader?

* * *

Luke took his unspoken doubt to the front of the church, where he was lined up next too Tom and none other that Robert Allen. The now ex-editor of the Wellington Weekly had suffered a series of scarring burns due to the events of the previous night. Trying hard not to itch the aching areas of his charred skin, the editor stood tall, as the rest of the survivors lay sitting in pews by the altar.

"OKAY THEN!" Tom finally bellowed "WE'RE ALL HERE NOW! I THINK THERE ARE SOME POINTS THAT NEED DISCUSSING!"

He took once glance around the group and it took a mere second, for JJ to bolt upwards and point a bloody finger towards Luke.

"KICK HIM OUT!" He bellowed instantly, causing Luke to wince on the spot and turning many heads in his direction. Before Clementine could find herself screaming in defence of Luke, it seemed Nick had beaten her too it.

"HEY KID!" He roared, causing many people near him to jump "LUKE DIDN'T MEAN TOO KILL YOUR FRIEND! SO SHOVE YOUR GOD-DAMN GRUDGE UP YOUR ASS! AND LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!"

JJ looked stunned by the wave of opposition he had received, the blonde boy shrunk into himself and began to chew on his fingernail.

"They think we're crazy" he muttered to the ground, (for everyone to hear) "They all think we're crazy TT"

"For wanting a bit of revenge?" JJ asked of himself "They hate us for that, they hate you now. They're looking at us, they're spitting at us...!"

"QUESTION!" Someone roared from near to the back of the pews, all heads to turn to find, a man who was sat by himself stretched out across the wooden bench. The grim look in his green eyes, indicated that he had seen more than enough of the world to understand the severity of the situation. (Some of the nameless survivors propped up on the pews, had that delusional mist clogging their vision. Whether that be down to fear or denial of events, was up for debate. But what Robert, Tom and Luke did know, is that by looking at this man, that he was a survivor).

"What is it!?" Tom bellowed back, as this mysterious new presence of a man, made himself known.

"Can we kick_ Him_ out?" the man snapped, jabbing his finger at a still bumbling JJ, who froze on the spot and looked up at the man with fearful, wide eyes.

"HELL NO!" was Tom's sassy reply, yet merely a second after he had defended JJ. Another woman shouted "But his right! That kid is not safe to be around!" and this led to one half of the church screaming to get JJ out of there. While another half defended him, but in JJ's muddled mind, something truly did snap just then. He didn't hear those people who defended him and why should he have bothered? They were only defending him to look good and convince themselves they cared about him, JJ didn't need their sympathies.

Ever since his parents died, he was destined to go crazy like this. His Grandfather was a poor carer for him, Wilbert had kept JJ alive and the old man had his moments. But TT had developed because of Wilbert's failures and with his granddad gone, he had no one to hold TT back. Edward seemed like the new, last hope for him. A true friend he could have made, but the group murdered him and now they were going to chuck him out there and kill him.

_They were going to murder him._

and he had done nothing to warrant such a thing.

He hadn't killed any of them, he wasn't responsible for any of them dying. JJ had simply gotten mad over Edward's death and shouted some meaningless hate, rather than speak to him. Apologize to him, or do anything... they had seen him wrestling with his dark side as TT and thought of him as mad and were now going to kill him. TT warnings had been right all along, JJ had been so foolish and too nice for far too long, TT was simply ensuring that they did not break.

They could all go to hell, TT was going to use them to his own amends, to ensure his own survival.

"P-please... d-don't..." TT whimpered, wiping away a few crocodile tears. The arguing fell silent as TT's transparent tears, echoed throughout the air of the holy building. Many faces softened with sympathy as TT wiped away mucus from his nose, and croaked;

"I'm... I'm scared, I got angry, I didn't mean any of that!" he wept "I've been stupid, please don't... don't chuck me out there!"

"It's alright JJ" Tom reassured him "Ain't nobody, killing nobody and nobody is leaving anyone behind" with this said, Tom puffed out his chest and turned to face the group as a whole.

"Listen folks!" he announced "Their are thousands of walkers outside, thousands! Wellington's been overrun and we got nowhere to go! So we stick with each other, I don't want any bullshit drama or tension! You got a problem with someone else, talk it the fuck out! Divisions now could be death of all of us!"

With that said, his steady gaze swept across the group, at first they landed on TT, as the blonde haired teenager wiped away the last of his tears.

"I'm sorry Luke, I'm sorry everyone" TT lied.

"Don't stress yourself over it kid, it's fine" Luke mused, with a warm smile spreading across his face. The burly man feeling as if a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Now he didn't have to worry about JJ (for the time being, but Luke would be keeping an eye on him, similar to Luis. In fact Tom's whole group seemed like people to keep his eye on).

"Well" Tom finally barked, after a loud enough silence had engulfed the church. Everyone turned to see who Tom was glaring at. It was the man who had started the commotion in the first place. Sprawled out back on the pew, glaring back at the ex-military man with a nasty leer in his eyes and a scowl disfiguring his features.

"What?" The man snapped back, "You want me to apologize, you're actually falling for those BS tears? You see this is why I don't do groups! You all get attached to other and by the time you realize a friend of your's is a fucking psychopath, who needs to be put the fuck down! His dick, is already half way down your throat!"

"What a charming analogy of the situation" Molly sarcastically grumbled.

"What's your name!?" Tom inquired of the mysterious troublemaker.

"Jason, if you're so keen to know it" the man replied.

"Jason" Tom called "I know you may have your concerns, but right now we need to get along with each other! You wanna live through this!? Huh!? Well do you!?" Tom's attempts to goad Jason into a heated and passionate response however were futile. The confrontational man, rather than shout back, muttered a simple "What fucking ever" and proceeded to sit back down on the pew. Crossing his arms over his chest, his body posture resembling that of a hostile turtle peering out of it's shell. Tom guessed this man was one of those cynical lone survivors, who was probably just leeching off Wellington while it lasted. This "Jason" was already going to be a bother for him and the group in general. His earlier fears about maintaining control and rising tensions in this now confined group, were already coming to light.

"Now that's out of the way" Robert announced, his voice was quiet, but it carried over to everyone in the church "Can we actually bring up, points that need discussing?!" he certainly seemed pissed off, that arguments between group members, had been discussed before more pressing matters.

"I guess so" Tom mumbled, as Luke nodded like a sheep, to move conversation onwards.

"First things first, how the hell do we get out of here?" Robert asked "The situation is people, we have enough food left to last us a day! A day! We have little to no weapons to defend ourselves with. We can't just grab a walker, with thousands of them are outside. We open the doors and try and let one in, than we'll be gutted by a thousand more! So... anyone have any ideas on what we're gonna do? Because the walker guts method, is clearly our only option of getting out of Wellington and getting around in general. But how do we get the walkers!?"

A short silence, followed this damming question.

"Someone could go out there" The headmaster (William Cecil) suggested. "You know, sacrifice themselves for the group, in the distraction, we could grab walkers and..." he finished there. A coy smile lighting his features, as his gaze rolled towards Violet.

"Dude no" came the unusually deadly voice of Eddie, as he shielded where Violet was sat slumped on a pew, with his arms and glared at anyone who dared agree with what the headmaster was saying.

"She's dying anyway!" Jason piped up once again, daring to face Eddie. As green globes found Violet's weakened form "There's no meds here, she'll die within a day or two. A week, if she's lucky without meds. and even then she too weak to walk! What are you going to do!? Carry her onto her back and through a fucking herd and hope you'll find meds somewhere?!"

"THERE'S AN DAMN FUCKING HOSPITAL NEARBY!" Eddie exploded, losing his usual cool "I AM GOING TO FUCKING CARRY HER THERE! AND I'M GOING TO GET THE MEDS TO TREAT HER DAMN WOUNDS AND THEN WE'RE HIGH-TAILING IT OUT OF HERE! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT!?"

"You really are, a complete fucking moron" Jason snarled from his seat, very clearly having a problem with that, before he continued his tirade.

"I'm making this loud and damn clear!" Jason shouted "I am not putting myself in danger, to go all the way to a hospital to get meds, just so Gerard Way over there, can get his dick wet, with that Lindsay Lohan look a like, for..."

"Who said you had to go!" Tom intervened.

"Well I figured, in a town this big and with it swarmed with walkers" Jason announced "That it would seem our best bet to travel in a pack together, rather than split up. If we split up we might not find each other again, ever thought of that Samuel L Jackson?"

"That... well he might actually have a point there" Luke murmured quietly, yet this was heard throughout the church.

Tom's appalled "What!?" of shock, was shared by many other people in the church. Eddie expanded upon it even.

"Luke what the hell!?" Eddie snarled "You're agreeing with that asshole!? You're happy with just leaving my girlfriend to die!?"

"I wasn't agreeing with that Eddie" Luke reasoned "I was agreeing on the fact, we stick together. We'll go to the hospital Eddie, I promise that and we're going to drag Jason with us, or else he can take his own chances".

"The latter option, is beginning to sound very appealing to me!" Jason retorted, letting his thoughts be known.

"Regardless, we'll need meds and supplies for the road ahead" Maria chipped up "So it's vital we get to the hospital and get the meds we don't have. We can then go around Wellington and collect what we need from people's houses. Before we head on out of Wellington".

"That seems like a plan" Tom mused.

"All words and no action, so far" Jason snarled.

"Yeah, well so are you" Nick snapped, an impressive move for someone usually quite slow witted. Nick felt himself flush with pride, as Jason went pink and flushed with embarrassment, not really being able to formulate a comeback to that.

With Jason subdued for the time being, Robert decided to press the matter of "That all sounds great! But we can't get from Point Z, without clearing Point A first. So has anyone got any other ideas!?"

"What about noise?" A woman suggested "We could smash a window and draw them all away..."

"Too many of them" Tom muttered, shooting her down.

"We could try something really loud" Rebecca suggested "Something that would really get the walkers swarming in a single spot! We could smash a window, have a group of us making a racket, while a second group sneak out and get us the walker guts".

"Smarter, but still full of risk" was Robert's conclusion.

"Is there any way we could... make some sort of rope system?" Luis contributed "You know like, smash a window and then rather than put ourselves in danger, send a rope down... and try and like... lasso a walker or something and pull them into the church through the window?".

"Where the hell would you get the rope from?" Robert inquired "We don't have any here"

"We have our clothes!" Clementine shouted, adding to Luis' idea "We could tie jackets, coats, shirts together and make some sort of artificial rope".

"Hmmm..." Robert hummed "Could be done, but even then, how do you lasso a walker!? and dragging one up, without a million more clinging onto the rope and breaking it? I mean, it's a safer plan, but it has so many holes..."

"I know how to lasso" Luke added very suddenly, as all eyes found him, "Look I know I sound like a stereotypical... farmer... like... country boy when I say this, but..."

"Get on with it!" Molly heckled.

"Well, back when I used work as a farmhand we had cattle that would run amok" Luke explained "Me and Nick would go horseback and lasso the bastards, just like they did in the movies! Except in real life, they tend to carry on running and you tend up with all sorts of injures, after they dragged you through the field with em..."

"You... you used to be an actual cowboy?" Stephanie asked of Nick, a disbelieving look on her face. As Luke continued his off the point, story about his long days as a farmhand.

"It's really not as western as Luke's making it out to be" Nick replied simply.

"Still, you lassoing things and trying to do things the John Wayne style..."

"Lassoed you didn't I?" Nick grinned, as he said it.

"I knew you were going to say that..." Stephanie mused.

"Ugh" was all AJ could groan from nearby. The 4 year old trying to tune out of the arguments and Nick and Stephanie smiling seemed like the perfect distraction. But now it was just turning gross.

"Getting back to the point" Robert muttered, sharply cutting across a now nervous Luke (Luke didn't know why he was so nervous all of a sudden, maybe because he was coming to realisation that he may have been making a fool of himself. In front of all these new strangers, who were looking at him as a leader figure. That damn vision must have disjointed and unnerved him, more than he previously knew).

"That plan sounds like it could go ahead" Robert complimented, "But we'll need more, anyone! Has anyone got any other suggestions...!"

"Well whatever the suggestion is, I know Hilda's going to have to do some dicing and slicing" Molly muttered, conversing to a nearby Clementine. "After all of course it would be Hilda who saves our asses. Saved mine a billion times, like last night as well. Must have cut through about 20 of the bastards with my beloved here..."

When Tom heard Molly saying this, he gulped loudly and flinched on the spot.

_It was right of him, not to tell her the truth._

* * *

"LOOK OUT!"

It was one of the most common things yelled out from the panicked populace of Wellington that night. The lumbering corpses that had been scratching at the seemingly invincible walls of Wellington for over a year, were now finally free to pick about their prey and fill their rotten stomachs, with all the fresh food they could sink their teeth into. Tom swerved past the corpses with relative ease, his eyes already locked upon where he could make out the form of Maria running on through the night and if Maria was there, then the rest of the group must have been nearby as well.

"OH GOD! HELP!" Came a sudden and familiar shriek of terror.

Tom whipped around to find that teacher, Miss King or something like that, crouched over on the grassy ground. She had obviously tried to crawl away from the central hub in her still somewhat drunken state. However it had seemed at least a dozen walkers had converged on her. Robert Allen was also nearby and was trying to shoot as many walkers as he could, the continuous bangs that emitted from his gun only drew more walkers towards him.

"CRISTINA!" Came a screech from afar, Tom caught a flash of red hair bounding towards the woman in distress.

and then it happened.

When Tom asked Robert later how he had attained it, Robert simply said a man had tried to use it, however he was devoured before he could take the pin off it. So Robert took it upon himself to throw the explosive device he had in his grip, unfortunately he didn't chuck it as far as he would have liked. Hence the device went off closer to him, earning him the charred skin he had in the present.

At the time, Tom heard Robert shout something, there was a "NOOOOOOO!" from someone, before the explosion blinded his vision. War instincts on high alert, Tom ducked to the ground and rolled over, as corpses fell like rain all around him. Whether they were walkers already, or just people unfortunate enough to be caught up in the explosion, Tom didn't know or care in those moments. All he saw was red, all he saw was the youthful eyes of fresh private, gazing back at him, widened in horror before the explosion tore that young man to shreds. Spraying Tom in bits of his blood and bone, he still remembered looking down at the private's still twitching leg, bathed in camo clothing...

"Fuck" Tom spat, trying to shrug off this painful flashback, wiping his eyes he proceeded to his shaky feet. He found that Cristina King had been blown back by the blast, but appeared unharmed, Violet Moore looked dazed and confused and was trying to get to her feet, while Tom quickly saw that several walkers were also following in Violet's footsteps.

"Hey, anyone there!?"

Tom turned around and almost collided with Molly, the owner of the pickaxe, planted in his fingers.

"I'm right here" Tom said, to let her know, so she wouldn't end up colliding with him.

"Tom, knew you'd make it" Molly mused, "But what the hell just happened, was that an explosion?"

"Yeah"

"Shit, I lost Luke back there, hope his alright"

"I'm sure his fine, but we need to get going to the church, just stay close to me" Tom instructed, he prepared to move, but to his bewilderment Molly coughed from behind him. Turning around once again, he saw that her arm was outstretched.

"What!?" he snapped.

She didn't say anything in response, the blonde woman merely made a gesture with her fingers. To Tom it looked as though she wanted something from him, but what could...?

"Oh Hilda!" Tom exclaimed, quickly passing, Molly's trademark weapon back to the woman who owned it. Molly grinned as her grip tightened around Hilda once again, she ran her fingers across her weapon and let out a mischievous grin.

"Glad to see she's in good condition" Molly complimented, as Tom led the way forwards.

"Just get ready to kill any..."

WHACK!

Tom hadn't even realised there was a walker approaching him, he turned around to see Molly pull Hilda from a walker's skull.

"Nice one" Tom complimented.

"Was it? Such a shame it had to die then" Molly remarked, before putting her hearing to it's best use once again and keeping her ears peeled for any sort of groaning that could indicate an approaching walker. Suffice to say, several of them were converging upon the battling pair. Bracing his bare fists, Tom swung his heavy arms towards the ugly face of what was once a teenager. Like the walkers he had punched in the central hub, this one fell straight on it's back. Allowing him to leap over the damned thing and crush it's skull, with a sickening crunch of his heel. Molly herself was like some rogue blind ninja, crouched low she kept her ears peeled and all senses on alert. She couldn't see them, but she could hear and feel them, as they approached her, the blonde woman (with the speed of an attacking rattlesnake) bolted up and struck her prey. Stomachs were slashed open and heads rolled across the ground, as Molly helped to clear the walkers encircling them, while Tom kept focused on keeping the road ahead clear.

"This all you got Wellington!" Tom bellowed, ignoring his aching arms as he used another well aimed punch to send another walker flying "YOUR BITES AIN'T SHIT NOW!" Tom knew he sounded cocky when he said it, but it was quite a simple fact.

He and Molly were kicking ass right now.

"FUCK YEAH! I MISSED THIS!" Molly roared in confident agreement, as Tom found himself liking this woman a hell of a lot more in those moments. He could tell the feeling was mutual judging by the way Molly's smile, gave him a sense of confidence and pride. These were the sort of people he wanted to survive with! These were the people he could motivate! As a team, he could lead them! The walkers would stand no chance in their fury, they were a force to reckoned with. Ploughing through the herd with ease...

But it was too much force.

In this scenario, many people would think Tom and Molly got too cocky and let their guards down. But no, the fact was they could easily dispatch these walkers and running on adrenaline and an instant display of teamwork, they were pretty much untouchable. But that was the issue, Tom knew he was heading towards Cristina and towards the church.

They forget about Violet.

She was stumbling nearby, her ears still ringing from the explosion, but she managed to slip free of the walker's grip. As she ran towards Molly and Tom, as she could hear someone nearby... but she didn't know who...

All Molly heard, was approaching figure. One who was groaning in pain...

Just like a walker.

Tom caught a flash of red hair in his vision, he turned around and saw Molly slice Hilda through Violet's stomach, before the unfazed blonde went onto slice the stomach of another walker. Violet had no idea of what had just happened, but she aware of herself being unable to scream. Her mouth was propped open in a perfect O of shock, as she felt torrents of blood leak from under the dress she was wearing. Her hands flew to her stomach when the spasms of complete agony began, she fell to the ground, as Tom leapt other another walker and cradled her in his arms.

"Oh shit... shit... shit..." Tom muttered under his breath, not liking the way, the dark stain was spreading so fast...

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" Molly exclaimed, instantly sensing Tom wasn't by her side.

Tom knew exactly why he lied, it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. But he needed Molly, if she lost her confidence now there was a chance she would be overcome with guilt and stop fighting. She needed to keep her motivated, regardless of the lies he had to tell and the potential threat Molly could have been. What happened to Violet was an accident. An unfortunate accident and Tom was certain Molly wouldn't do it again. They'd be in a bigger group next time, they'd be together, it would be easier for Molly to tell. They'd have a code or something like that...

"VIOLET!? SHE GOT INJURED BY THE EXPLOSION, I THINK SOME SHRAPNEL SLASHED ACROSS HER STOMACH!" Tom lied.

"Shit! We need to get her too the church!" Molly shouted "Do you think it's fatal?!"

Tom looked down at Violet's wound, he didn't know if the woman herself knew what had happened to her. If she did, than that would be a serious problem, but judging by her unfocused eyes and the mass of bodies around them. Added to the poor visibility of the night and with Tom having witnessed the event. He doubted Violet knew what had hit her. He could have left her there... but he wasn't one for abandoning people. Even though it seemed likely Violet's wound looked fatal, there was still the chance she could have been saved.

"IT WILL BE! IF WE DON'T GET TOO THE CHURCH!" Tom shouted, responding to Molly's earlier inquiry. Teaming up once again (and this time with Violet passed out in his arms) the duo managed to get through the herd. Picking up a white faced Cristina on the way, who looked like she wanted to vomit when she saw what condition Violet was in. Merely a minute later the four of them had reached the church.

They were the last to stumble inside, before the doors were closed and heavily barricaded, before hundreds and thousands of walkers. Encircled the old building.

This is where they were now.

* * *

"...SO WE'RE PUTTING THIS TO VOTE!" Came a bellow, that sucked Tom right out of memory lane.

Arriving at this church, seeing Eddie's face drain of all colour when seeing Violet in his arms. Watching as Rebecca and AJ tried to comfort the bearded man. Wincing at every time he had to repeat that lie he had told in front of everyone. Yet feeling a sense of righteousness in his heart, whenever he saw Molly share a smile with Luke or Clementine. Or being content in the knowledge, that Eddie wasn't glaring at Molly, or that everyone was not threatening to leave her behind because of her blindness.

Yet there was watching Maria, try to pitifully apply thin bandages to Violet's stomach. The sad, fore-boarding look in her eyes told Tom one thing and that's all he needed to know. He hated seeing JJ pace around, out of his mind and normal level of sanity at what had happened to Edward. He saw Robert wince at his wounds whenever he tried to move and imagined the pain he was going through at that moment. Tom had observed it all... but right now he had to drag himself back to the present and stop thinking about the bad things that had happened in the past.

But like his army days, he got lost in the bad old days sometimes.

"VOTE FOR ME TO BE LEADER! RAISE YOUR HAND!"

Tom looked up, there must have been some sort of vote for leader, going on. Shaking his head and getting back into the swing of things, he saw the majority of the unknown names in the church, vote for the ex-editor to lead them. Seeing as Robert had been most on point about all this and seemed to direct the talk to escape plans, rather than avoiding conflict. It seemed natural that people would vote for him, from an outsider's perspective.

"VOTE FOR LUKE! RAISE YOUR HANDS!" Robert roared.

Luke wasn't surprised to see that it was only his group he voted for him. He had admittedly been doing a piss poor job of being a leader so far and leading this many people, was simply a task to big for him. Molly's optimistic smile only added to his sense of sadness. She thought everyone was voting for him, yet Clementine's look of confusion and slight irritation, certainly reflected what Molly would feel later on.

"Don't put all your faith in me" Luke thought to himself "Please don't, I can't do this again"

He silent plea went unheard, yet he wouldn't be leader anyway. If the votes were anything to go by, yet he still knew what was happening in the near future. He was going to be stuck in a burning field and viscously attacked by walkers...

He made his mind up then. He couldn't be leader, but he knew what he had to do.

"VOTE FOR TOM! RAISE YOUR HANDS!"

Tom didn't really care if only his group voted for him (which they did). Robert could be leader in front of all these people. But in the long run, Robert was going to be a mere puppet leader. Tom felt sympathy for the man, he had lost his son in the last riot and must have lost his wife or girlfriend to the walkers a long time ago. Now Wellington had fallen he had lost everything he had helped to build. If you considered all of that and the fact he was living with a disfiguring injury (Tom knew how much burnt skin could itch and irritate you. He had been there before) then Tom had to question how much longer Robert would last before snapping completely.

He had heard about Robert's desire to be president, his re-population plan and now his snappish orders to get back to the main point. A constant sense of anger and paranoia was bubbling away inside that man and Tom knew (that for now) Robert was simply assertive. But he wondered if the man had lead a group before? He and Luke had done and knew full well how people could turn on you, make you paranoid and the massive sense of responsibility that rested on your shoulders. Some screwed up and suffered nervous breakdown's, some went mad, some got colder and colder and some simply turned psychopathic in order to cope with it.

The bottom line was, Tom didn't think Robert's tenure as leader would end well.

As Robert smiled at his victory and went to speak to many of the others who had voted for him. Luke went straight up to his own group.

"I can't believe they...!" Molly fumed.

"Save it" Luke muttered "Listen, you guys. I need to see you all in a few hours"

Eddie wasn't paying much attention, as he was still gazing at Violet. But Nick, Stephanie, Molly, Clementine, Rebecca and AJ leaned in with interest.

"What? Just our group?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, I need to talk to you all about something that involves all of us and none of the others" Luke instructed.

AJ looked puzzled, but everyone else got the gist. Eddie's head lifted a fraction, Nick gave Luke a knowing look, as he did, Nick turned to Stephanie and the pair of them exchanged a small nod. Knowing full well exactly what Luke wanted to talk about.

"I'll see you guys in a few hours then" Luke said "By the confession box you guys, I don't want the others to overhear"

They nodded to show that they understood, before Luke left them to their business.

On the other side of the church, Tom hardly seemed fazed by his defeat, Terri seemed to find him, before he found his remaining group.

"We'll be out of here by tonight" was all she had to say.

"It would be better if we had visibility when we escape" Tom muttered, glancing at the sun in the winter sky, past the stained glass windows.

"The others won't understand" Terri was now whispering to Tom, gesturing her head towards Wellington's residents in the church "They have to be... out of the way".

Tom saw her eyes lock themselves upon the headmaster himself, sighing to himself, Tom could hazard a guess at what Terri was planning, as long as it got them out of here as soon as possible, the better. Robert was a great speaker, but they all knew he didn't have a concrete plan.

So Tom was going to take charge. He felt his own eyes lock upon Violet Moore herself.

"You'll have business tonight too, won't you?" Terri asked.

Tom nodded, he had to be the leader they all needed. Even if they didn't acknowledge him, for the time being.

Violet Moore was dying anyway and Tom knew (for several reasons) that she was too risky to be kept alive.

While Tom and Terri braced themselves for what they were going to do, they were both unaware of the real threat. Everyone aired their thoughts in this church group, so it seemed. Yet there was one woman, apparently much more stupid than the rest who had done the wisest thing and keep quiet about what she had seen. She had seen what Molly had done and the lies Tom had told about it... she had to question whether she was safe in this group anymore.

"You know" Jason snarled, from where was sat next to Cristina King (the sceptic hadn't voted for a single person to lead them)

"Your group is completely fucked" he sneered.

"You have no idea" Miss King muttered back to him.


	24. Killer King

**A/N: Okay back again with another chapter, the poll has closed revealing the final results as...**

**1st- The Forever popular protagonist of this trilogy, Clementine scored the gold, with all six votes!**

**2nd- The Blood Brothers who have been with us since the start, Nick and Luke tied for runner up position with four votes each.**

**3rd- Everyone's favorite grumpy Mexican asshole and most popular OC on the list, Luis, scored the bronze with three votes to his name. **

**4th Originals, Mama Bear Rebecca and Comedic relief Eddie tie for fourth, along with badass Terri, all scoring 2 votes each. **

**5th The last of the originals Stef, scored one vote, along with JJ/TT, AJ, Molly, Miss King, Violet and The Wellington Wolf himself **

**6th In last with no votes and seemingly no love is group leader Tom and the group's second mother Maria. **

**Okay thanks for the results guys and thanks for all the reviews last chapter! Forgive me but I'm feeling lazy today so I'll try to answer reviews again next chapter. But once again thank you all for your opinions and this chapter will hopefully push the plot onwards, although shit will the hit the fan next chapter for sure. Like Tom got attention last chapter, this chapter will focus on Miss King. Chapters may continue like this, shredding light on character's I feel need some further development/backstory, let me know what you think about it and if you like it, ask what you want to see next etc..**

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

_A sigh escaped the lips of one of the cultists, she was fed up of simply standing here and trying to look intimidating, in the droves of walker skinned people enclosed around her. For a start her legs were searing with pain, secondly she couldn't even see what the hell their leader was doing. Or where the hell he was meant to be. Thirdly where the hell was she? She wasn't one to pay attention to names and locations and now she had been simply ordered to stand here, in some sort of mass circle around the target location._

_But all Cristina King could see was a forest and the back of her allies' heads._

_The silence encompassing the cult members was absolute, a breeze rolled up as the distant sounds of their leader, bellowing something through a megaphone was heard. Cristina wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying, she had much more pressing matters on her mind._

_For instance, under this skin suit she was beginning to sweat horribly and then there was the fact, whenever she took this skin suit off, it would leave nasty rashes over the exposed areas of her skin. Maybe that's because some suits were still infested with maggots and God knows what else. Hardly surprising really, considering they were from corpses skinned like pumpkins. Yet she had never seen any of the cultists skin someone before, nor did she want to hazard at guess at how they did it._

_All she knew, is that she was bored, aching and wanted to complain to someone._

_"Don't you ever get that rash?" she began whispering to a woman next to her "You know, when you take off these..."_

_"Sssssh!" Came a harsh hiss, feeling her face burn a beet red colour, she turned to see where her boyfriend, Sam, had harshly cut her off mid-sentence. Despite everyone looking the same with these skins on, she knew his voice all too well. _

_"S-sorry Sam" she stuttered._

_He didn't mutter a reply, but it wouldn't be the last time Cristina apologized to her boyfriend. _

* * *

"...yeah well I think some things are better left unsaid!"

"Fuck off, you ugly prat! Freedom of fucking speech my arse!"

Jolting back into reality, with those words being the catalyst for her return to the church. Miss King blinked rapidly and wiped away a layer of sweat developing on her pale forehead. Her brown eyes focused on the scene in front of her, thankfully they were not referencing her. But it had seemed Robert and Jason had engaged in some sort of argument.

"You're upsetting people!" Robert snapped.

"So!? Be upset or be dead. Fuck if I care" Jason snarled "People need to hear the truth..."

"Truth!? You're preaching survivalist shit!" Robert exclaimed, now losing his temper as undamaged part of his face, turned as beet red as the irritated, charred skin on the other half of his face.

"You're upsetting and demoralising people!" Robert was now screaming, turning many heads in his direction "I have a group too lead! You need to be a part of that team effort! Either that, or you take your own chances!"

"Yeah" Jason taunted "I bet you'll really..."

WHACK!

Cristina jumped in her seat, as many surprised heads now fully whipped in Robert's direction. He had slammed his fist against the arrogant man's face, Jason instantly fell to the floor of the church.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up" Robert muttered dangerously, in a single breath. Jason didn't move from where he cradled his damaged nose in his hands, as Cristina (who was sat on the pew closest to the scene remained frozen in place) silence was now louder than ever. No one seemed to breathe... everyone awaited for Jason to fight back or say something. When he didn't, Robert moved away and began to mumble something to a middle aged woman standing nearby.

and like that, the tension in the church dispersed instantly. As a low rumble of chatter overcame the remaining survivors.

Miss King meanwhile watched Jason, as he slowly managed to get back onto the pew he was previously sitting on. Blood dribbled between his closed fingers.

"and so it begins" he muttered, shooting daggers at the back of Robert's head. Before he let out a series of low chuckles, his leaf green then suddenly locked on Miss King.

"What do you think, sweetheart?" he inquired of her (Miss King knew full well why he had come to sit next to her. Owing to the fact he spoke with a slight cockney accent, it seemed he found the most comfort with the only other British person here). Miss King gulped nervously to herself, her eyes quickly flickered from Tom, back to Terri, to Robert and to the bleeding man next to her.

What had just happened... she had to wonder if she had really snapped back to reality. As it seemed like history was repeating itself.

"I don't think much of it" was Miss King's safe reply.

Better silent than sorry.

* * *

_"We're getting nearer to Wellington" _

_Miss King's positive comment, seemed to wash over her boyfriend. In their tent he was busy sharpening some weapons, while Miss King looked on, tiredness lined her eyes. The cult were always on the move these days, following some random group as it was the leader's purpose. Walking, setting up their tents and then moving the next day. They only had a limited number of trucks between them and only the most respected members of the cult could get front row tickets, with this group they were following. _

_Many of the others (like herself) lagged behind, having to walk on foot. Watched over by elite members of the cult, who kept them banded together. Yet Miss King didn't agree or know what the hell was going on. All she knew is that (from chunks of gossip she had overheard) is that they were headed in Wellington's general direction. _

_"I said" Miss King huffed "We're getting nearer to..."_

_"So!?" Sam snapped, turning to face her. Behind his skin suit, Miss King could see how his eyes had developed a soulless black twinge. _

_"Well, we're... we're still leaving aren't we?" Miss King muttered nervously, that had been their plan beforehand. Simply agree to the cult's terms, survive with them and then make a runner for it to get to Wellington. Miss King could see no logic, actually agreeing and staying with people, who would have shot her on site for simply saying "No". _

_Sam let out some barking laughs at her comment._

_"Do you have any idea what's going on!?" he finally snapped._

_"Well... we're following a group right?" Miss King suggested helplessly. _

_"Why?" Sam inquired sharply._

_"What?" Miss King said_

_"Why are we following them!?" Sam asked, anger building in his voice. _

_"Erm... I... don't know!" Miss King shouted feeling herself get rather annoyed now._

_"and you wanted to become a teacher" Sam spat "Fucking useless, fat bitch" _

_Miss King felt herself flinch, this wasn't her boyfriend she was speaking too. Sam was a kind man. He was the 6 foot 5 basketball player, she had hooked up with while studying to become a teacher. The African american man was always a gentlemen to her, a gentle giant who always held open the doors for her and laughed lightly at her many misfortunes. He always complimented her curvy figure and brought her many gifts to impress her..._

_What the hell had happened to him? _

_"Don't talk to me like that!" Miss King felt herself snapping back to him, Sam's eyes narrowed in disgust as she showed this resistance. _

_"Why the fuck not!?" Sam questioned "You can go run if you like! But what we're doing here! It's right!" Sam was barking at her now._

_"Right!?" Miss King snarled "Sam, they threatened us at gunpoint! As far as I'm aware we're hunting down some group for no reason! What's right about that?!"_

_"DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING! YOU DUMB FUCKING BITCH!" Sam exploded, springing up to his feet and sending sharp weapons, flinging in every direction. Miss King gasped and fell backwards, as Sam continued to rant..._

_"ALL THE GROUPS ARE BAD!" He babbled "OUR LEADER IS TRYING TO PROVE TO US, THAT THIS CULT IS THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE! MAYBE IF YOU UNDERSTOOD THAT, YOU'D AGREE TO STAY TOO!"_

_"WE'RE WEARING PEOPLE SKINS SAM!" Miss King roared "WHAT THE HELL IS MORALE ABOUT ANY OF THIS! LET'S JUST GET TO WELLIN...!"_

_"Is there a problem here?"_

_Miss King's words died on her lips, one of the higher up cultists popped his head inside of the tent flap. A younger cultist was standing next to him, he must have been a teenage relative, or the man's son. Miss King felt herself gulp and her mouth go dry, hoping these cultists hadn't heard a word of what she was planning._

_Eventually Sam spoke up._

_"No, nothing's a matter" he mumbled "Just a lover's quarrel that's all"_

_"Very well then" the man replied, before he departed from the tent. Sam and Miss King waited in silence until they knew the pair of them were out of earshot. As Miss King opened her mouth to speak._

_"Honestly..." she felt herself wheeze._

_"Shut up" Sam mumbled, "I'm tired of listening to your shit, you could have got us... well me in serious trouble there" _

_"Oh boo hoo!" Miss King snarled "Who cares if..."_

_"Cristina, shut up and get over here" Sam suddenly said._

_"No, listen to me..." Miss King continued._

_She got no further, as Sam leapt across the tent and pinned her to the ground. A startled Miss King could only look up, she couldn't move her boyfriend, as he was far too strong for her. He let out a sadistic smile, as he began to peel off her skin suit._

_"Sam!" she suddenly exclaimed, her heart rate accelerating "Sam stop...!"_

_She got no further, as Sam slammed a powerful hand over her mouth._

_"I am so tired of your stupid shit Cristina" Sam muttered darkly "I gave you everything you wanted and you were never grateful, never! So now I'm going to take what I want and you are gonna be grateful! I'm gonna make you stay Cristina!" _

_Miss King couldn't formulate a reply (seeing how she couldn't anyway) but suffice to say what followed, severely traumatized her._

_and that was the last time she ever saw her boyfriend. She fled the cult that very night and by sheer dumb luck, found her way to Wellington (through the freezing blizzard) a few days later. _

* * *

While Miss King pondered over her untold history, on the other side of the church a discussion about mostly untold history was occurring between the members of Luke's reduced group, as they all sat or stood around the confession box. Luke paced around for a short while, waiting to see that nobody was around and that they wouldn't be overheard, finally he opened his mouth.

"Okay, we've all had this discussion before" Luke muttered "But, as stupid as this may sound how many of you have seen yourself die?"

For a few seconds the group were speechless, unable to understand or digest what Luke had said. But finally out of everyone Rebecca was the one who found her voice first.

"I saw myself" she muttered "I don't know how it happened, but I was with AJ and... and I was dying. I was sitting down and I know you were there Luke and you Clem. But Mike, Bonnie and Kenny we're there too and you we're having some sort of shoot-out with Arvo's Russian group and I just felt myself slipping away..." she finished there. Her head bowed as she remembered her demise in the snowfield with AJ in her arms. She looked down at her 4 year old son, who was asleep in her lap now, tears didn't sting at her eyes, but she certainly felt emotional in those moments.

"When did you have this vision?" Luke asked.

"Just before the first riot" Rebecca answered.

There was a hum of silence after this, as Eddie (despite his currently low mood) managed to pipe up "Hey, that happened to me too! Right after the riot!"

"What happened to you?" Luke instantly asked.

"Well, I was in Howe's, it was filling with walkers and I was shooting at the fuckers, but I fell and I saw... Carver".

"Carver?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, he didn't have any face, it was like someone had carved it in or something" he muttered, before he turned to Rebecca "See what I did? That pun right there".

"Yeah, I'm sure it will _carve_ itself into my memory" Rebecca drawled.

"Me and Nick had dreams like that as well!" Stephanie added "I was outside of Howe's though, before I got devoured, I assume that happened to you too Eddie?"

He nodded to show, he had indeed suffered a similar demise to Stephanie in a past life.

"In my vision" Nick piped up "It happened just after the wedding party..."

"I'm sure a lot of other things happened too" Molly couldn't help but interject, as Clementine and Eddie snickered at this comment under their breaths. (Eddie even offering her a high-five) after Nick had finished glaring at them (and after clearing his throat loudly, he continued with his story).

"Anyway, I was travelling with Luke when..." He paused there, sharing a knowing look with Stephanie, unsure of how he was going to continue this story.

"When!?" Luke himself pressed, Nick gulped it was almost as if his best friend needed to know the true answer. But it was then Nick decided he simply couldn't do it. He couldn't let Luke know what he had done in Clementine's pre life.

"and then a walker got me by the neck" Nick told them all "Took a chunk outta me, we got surrounded and Luke you had to run, to get to where Sarah was in that trailer park and I just remember falling onto a fence and then everything went black..." Nick concluded his story there and shuddered at his fate in a pre-life.

"So everyone's been havin' these dreams?" Luke asked of the group in general, when they all nodded, he let out a wide smile. "Alright I wanted to establish that. So we've all had these dreams!? and let me guess, they felt real. Like it was actually happening to you?"

a dozen surprised "Yes'!" from around Luke, gave him his answer.

"Hang on!" Molly interrupted "But I haven't a single dream like this, is this because I haven't been tangled up in all the pre-group, pre-life, time loop mess?"

"Most likely" Stephanie suggested "But maybe you'll have a dream soon, you could be connected in all this"

"Yeah, seeing as I can't see a damn thing, should be a pretty interesting dream" Molly quipped.

"What about AJ?" Eddie asked "The little dude's probably had weird dreams as well. But has probably been too frightened to talk about them"

"His four years old Eddie" Rebecca decided to remind him "He probably doesn't understand what the hell those dreams were. If he had them, that is".

"But we know he'd just see his death" Nick added "So we don't have to drag him into this, the kid's been through enough already, I mean after..."

He managed to shut up just in time, he was about to mention how AJ had killed President Schulz himself. But he decided airing that information in front of Rebecca right now, was probably not the best move. For himself, Stef and Eddie's personal safety.

Thankfully the conversation ploughed forward regardless of Nick's slip in words. As Luke himself coughed and announced; "Look people I know we could spend hours maybe days theorising on what the hell these dreams mean. Or why we're having them..."

"We think we figured that out" Stephanie informed him "I remember before I received my vision, I was grateful to Clementine for the great times we had in Wellington..."

"Thinking about it..." Eddie muttered, as he remembered, before he had fallen asleep how he too, was grateful for Clementine's presence.

"I was thanking Clem for helping me get back with Stef and saving my life" Nick summarised.

"So everyone was grateful to Clem, before they experienced these visions?" Luke muttered, a universal nod of agreement confirmed his answer.

"So here's what we concluded" Stephanie began to explain "Basically since we're grateful for Clementine for giving us this life. It's like... acceptance, Clem saved us from our old fates and having her around and appreciating all she did for us, is giving us these visions of what could have happened to us, if it wasn't for her" Stephanie concluded, as she drew an impressive silence from around the group.

"But, why are we having these visions now and not earlier?" Eddie asked.

"Just accept that part, as simply something that happened" Molly muttered "Same way I'm going to somehow accept, that Luke and Clementine, somehow got sent back in time with no scientific explanation"

"The dead rise" Eddie pointed out "There's no scientific explanation for that"

"Yeah but scientists made immunity from it" Molly pointed out "Hence there has to be some sort of science behind that..."

"Getting back to the point!" Luke decided to shout over Eddie and Molly's distracting conversation. "I wanted to clarify that everyone is having these dreams, now we know we all are. I need to tell you guys something, I had a dream too, two in fact".

"Oooh brace yourself, Luke's become the time travelling God" Molly muttered for all to hear.

"Don't be silly" Clementine said, finally deciding to speak up (having been silent most of the conversation) "That's clearly me, I mean you all appreciate me and all got those lovely visions. Making me the time travelling Goddess".

"I bet you've been getting smug over there Clem" Rebecca decided to say "Hearing all of this..."

"Of course" Clem confirmed, with a cocky smile.

"Moving onto my dream now!" Luke once again had to shout, to draw all interest back to himself, "In the first dream, I died after being shot, at the gunfight Rebecca saw in her dream. and the one in Clem's pre life and I think we all established in that timeline, Kenny, Clem and AJ survive. Get to a church, Kenny and AJ die and then Clem escapes and then dies in the cold, after being bitten".

"Thanks for putting it so bluntly" Clementine remarked "But yeah, I know that's what happened. That was my timeline"

"Then that doesn't explain my other dream" Luke muttered "Because in this one, I saved Clementine from walkers, but we were underwater and I felt myself drown, I died because I drowned. But... I don't remember any timeline where I drowned" he sighed to himself, as the group all leaned in. Clearly interested by his tale as he looked up at the group once again "I just wanted to ask, has anyone and I mean anyone! Had any dreams that don't match the events seen in either mine or Clem's timelines?"

There was a resounding silence around the group, but finally one small voice was heard gasping "Oh! Yes, I had a weird dream".

Everyone turned to see, it was Clementine who had said it.

"What was it Clem?" Luke asked, as Clementine cast back her memory and remembered the abnormal dream she had. Opening her mouth she began to tell her tale...

"I was in a playground" Clementine muttered "But there was a blizzard going on and Kenny and Jane were there. They were fighting and I had no idea why, but Kenny was on top of Jane and about to stab her and I couldn't control myself, but I felt myself shoot Kenny and then... that's how the dream ended".

Another silence followed this, before finally Luke coughed and found his voice.

"So we have your timeline Clem" Luke counted off on his fingers "Which people have seen, because they've accepted that you saved them. Then there's my timeline, in which we know what happens, but no one wants has seen visions my pre-life yet".

"From how you made it sound honey" Rebecca said "I don't think any of us want too, not that we're not grateful to you at all, it's just..." she finished there, as Molly piped up "Yeah the truth is, we all hate you secretly".

"I'm touched" Luke grumbled sarcastically, "But we know about those two timelines, but now me and Clem' are seeing a third one. One that shouldn't exist, one that should never have happened. I just want us to discuss this here, because if anyone has any more weird dreams. Come straight to me, I need to know all this. It sounds stupid I know, but I'm sharing this now, because... I saw something that's gonna happen, very soon".

"Like my visions in Howe's?" Clementine asked, as Luke nodded.

"Yeah like them Clem" Luke responded "I'm gonna be trapped in a burning field and I'm going to be attacked by walkers, that's all I know and that's probably what's gonna happen. You guys just take care, if anything starts burnin' in Wellington, don't come searching for me if I go missing, it's dangerous".

"We're going to anyway" Clem instantly muttered "and there's nothing you can say to stop us".

Luke sighed, but couldn't help but smile in unison. Of course it was Clementine he heard within his vision and he knew nothing was going to stop the teenager, from coming back for him.

"I can try though" Luke muttered to her, knowing full well he would never succeed.

"Well if that's all" Eddie said, drawing the conversation to a close (by the shifty look in his eyes, he wanted to get back to where Violet was lying on a pew nearby).

"That's it" Luke announced "But with all the dreams we're having and now my visions. I feel like as dumb and as stupid as it all is, we need to keep open about talking about all of this. Obviously our current survival is our main aim, but I can't help but feel as though this second chance stuff is important, so we need to keep updated. Alright, now everyone is free too..."

"Okay what the fuck, did I just overhear?"

No one knew what to say, or how to react, when a wide eyed Luis emerged from behind the confession box.

* * *

"Time travel?"

"Yes Luis"

"Pre-Lives!"

"Yes Luis"

"Pre-deaths!"

"Yes Luis"

"Seeing the future!"

"Yes Luis"

"Romantic night with me?"

"Jump off a cliff Luis" Clementine responded, with the same monotone voice she had been using for the past 15 minutes, in response to Luis' many inquires.

"Just checking you hadn't turned into an automated machine" Luis reasoned, before he turned to where Nick was sat by the usually bickering pair, "But I can't believe you too Nick, are going along with this shit".

"Luis we don't care what you believe" Nick snapped "But we know it's real. However you try telling the others, see how far that gets you".

"Suppose you have a point" Luis muttered "I wasn't going to anyway, I mean, where the hell would I start? Oh Hi Tom, yeah did you know Luke's group are actually time-travellers, who can also see visions of the future?"

"Yeah and we also went back in time Luis" Nick piped up "All the way back to your time with all your fellow pirates, with missing arms and eyes..."

"Don't bring up the pirate thing" Luis snapped.

"Arr" Nick said, mocking Luis meek attempt at being a pirate, just before the first riot unfolded.

"I could start with the marriage jokes and all" Luis warned "For instance from this point on, you'll never have a sex life"

"Going well so far" Nick mused.

"Thanks for the information Nick" Clementine droned.

"and you can say goodbye to all your money, or screws in this case" Luis muttered.

"Oh no, I think I'm getting enough screws all right man" Nick replied, a smile still highlighting his features.

"That was fucking horrendous" was Luis' deadpan reply "The amount of times I've heard sexual innuendo jokes, referring to our currency in this shit-heap has made me want to jump off a cliff".

"Yay!" Clementine mock cheered "So something will actually make you jump off a cliff?"

"Yeah that and a romantic night with you Clem, it would be horrible" Luis remarked.

Nick couldn't help but snicker into his hand at Clementine's misfortune, as Clementine felt her face descend into a scowl at the pair of them.

"I didn't think you were interested" Clementine snarled.

"I'm not" Luis replied "For a start what interests me, is annoying you. Not pleasuring you and secondly I wouldn't hit on 12 year old's..."

"15!" Clementine reminded him for probably the millionth time.

"Who cares" Luis muttered "Besides my brain is fried right now, rescue attempt actually works. A friend gets married because of it, then walkers break in. JJ's friend dies, he goes nuts for a bit, then I learn this second chance thing, I've been curious about, is actually some, bullshit time travel story..."

"You'd consider me a friend?" Nick inquired.

Luis merely grunted in response, clearly not wanting to be affectionate in any way, shape of form.

"What do you honestly make of all this though?" Clementine asked.

"Well I honestly don't know what to think" Luis muttered "I mean, Luke muttering it, it appearing in Domesday report and now all this... it all adds up. But it sounds like such... shit I can't..." he sighed there and rubbed his scalp. Nick muttered something about checking on Stephanie's head injury and scooted up the pew, leaving Clementine and Luis alone, as the pair of them, watched over the survivors in the church. As the sun setting outside, illuminated the colourful glass decorations across the walls, arches and stone floor of the old building.

"Were you ever religious Luis?" Clementine asked.

"No" Luis snapped "My mum is, but I never saw the appeal of it"

"Hmm..." Clementine hummed, continuing to stare at the stained glass windows. As she let everything she had experienced in the last 24 hours wash over her, trying to find some tranquillity in all this madness.

"Tell you what" Clementine suddenly piped up "You have to believe what you overheard, if Luke does actually end up in a burning field, being attacked by walkers, then you have to believe it all Luis. If not then you can call us all mad and dismiss this as a prank".

"Sounds good" Luis grumbled "Because I can't come to any conclusions right now"

"I sometimes just wish I could have done more" Clementine muttered, "What happened to Edward back there... I..." she sighed, she had to get this off her chest to someone, even if that someone happened to be an uncaring, emotionless Mexican teenager, with the emotional range of a matchstick.

"For fuck's sake Clem" Luis snapped "Getting big headed, because everyone _admired_ you back there? Because it was you who saved them all, from their horrible deaths. All because you were so brave and so strong and so beautiful..."

"Piss off" Clementine snapped, not really getting where he was going with this.

"You're not superwoman, so don't big yourself up so much" Luis snarled "I could have done more to stop JJ going crazy. I know I could have done, I could have been a better friend, like Edward was, but I'm not that nice. So yeah, I may regret things but I'm not going to dwell on it forever, so don't you start get melodramatic on me either, I've dealt with enough soppy bastards in the past 24 hours". Luis informed her, as Clementine found some strange form of comfort in Luis' insults.

"I heard something happened between you and your best friend" Clementine muttered, deciding to venture into Luis' past "I remember you mentioning something about it on the first day of school, is that why you're not nice? Or why you found it hard to trust people?"

"What's with the third degree?" Luis snapped back "He was a backstabbing bastard in the end, that's all there is too it"

Clementine knew there was more to it than that, but decided not to inquire further.

"That rope plan of mine was shit" Luis randomly muttered "I don't know why you backed me up on it"

"It was something" Clementine replied "At least you thought of something Luis, even if Robert won't act on it. I thought it could have worked, still could actually".

Luis was silent, Clementine guessed that was his way of saying thanks.

and then without warning she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer to him. She remained like that for a few moments before she looked up at where Luis, was blankly gazing at the colorful windows above the altar.

"What are you doing?" she asked of him.

"Don't know" Luis muttered.

"Why are doing this?" she asked again of him, referring to his arm around her shoulders.

"No real reason" Luis muttered once again, before he removed his arm and yawned.

"I need to go report back to headquarters" he drawled "Your bullshit story is safe with me".

"That's so reassuring" Clementine sarcastically told him, as he went back to his own business. While Clementine continued to watch over the church survivors. She remembered what had happened the last time she had left a church like this.

Hopefully history didn't repeat itself.

* * *

"What was that about?" Violet croaked from where she lay on the pew.

"Just a group discussion about our upcoming plans" Eddie lied causally, as he stroked the red hairs on Violet's head, "Now you don't strain yourself okay? You need to rest"

Violet gulped.

"Eddie..."

"Did I ever tell you about the one time me and Wyatt got caught pissing on a railway line?" Eddie mused, ignoring Violet's croak of pain and trying his very hardest to put on a brave face during this ordeal "Well, we were off our heads and as high as fuck, when Wyatt thought it would be a good idea to pee on a rail-road track, to see if we would get electrocuted by it. We didn't get electrocuted of course, but I almost fell on the track when that police guard appeared, that was a strange sort of night for me and Wyatt to remember, I'll tell you that".

Violet's hacking coughs, turned into a fit of laughter at the seemingly random story, Eddie could churn out at a time like this. She looked down at her stomach wound briefly to see it was no longer bleeding. It hurt like hell of course and was probably going to get infected, but as she looked up at Eddie and his puppy dog eyes, they spoke the words that he physically couldn't. He was begging her not to go, he didn't want to lose her, in the way that he had lost his friend Wyatt.

The way she laughed, the way she fought for every breath. She wanted to warn Eddie so badly, she wanted him too know that she probably wasn't going to make it. That her wound would claim her and that her body was failing to function. But the way he had done so much to keep her alive, to argue for her cause, she realized it was selfish of her too just bleed out and die on him.

Besides, she a Moore, The Moore triplets were notoriously stubborn in life and stubborn to kill. Stacy's ambitious nature to always find out the truth, Trevor with his domineering personality and his passion for justice, Violet may have been seen as the innocent one of the trio, but by no means was she going to kneel over and die just because of that.

She wasn't giving up just yet.

She was going to fight, until her very last breath to stay with this group. She saw the hurt behind Eddie's eyes already and if she died... than he would devastated. He had lost too much in this world. Even if it seemed near enough impossible, even if it seemed helpless. Violet knew her boyfriend, she knew how he had saved that kid, AJ, from certain death and deep down she knew he could do the same for her.

"That's a funny one Eddie" Violet wheezed "You never told me that one before"

Eddie let out a wide smile, but didn't say anything else.

"Will you stay with me?" Violet asked, as she laid her head on Eddie's legs "I'm feeling drowsy"

"Of course" Eddie muttered gently, his face seemed to sink as he made sure Violet was comfortable on his legs, however seeing this glum expression on his face. Violet decided she'd be the one to try and lighten the mood this time.

"Keep still Eddie, we both need to sleep" Violet told him "We're both gonna need our strength tomorrow, when you haul ass to get to the hospital and get me the meds I need".

Eddie's face lifted considerably, his eyes widening in surprise.

"So let's get some rest" Violet murmured into the fabric of his trousers, she smiled to herself, as she felt Eddie bend over and plant a kiss on her cheek.

"I seriously freakin' love you" Eddie whispered into her ear, before both of them drifted off to sleep. With Violet warm in Eddie's snug embrace, as his arms held onto tightly around her. It was as if the bearded man was ensuring she too didn't slip away from him. Like the way his friends had all slipped away from him, like the way Wyatt had slipped away from him.

No. Eddie wouldn't allow it to happen.

Not again.

* * *

AJ was busy looking out of the church windows, as the many dead piled up outside. The 4 year old hadn't seen much of these "monsters" but they didn't scare him as he thought they would. His mother spoke about them all of the time, as did all his friends. He may have grown up in Wellington, with no memories of the undead circling him, yet the more his lime green eyes scanned over the warped faces of the dead, as the sky darkened considerably outside, AJ found himself less and less afraid.

"I just need to run and hide" AJ thought, "Their stupid bites can't hurt me anymore, Mum says so".

These grim thoughts circulated in the 4 year old's mind, he may not have grown up around walkers. But the early trauma's he has suffered, made him a hell of a lot more wary of people themselves, than the walkers outside. Even now AJ looked at every face in the church, wondering who the "Bad Man" was here. First it had been that mean man in the wheelchair who had made Lilly, Sarah and Gertrude go away.

Now who was it? Was it that mean shouting man at the back of the church? Who would he make go away?

and maybe it was...?

AJ gasped, as he caught the reflection of a blonde haired teenager gazing directly at him. Turning around, he saw the blonde teenager smile.

"Howdy kid" JJ greeted "What are you doing, just starin' out the window there"

"Go away" AJ snapped sulkily "You're mean, you wanted to kick Luke out of the church! and you speak to yourself, weirdo!" AJ array of insults however, didn't achieve their intent of making this guy go away.

"Everyone has their low days kid" JJ cheerily announced "I had mine earlier and I admit I just upset about my friend dying. I know it wasn't Luke's fault I just got mad. Do you ever get mad?" he hastily asked of AJ.

"Only when the bad man took away my friends" AJ muttered.

"Which bad man?" JJ inquired.

"The man in the wheelchair" AJ explained.

"Schulz? President Schulz?" JJ asked, naming and shaming the former president.

AJ nodded, "He was a bad man, that's why I had too... well I'm not allowed to talk about it"

"Talk about what?"

"Nothing" AJ mumbled suddenly shy, he didn't feel comfortable about sharing that information. Eddie had told him to keep it secret and he was going to stick by Eddie's word.

"Okay then" JJ said "Doesn't matter, but you know I can understand you kid. I know Luke isn't the bad man here, but I feel like someone else is. That makes me angry and it makes me scared too. I just want to make sure you're okay over here".

"I'm fine" AJ snapped (learning the phrase from Luke) "I don't need you or my mum to watch over me! I'm 4 now! I'm a big boy!"

"Still look pretty titchy to me, little mister"

"I'll grow!" AJ bellowed "One day I'm gonna be and strong and no bad man is going to take any more of my friends away".

"I wish that was true young friend" JJ said "But real life ain't like that, people do just... go away..."

"Not me and not any more of my friends!" AJ exclaimed "Not while I'm watching!"

"Well you need to watch over Violet over there then" JJ instructed, pointing over to where Violet and Eddie were sound asleep on a nearby pew "She's hurt really bad and she's Eddie girlfriend, you don't want Eddie getting upset do you? From what I know, Eddie's a good friend of your's"

"Yeah and Violet's really nice" was AJ's verdict "I don't want the badman to take them, I don't want him to take anyone".

"Tell you what then" JJ challenged "You and me stay up, all tonight. All be over there watching my group and you be over by there watching your's! That mean man at the back wanted to hurt Violet and he could hurt my group too. I'm going to stay up and watch him and make sure he doesn't take anyone away".

"I'm going to do the same!" AJ boasted "But I'm going to pretend I'm asleep, so I can catch them him, before he does anything bad".

JJ shared a smile with AJ.

"Very well then, we're on a secret mission here little guy" the older boy instructed "We can't tell anyone about this, we're secret agents! Keep it quiet, but if you do see the badman attacking someone, you need to let the others know. So then with all of our combined efforts we can make sure the bad man goes away and not our friends!"

"Hell yeah!" AJ cheered, pounding the air with his fists, "I like the sound of that"

and so did TT.

* * *

Candles illuminated the church, as the black night enveloped the now overrun town outside of this holy building, the chatter within the church itself had become a low mumble, as more and more people drifted off to sleep. Many of them nibbling off the last scraps of food they had. But while the survivors discussed things among themselves, one boy sat on the balcony where a choir once would have sang. He sat crouched by one of the large windows of the church, the boy on one side of the window, had normal sized pupils and a worried grimace on his face. While the other boy, sat surrounded by the pitch black of the dark night behind him, with a shrill smile and shrunken pupils.

"It was wrong to manipulate the boy" JJ told his friend.

"They always pity the children JJ" TT told him harshly "Whether he ends up dead, or telling Eddie what he sees. The group will react much more harshly, you know it".

"Doesn't make it right"

"Doesn't it?" TT questioned "Do you want us to break? You grandfather was a danger to us for years! and now Tom's going to take responsibility of us! If we don't want to break, we don't need anymore restraints or anyone to hold us in line! Tom watches, he sees us for what we are! He feigns sympathy in order to boost his own reputation, he needs to die!"

"His a good leader" JJ said, offering Tom a compliment. "If we end up killing him, then the group may not last".

"The group will not last anyway" TT snarled "Not in it's current state, besides wasn't it Tom who brought us to Wellington? We were doing fine before we came here. Then you tried to shut me out, It was then that all the group started to die! Out there Brandon, Luis and Terri would have eventually grown to be your friends, after nature or I dealt with the old man! But because of Tom and because of this place! and because of this dirty, stupid, group! We are here! Everyone hates us! We cared about Edward and Sarah only to lose them! Tom put us through this pain! His twin killed Sarah! What more justification do you need?!"

"I know" JJ whimpered "But, TT we need the group not to be suspicious of us. I'm scared if we are kicked out, we'll break. Not even both of us can survive alone at this rate. We need the group for a while, we may even keep them, if all goes very well".

"But remember it will always be you and me" TT reminded him "Just us, no one else truly cares! Not yet! We don't need anyone else to protect! We'll protect and survive ourselves, because we don't want to break!"

"Yes!" JJ exclaimed "We'll survive! Won't we?"

"Not if your that loud, fool!" TT snarled, criticising JJ "For now we stay quiet and patient. We both overheard what Tom and Terri we're planning, you saw how Tom looked at Violet. He thinks the group will be better off without her, he thinks Eddie will have a better chance of surviving if she is not around. Tom has always been like that, always the survivalist. He has got to be planning to kill her tonight and make it look as though she bled out, it will be an easy convenience. But made so much more awkward if a four year old ends up dead too. Will Tom be willing to kill that little boy too, to cover his tracks? Or will the boy live to speak? Either way JJ, our plan will cause conflict and hopefully Eddie will avenge his lost love!"

"Yes!" JJ beamed "TT it's brilliant, it will teach us who will give into petty quarrels as well and who we need to keep around for a little bit longer. Only the strongest and the smartest will survive! Those are the one's we need!"

"Yes we do" TT growled "But our first plan is to get out of Wellington, before we can think of our long term survival, we need to do whatever it takes to get away from this fucking shit-pile"

JJ nodded in merry agreement, surviving was just about to get fun again!

* * *

At this point in time, many people in the church were now slowly dozing off to sleep, Robert Allen as the leader was trying to keep watch, but fatigue was overcoming him, and as Terri Rogers saw his head bow, she knew full well he had fallen asleep. Someone was meant to be on guard, but whoever Robert had appointed had seemingly fallen asleep as well. Besides, there wasn't much need for a guard, as long as the barricade remained in place which it was going too, then who needed to stay awake? What was the danger?

Terri smiled to herself, idiots. All of them.

Tom was standing against a pillar, with his arms crossed over his chest. His dark skin was a perfect camouflage as he stood in the dark shadow of the church, his eyes seemingly drooping, but he could very easily put on this facade of fatigue for much longer. Everyone's guards had lowered, Tom had to be sure it was absolute dead of night, before he commenced his attack. He waited and waited and waited...

and finally Terri came up to him.

"I'll clear him off" she muttered (gesturing at William Cecil's prone form on a nearby pew) "After his out of the way, wait 10 minutes. I'll take my time with him and keep him distracted, trust me".

"I trust you Terri" Tom muttered "But this plan of your's, does it have to happen tonight?"

"It's the only way" Terri responded "We wait till morning, the walker guts I have won't be as effective for getting through that herd. We need them fresh if we're going to have the best chance of survival".

"I see" Tom observed "But Terri, I've noticed some flaws in your plan. You said them, it's as if you're planning to get more than one walker".

Terri looked up at him.

"and I don't know if you've forgotten or not, but we're all immune here" Tom said "Bites don't make us turn anymore and I doubt dying does either".

Terri looked at Tom, as if he now had two heads.

"You've really insulted me" Terri droned "If you thought I was going to just kill that lousy fuck and use his guts. No. Believe me, I'll use him to get the guts we need, wait and see. Just do what you have too and I'll do what I have too".

"Okay, stay safe Terri" Tom warned.

"You should be telling everyone else that" was all Terri had to say on the matter, before she proceeded towards where the sleeping headmaster was. Tom vanished back into the shadows and watched from a distance, as Terri woke the headmaster up. There was some low murmuring that Tom heard and then footsteps as Terri and the headmaster proceeded up a flight of stairs, they were gone for the time being and probably would be for a while now.

Waiting for the ripple effect of Terri waking the headmaster to die down, Tom made sure the church was as silent as a stone, before he counted off ten minutes in his head.

_It was time._

He didn't want to do this. He really didn't. Every bone in his body protested against his movements, every distant breeze was someone waking up and catching him in the act of murder. No. Not murder, it was a mercy kill.

_"It's a mercy kill" _Tom thought to himself.

No time had passed at all, before he found himself in front of Violet, who slept soundly on Eddie's lap.

"It's a mercy kill" a quivering Tom convinced himself.

* * *

_Miss King was walking along, minding her own business when a hand suddenly shot out from a dark alley and dragged her into the depths of the urban darkness. She struggled wildly for a few seconds, the hand covering her mouth that prevented her from screaming._

_"Oh God!" Miss King wanted to squeak "It's the Wellington Wolf, I'm done for, they'll find my body shot up in the morning. Probably naked as well, just to add to my misery after death..."_

_However her panicked thoughts were quickly shoved to the side, as the hand removed itself from her mouth and she found herself gazing at a face, she knew she had seen before, but couldn't register instantly._

_"Do I know you?" Miss King asked nervously._

_The man had to be in his late 30's with a crop, of short, spiky brown hair and with wicked blue eyes that seemed to whiz around in their sockets._

_"It will hit you in a second" the man growled._

_and it did, Miss King gasped, she knew his face, she knew who he was. He was with the cult, no he was one of the elite members of the cult! He was the one who had checked up on her and Sam, the day Sam had... Miss King gulped, not wanting to recall such memories._

_"What are you doing here!?" Miss King __shrieked "Leave me the hell alone! Don't touch me, or I'll... fight! Or... I'll scream for help!" _

_"I'm not here too fight you" the man said once again, his voice level and now much calmer than it had been beforehand. "I just wanted to ask a favor" _

_"Go get your blowjobs somewhere else" Miss King snapped "I'm not the type of slag that gets down on her knees for..." _

_"That's a shame then" the man drawled "Because how would everyone react, say your friend Violet and her siblings? You know them, Trevor head of the police force and Stacy, editor of the Wellington Weekly? Yeah, how would they all react if they knew you were once part of the cult?"_

_Miss King's eyes dilated in horror._

_"They won't believe you!" Miss King gasped "You have no evidence! Besides it's just you and me here! How many more..." _

_"There are a lot of us" The man snarled cutting her short "Our leader fell after you did your little running act..."_

_Miss King didn't know what too say. _

_"...Let's just say most of us that remained have infiltrated this place" the man informed her "and the President is wrapped around our little finger, you'll soon see how bad this community is"_

_"If the leader's dead" Miss King wailed "Then why the hell are you carrying on his work! His dead! Move on and forget about all of this!" _

_"Your boyfriend was right about you" the man spat "You want to be a teacher, but you haven't learnt a damn thing have you? The leader taught us all so much! The group that escaped from us, they burned our camp and killed lots of us!" _

_"Well can you blame them!?" Miss King shouted "Honestly, if you were expecting them to roll over and be model guinea pigs for you. You're wrong and just because humans make human mistakes, it doesn't give you a motivation to bring down an entire community because of it! It was one group...!"_

_"One group just like the rest" The man reasoned "But that group was the final trigger, thanks to them, they showed us how awful human beings truly are! We're the only one's that can save humanity from itself" _

_"You're a bunch pretentious arseholes, just without the skin-suits this time!" Miss King announced "Who the hell gave you the right, to judge everyone...!?" _

_She got no further because the man slapped her across the face._

_"I don't give two shits about what you think" The man growled "Because I have information that makes you my little bitch here! So you get down on your knees, right here and right now and do what your best at, because it's clearly not teaching"._

_"Fuck that, tell them then, I don't care" Miss King huffed._

_"Oh you should" The man told her "Because soon information's coming out about everyone and all hell will break loose. Most people here aren't happy with cultists of any sort. How will they react when they learn that you were one of them? Also, a lot of us don't take kindly to runaways from our group. Also ask yourself this, how would I know all your friends and information about you? Unless I wasn't already following and gathering information. That's right bitch, we've got tabs on everyone and maybe I'll kill you here if you refuse. Maybe not and maybe I'll kill you later, but imagine living in constant fear..."_

_"You... you can't do t-this..." Miss King stuttered. _

_"You're lucky" The man informed her "That I have an eye for British girls, many other runaway's weren't as lucky..." _

_"I'll tell everyone I ran from you guys!" Miss King screamed "That I never agreed with you anyway...!"_

_"No one will care" The man muttered "You were a cultist, that's all they'll see. That's all they'll know. That's all we'll publish about you, but we like to keep ourselves anonymous and you want a teaching job and a reputation to uphold. So If I were you, rather than getting yourself killed pointlessly. You give me what I want and your dirty little secret stays between us, understood?"_

_Miss King was sunk, she had no other option._

_"I can't believe this" she wept, as she felt herself sink to her knees._

_"Good girl" the man almost purred at her, like he would with a dog he owned. "Also, you repeat anything you heard here to anyone, we'll know and we'll hunt you down and anyone you told, understood?"_

_Miss King nodded._

_The man smirked as he undid the fly on his jeans, "Also, just a head's up" he muttered "This isn't cheating, your boyfriend's dead. He got killed trying to kill some madman from the group we were following. This man took down a lot of us with just a pistol, strangely admirable but still a complete savage" the man concluded, before he looked down at Miss King once again._

_"Now learn to do something else good" he mused "and stay silent..." _

* * *

Tom wrapped his arms around Violet, his heart beating at a million miles an hour as he expected Eddie to wake up at any second, (or for Violet too) yet for every nerve shredding second, Eddie remained asleep, his arms going limp in his lap, as Tom gently planted Violet onto the ground. Quickly scooting to grab a red pillow from one of the nearby pews, he looked up at the now eerie blue window above the altar.

"I don't like this Lord" Tom prayed to himself "I honestly don't, but I need to spare this woman anymore suffering, give me strength to do this" he remained like that for a few seconds, before gulping down some cold air, he opened his eyes and turned back towards Violet.

Why were his hands shaking so much?

"Just spare her anymore pain Tom" he thought to himself "Just like you did with Tim..."

As fast as could be, Tom pressed down the pillow on Violet's face.

* * *

"Uhh..."

Those groups of cultists at the school, one of the kids (the son of the man, she was offering favors too) had noticed her and while he had gunned down everyone else, (with anarchy occurring all around them, Miss King pledged her allegiance to the cult once again) while the group of teenagers wasted their time on debating whether or not she was trustworthy or not, Miss King had managed to slip away from them. Giving her a vital head start in order to dive behind that tree branch and remain hidden. Until Scott also managed to hide in the same spot and then Luis and Terri.

But the man's words had rang true.

She had stayed silent and alive.

If she had refused him and spoken out, there's no doubt his son would have gunned her down, along with everyone else. Miss King was had nightmares of it every night, being surrounded by her dying friends and fellow teachers. While she was left alive.

Because she wasn't one of them.

She truly was a cultist.

Then the man had given her hints about the fact the cult was working with the Wellington Wolf, hence after the cult were all wiped out (or so Miss King hoped, the man and his son had died that day, leaving her secret, a secret and one she wouldn't tell anyone else). Hence she kept an eye on her friend Violet when her and Eddie started investigating the wolf, why else had she been there that night? She knew if they went to directly confront the wolf, it would all end badly.

She had saved the day, by staying silent.

Capturing the Wolf may have lessened her guilt slightly, but she always felt guilt, every day as she watched Violet struggle to find out the truth. Or when Stacy and Trevor were alive and we're doing everything in order to gain information, that she knew. Information that could have helped them. Information that may have prevented that riot that had followed, if only stupid little her, could have found so way to tell them. To be brave, rather than stay silent and allow the cult's fears to control her.

and now in this tiny group, she was staying as silent as ever, about her true past and her true self.

Because staying silent had gotten her this far, hadn't it?

If she was just the helpless fool, than who was too suspect anything else?

She was right too stay silent about what really happened to her friend, that poor woman, Molly, was already blind as it was. She didn't need the group crashing down on her for a mistake any blind woman could have made. She understood why Tom had lied to the group, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little... uneasy about it.

Yet she slept on soundly, while her friend was being suffocated to death, mere feet away.

In complete silence.

* * *

Violet struggled for a minute, but her arms didn't thrash everywhere the way Tom had expected they would. She jolted on the spot, her legs twitching before Tom applied more pressure, and within a minute it was over. Violet's arms went limp and her chest stopped rising and falling. Sighing to himself Tom lifted the pillow to see the face of the woman he had killed.

"Sorry" he muttered, it was all he could think of. It sounded pathetic and he knew it was pathetic, but he knew Violet was in a better place now. There was no doubt she wanted to die, there was no doubt she wanted to Eddie to carry on living and survive in her name. But then there was also that small fact, she may have remembered what Molly did to her. Not instantly, but maybe over time flashes over her memory may have returned if she recovered (which was unlikely) however then both Molly and Tom would have been in the shit-heap and they couldn't afford that now. In a way (and maybe for selfish reasons) Tom had done what was best for everyone (or the majority).

Violet's mouth was open slightly, her green globes gazing up at the church ceiling they couldn't see.

He couldn't bare to look at that face for another minute, he closed her eyes (and very carefully) placed her back into Eddie's lap, neither of them woke at the transaction, as Tom planted Eddie's limp arms back around Violet, his stomach was in knots, but once again nothing happened.

"This has all gone to well" Tom thought to himself, as he placed the pillow, back where he found it. He swiftly and silently tried to leave the scene, his heart thumping in his chest. Okay, he had someone done it and got away with it. Now he just needed to wait for Terri to get those walker guts, he should have slept, because if he was awake it would have looked suspicious...

"W-what did you do?"

Tom froze, his heart leaping into his mouth, a small voice. A child's voice was directed at _him_ and the child sounded scared and disgusted in equal measures.

"Y-you're the badman, aren't you?" AJ squeaked, the 4 year old's heart beating rapidly in his chest, as he approached Tom's burly figure.

"Y-you k-killed V-violet didn't you? I saw you! Why!?" AJ wailed, his voice was rising, people began to stir in their slumbers.

"Shit" Tom thought to himself, the term "white hot panic" was a complete understatement.

He had to shut this kid up, otherwise everything he had done wouldn't be worth it.

But was _everything_ worth a child's life?

Tom gulped, this was an impossible dilemma.


	25. Die Screaming

**A/N: Onto Chapter 25 and nearing the mid section for this story, thanks again to everyone who reviewed and now onto answering them!**

**ShatteringSoul- So the last chapter shocked you? I keep on thinking with this story I'm losing the shock factor that made GTR so gripping to many people, never the less I'm glad all these factors are drawing you more into the story. Miss King being a cultist was something I decided on the minute I decided to have her shoot the wolf, as I just enjoyed writing her as she stood out somewhat from the other OC's submitted, for simply being her. She's not brave, smart or strong, she's humorous but also cowardly and quite thick, yet her flaws make her so much more appealing to write and having her as a cultist not only gives her even more of a character, but also shows the cult aren't all the nameless, faceless enemies and they're are many layers to them. Even the "good" cultists that escaped in GTR went onto imprison the 2000 days group later, so I wanted to the reader to get to know a character before revealing they were a cultist. Had I revealed Miss King was a cultist before I doubt she'd get as much sympathy as she did from the reader. Anyway moving on, I'm glad you liked the Luis-Clem bits and the ending... yes you'll have your answers this chapter.**

**Chameishida- Hello again, yep everything is fine on my end and as for the poll, Violet's death was planned while the poll was ongoing so regardless of result she would have died anyway, but everyone else I will take into consideration. Also I'm impressed with your eagle eyes as she picked up something that will become very relevant, very soon. The fact Nick phrased it as "You had to run Luke" when Luke and Clementine both know in that timeline, Nick apparently went out to try and find help for Sarah, so what could Luke run from? That will lead to something very soon, as for the humorous bit I did get that vibe in my mind, as Rebecca tried to carefully phrase it too Luke, whereas I can tell she wanted to say what you did. Anyway I'm grateful you enjoyed last chapter and yes, Luis is now indeed upon the messed up train heading to nowhere land! **

**ffapathy- Thanks again for your detailed review and yes AJ did indeed pull a Nick from GTR in which he watched another character did but didn't do anything about it. I will explain it further this chapter, as for Terri, you were right in stating she was neutral evil, as JJ is slowly losing his mind while The Wolf is more of a villain because of orders, Terri is intriguing to write and this chapter she'll receive her spotlight once again. Also the Wolf... he won't be around for a short while as he received attention during the first half of the story, but I'm planning on the Wolf to return (either dead or alive, I'm not revealing his fate just yet) but he will return in some form when you least expect him.**

**and finally paradoxilla and AquaDestinysEmbrace yep, it was shocking chapter, brace yourselves for more!**

**Now Ch25, and on we go...**

**P.S. Because Terri is Terri, this chapter is rated M, brace yourself for the usual array of messed up stuff...**

* * *

_"Hello?" _

_Molly blinked one minute she was in peaceful darkness, the black veil that had enveloped her for just over a year now, there was still a difference between being asleep and being awake, because when she was awake, every other sense in her body, other than her sight, screamed in response to the elements that assaulted against her body. The sounds, smells and taste's of a certain place would all come crashing back too her... _

_In an instant she was uttering "Hello?" torn out of the familiar blackness, as for the first time in a year. She could actually **see** again! A glaring white backdrop stung at her eyes, as she felt herself blink in surprise as she drank up everything she could see. She was aware of herself seemingly gliding across this winter wonderland, as she became aware, this piercing white colour was snow, it was enveloped on the ground and the frozen water clung to every crevasse in the bark of nearby tree's._

_Tree's... she was in a forest somewhere, in winter time._

_She looked down and saw her own body again, it was covered in clothes she had never remembered wearing, but they certainly seemed to withstand the elements and she could feel Hilda's grasp from where her beloved ice-pick was safely strapped on her back._

_"Some things don't change" Molly thought to herself._

_Yet she found (to her surprise) she couldn't formulate her thought into words, instead she simply watched cold misty vapour, rise to her line of sight, caused by her labouring breaths as she trudged onwards through the snow. Alarmed, Molly tried to move her arms and legs in the opposite direction but found she had no control over her own body._

_"Hello" Molly heard herself call out once again._

_Molly was still in shock from being able to see once again, her other senses seemed to be lacking at this current time. Recovering from the shock of seeing again and the fact she had no control over this... dream of her's (but it felt so real. She could feel the goosebumps spreading beneath her winter attire and the ache of several days trekking that she was familiar with). However over the consistent hum of the winter gales, funnelling through the bare and snow capped tree's, she was aware of what it seemed, her "other self" was shouting greetings too._

_Someone was crying, in the distance if Molly strained her eyes she could just about hear it._

_"Anyone there!?" Molly called out, Molly was glad to see that her past self was wise enough to slow to a halt when no one responded. As she peered ahead and pulled Hilda from her back and placed her trusted weapon to her chest, her weapon was by her side, her sister was by her side. Her past self had her sister, by her side..._

_Past-self._

_Molly didn't know how this was her past-self, she just somehow knew in those minutes, but it was then every dot suddenly connected in her mind. The dreams the group were discussing earlier..._

_"Shit" Molly thought to herself alarmed, aware she was about to witness her impending doom and it was going to painful no doubt. _

_She walked on forward, Molly's sense of dread grew and then abruptly, her past self stopped and scooped up to pick up something, half buried in the snow._

_Molly inspected the tiny item, as she brushed snow from it._

_A pair of rose tinted glasses, split cleanly in half._

_Humming to herself Molly dropped the seemingly random item back into the snow. Even the Molly observing the scene, the rose tinted glasses meant nothing. She didn't remember any of the group she was with, wearing rose tinted glasses. But she felt like she should have known, that it was somehow important..._

_However these thoughts were wiped from her head a mere second later, as she felt herself stop and look up, directly from where the weeping was coming from._

_There was a young woman, dressed in a yellow-ish jacket of some sorts, bent over the corpse of a small girl, propped up on a tree. Behind the girl the tree was stained with the red of the blood that emitted from where she had shot herself in the head. The girl wore a bright blue jacket that easily caught Molly's eye, but also because half of her guts and intensities lay sprawled out from around her stomach. Next to her were two corpses, a walker to her left and too her right, a brown haired man, who lay face down in the snow with a red indent in the back of his head, indicated where he had died and the fact he'd been shot in the back of the head._

_"What the hell happened here?" the past Molly asked aloud, her boots crunching in the snow, as she approached the scene and the woman weeping over the dead girl. It looked like some sort of bloodbath had occurred here and Molly was intrigued to know what on earth had happened. Although the woman could have clearly heard her she didn't respond, that was until Molly got close enough and saw an all too familiar cap, planted on the head of the dead girl._

_She had seen that cap back in Savannah, it was a while ago, but she owed it to the girl who had once saved her life._

_"Clementine!" Present Molly thought and past Molly exclaimed in shock._

_At this the woman turned around and openly glared at Molly through hate fuelled, golden silts, of eyes. _

* * *

As Molly turned over in her troubled slumber, Tom quickly charged forward and planted a large hand around AJ's mouth, a second before the child could scream for any form of help. A terrified AJ tried kicking the large man, but Tom lifted the 4 year old from the ground.

"Fuck... fuck... what the fuck I am going to do!?" Tom gasped aloud, looking around wildly as AJ thrashed in his grip. He had to think of something... and think of it damn fast!

He could have killed AJ right there and then. He had already killed Violet so why stop now? and he had killed Tim... but both of those murders were for the greater good?

What the hell would killing a four year old achieve?

Tom's hands shook as AJ fought harder against him, the clock was ticking away too god-damn fast! He could stay he and ponder on this impossible situation forever, but he couldn't. The scuffle that AJ was creating was already causing people to stir in their sleeps and everyone would awaken to see him, seemingly strangling a four year old and then demanding an explanation, to as why he was attempting to murder AJ. Then they would discover he had murdered Violet and the game would be up for him... he'd be kicked out or killed right there and then. If Tom was in someone's else shoes and he was watching himself, he'd shoot himself on the spot. Killing Violet could have been forgiven... but killing AJ...

No. Tom was too much of coward, he simply couldn't kill an innocent 4 year old, his conscious was already stained too much...

But, killing this child would save Tom so much trouble. They're would be no-one to tell on him, because AJ would tell this someone, if he escaped this situation alive. He was 4 years old and frightened and would tell everyone that there was someone to blame...

Someone to blame.

A sudden idea arouse in Tom's head, something completely and utterly evil. But suddenly everything seemed to turn in his favour.

"Kid, I didn't want to kill Violet" Tom whispered to the struggling boy in his grip "But you don't understand, I had too! I simply had too! Because... because if I didn't... then Robert. Robert said he'd kill all of my group!"

AJ screamed something into Tom's hand, that sounded very much like "LIAR!" and struggled even harder.

"It's true!" Tom pleaded, as crocodile tears began to well in his eyes and he openly wept and sniffed loudly, at the sound of these noises AJ's struggling lessened slightly.

"I don't want to hurt people!" Tom wept "I really don't want too kid, but Robert... Robert said if I didn't kill Violet then..." he wept into his hand at this point, for added dramatic effect. "He told me to kill anyone if they saw me killing Violet, but I can't do that too you... I really can't..." If Tom could feel less ashamed of himself at this point, it was the fact that part of this statement was indeed true.

"You know why Robert wanted Violet dead?" Tom continued, asking this of a now silent and no longer struggling AJ, "It was because she was hurt, he thought she'd slow the group down and get us all killed. But what if we all get hurt? You know what happens then? Robert will kill us all. He is the leader here after all, you know that don't you? Most of the people support him..." he sighed there "We're all doomed aren't we?"

Planting this seed of doubt within AJ's brain Tom took a risk and unclasped his hand from the young boy's mouth, Tom went to weep on a nearby pew, burying his head in his hands, as he awaited for AJ to scream for help. To his great relief the boy did not, so Tom was able to open to turn to where AJ was silently watching him.

"He doesn't even have the guts to murder" Tom muttered to the ground "He just got me to do it. Because If I caught, what could I say? That he'd made me do it? They'd laugh at me and they'd probably kill me..."

"But, I can tell the others" AJ muttered, (Tom was amazed to see he had manipulated the boy, against Robert which had been his plan all along) "I can tell Eddie, so he won't blame you..."

"But I did it!" Tom sobbed "I actually did it... I... and you can't tell kid. You can't tell anyone. Don't you think I've already tried? But Robert has spies everywhere. If we try and tell anyone else we'll be killed too. Don't you get it kid? We're under his rule now..."

"Not if we work together" AJ chipped in, with a hint of optimism in his voice.

"It's my tiny group and your's" Tom reminded him "Look at everyone else here, they are all behind Robert and between you and me, he wants to get the two groups who didn't vote for him, to turn against each other. If Eddie finds out I killed Violet, he'll kill me and then none of your group and our group will like each other. We'll probably all end up killing each other and then Robert is left with all the people who voted him and he has a loyal group behind him..."

"That's a clever plan" AJ admitted, as he sat next to Tom, his head sinking in defeat as he realised how truly powerless he was.

"So what do we do?" AJ asked of Tom.

"We can't do anything" Tom muttered, "If we try he'll just kill us, but we can wait. Wait for a time we can tell people. But for now, we can't say anything. We just have too keep quiet about everything. Understood?"

AJ nodded, fear was prominent in his leaf green eyes.

"I mean, I think Robert has ordered my friend Terri to kill someone as well" Tom admitted, "Tonight as well, all because Robert doesn't like that person. I mean we could try and run away, but we need to stay with the group to survive..."

"His the badman" AJ mumbled "and I can't tell anyone or do anything to stop it"

"I feel the same" Tom mumbled in agreement "Maybe in the future we'll find a chance to strike back. But for now we need to keep our head's low and we need to continue to watch out for our groups. Whatever Terri does in the near future, she didn't want to murder that man. Understand that AJ, she didn't want to do it. Robert made her do it, no matter what she says. I think this is Robert's way of getting the walker guts, but I'm not sure..."

"It sounds scary" AJ was trembling now, but then his eyes found the sleeping form of Robert "Couldn't you have killed him instead!?" he pleaded of Tom.

"Then no one would know how evil he really is" Tom explained "All they'd see is me, murdering him without an explanation and then all of his supporters will turn on my group and..." Tom rubbed his eyes and gazed at the ground once again.

"It's an impossible situation kid" Tom mumbled "and I know Violet over there was your former teacher and I am so sorry I did it and I am sorry so you had to see it. But... what can we do?"

"I don't know" AJ responded after a long silence, before he looked up at Tom once again "I'm... I'm going to go to sleep now and I'm not going to tell anyone you killed Violet. Because I know you didn't want too. It was Robert who did it. Robert's the badman. Don't worry sir, we will find a way to make sure he goes away".

"It's Tom" Tom mused "and you were, what was it? AT?"

"AJ" AJ corrected him, "But can you promise me one thing Tom?"

"Anything" Tom replied.

"Can you look after my group as well?" AJ asked "Because Robert might start asking them to do bad stuff too. Like he has done with your group and I don't want anyone else to die in my group. Please help them"

"I'll do my best AJ. I promise" Tom told him and the best part of this statement is that it was as true as could be.

AJ went to go sleep, bidding Tom a goodnight. Before he was watching just as JJ had told him too, he was feeling a bit tired, but watched over Violet and then suddenly Tom came over. AJ watched what Tom was doing, at first it looked fine, If Tom pulled out a gun or a knife then AJ would run forward. But then Tom got a pillow and AJ relaxed, simply thinking Tom wanted to give Violet a pillow to sleep on. What happened next shocked AJ... he hadn't seen anyone murdered that way before. But, he knew what had happened yet he was too in shock to even move, it was only when Tom was walking away that the 4 year old steeled his inner courage and stupidly approached Tom. Maybe he should have called for help first, but a shocked, angry and foolhardy 4 year old, knew none the wiser. He was thankful Tom didn't kill him too, he could have done but he didn't and poor Tom had been forced to do that. Because of the real badman, the last badman made other people do bad things as well.

So really why was Robert any different?

AJ went to sleep with a troubled mind, JJ's warning, what Terri had to do and what Tom had to do. It was all beginning to make sense now, the badman made them do bad things, or else they would all go away. How long before that was his group? He could only hope Tom would do his best to protect his group, because what Tom said had all made sense, his group and Tom's were outnumbered and they were in trouble and they couldn't tell anyone about the real danger.

Elsewhere Tom wiped sweat and crocodile tears from his face, unable to believe he had gotten away with it. He really should have felt guilty about planting the seed that was AJ against Robert. The ex-journalist was a nice man, but Tom knew he wasn't leadership material, here he could talk the talk all he liked, but out there, he doubted the former father would last five minutes. Him and Luke had been outside of Wellington, they knew the threat of walkers much better than most of the people who had fled to this church. Many of them were (no doubt) people who had lived here before the walker outbreak, or people that had got here in a short space of time, hence shielding them from the horrors of walkers, (yet they still had to deal with riots). Never the less besides some expectations (Jason) the large majority of this Wellington- bound group were wary of people and not walkers themselves and not life outside of these walls. Tom could agree with them there, you had to be weary of people, but beyond that they were blind. Clinging to the image of a good leader who could bring plans forward, but who would fail to execute them.

If he continued leading them, they would all die.

"I'm doing this for the greater good Robert" Tom thought to himself, as he lay down back on the pew.

He was also proud of himself for bringing up Terri's murder tonight, whatever she said, whatever she did and whatever she told people (knowing Terri, she was most likely going to announce she was the cut throat cub and enjoyed killing the headmaster to everyone). All it would talk was the whisper of a 4 year old child to make everyone see that Terri Rogers and Tom Akastu weren't really evil at all, it was all Robert's doing...

It was cruel, but as Tom lay down and went to sleep, awaiting whatever Terri had in mind in order to bring the walker guts to them, he couldn't help but think a very similar thought to what a priest, who usually preached in this church over a year ago now, had once thought as well.

Life was a game and Tom was simply making all the right moves.

Yet there was someone else, who had played the game better than Tom and Robert combined, he sat there with his eyes clenched shut and with a large smile highlighting his features. He had overheard everything.

"Wow Tom" TT thought to himself "That was low, disgusting, manipulative and it was brilliant! The work of a genius! Yet, you really should have asked why AJ was up at that time and why he just happened to be watching Violet, it could have linked back to me, but alas and unfortunately Tom..."

"...you have to play the game, a little smarter than that".

* * *

_"How did you know?" The woman growled of a reeling Molly, Molly herself simply directed her Hilda free hand, towards Clementine's cap._

_"I met with her in Savannah once" Molly explained "She was with a guy called Lee and a group looking for a boat. She happened to help me out during a spot of bother and I know that cap anywhere..."_

_"What a load of bullshit" The woman snapped, as she rose to her feet, a pistol lay in her one hand and a sharp nail file, lay within the other._

_"It can't be, first him! and now you! You're in league with the cult, aren't you!?" the short haired woman spat, at a confused Molly._

_"Those freaks in skin suits, that prowl around this place!?" Molly questioned (the present Molly guessed that her past self, had been avoiding the cult as well). "I avoid them like the fucking plague, how could I...?"_

_"I've heard him ranting" the woman interrupted "All about Clementine and how she spared him. Gave him a second chance and that he was going to take her away and thank her. I just left Clementine's group when I heard this, I wanted to get back to them, but the cult kept diverting me and now that I've finally found her..." the mysterious woman choked back a few more sobs, before murmuring into the snow "She reminded me, of my sister Jamie..."_

_"I lost a sister too" Molly felt herself tell this stranger, "I'm sorry for your..."_

_"Don't speak shit to me!" The woman snapped, rising from where she was previously crouched down, within the snow. "I know why they sent you! The cult's cruel like that! They like all that fucking with your head, shit and all...!"_

_"Jesus lady!" Molly snapped "I was just investigating the scene that's all! If you're going to be a bitch about it. I can just go and leave you here..."_

_"Bullshit!" The woman snarled "I heard this guy ranting!" she ranted herself, at the dead man in the snow "I shot him dead just as he reached her body, it's their fault she's dead! All of you damn cultists did this! If you weren't here I could have come back for that group and saved them! Maybe if you damn cultists hadn't been around the Russian group that shot down most of the group I was with, they might not have been so over-zealous in their mission...!"_

_"What the hell are you going about!?" Molly snapped, beginning to lose her temper now. She was freezing to the bones, stood arguing here with a paranoid stranger, this isn't what she wanted. Why the hell had she stopped in the first place? Her damn curiosity and hunt for supplies had landed her here, but still it was a foolish move._

_"He was their leader and I killed him" The woman told Molly "I killed your leader! Nobody is going to give him a second chance now! He is as dead as can be! The way the leader made it out... it's like Clementine went back in time to save him. Imagine that? Going back in time and saving everyone you cared about. It would be my ideal wish, because this world is already hell! I mean look at it!" the woman now screamed, jabbing her hands wildly to the dead woods around her._

_"People die every day lady" Molly growled, her temper still high "I get you're upset, believe me! I've been in that position too and fucking sucks alright! But for God's sake, put the damn gun down!"_

_"NO!" The woman exploded, raising her gun even higher "DON'T YOU GET IT!? THERE'S NO GOING BACK FROM THIS!" _

_"YOU'RE GOING TO RUIN!" Molly imploded "I KNOW YOU PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS, BUT SNAP OUT OF IT!"_

_"WHAT? DO THINGS GET BETTER SOMEHOW!? DO THINGS MAGICALLY GO FROM RUIN TO REDEMPTION? THEY DON'T! IT'S ALL AN ILLUSION! A DREAM! THINGS NEVER GET BETTER, THE WORLD JUST BEATS YOU DOWN CONSTANTLY UNTIL YOUR DEAD!" _

_Molly was silent, uncertain of what to say, to the now, clearly, crazy, woman._

_"Loners, like us" the woman began to explain "Whether you are a damn cultist, or really are just some scavenger. I can tell you are a loner... but that's beside the point. Loners like us, life is about survival and that's all, but then someone like Clementine comes along and makes you wonder what the hell surviving is for, if you aren't living. I need someone worth surviving for, ever since my sister..." she choked back a sob there, before soldiering on "But then Clementine comes along and I have the chance at redemption, the chance to recreate the world with us in it, that's why I was so determined to come back to her. She was my very last chance at creating something new, but now, thanks to you people..." _

_Her hands clenched around the gun in her hand, her look of hatred was stronger than ever. _

_"I'm going to wipe you all out" she mused, a crazy, crooked smile dominating her features "Imagine the world, without this damn cult in! Imagine if someone had wiped them out earlier! How things would have changed! But now, I'm going to create a world where the cult never exist, I'm going to wipe you all out. To spare anyone the pain I've been through!"_

_"You're crazy!" Molly exclaimed "You can't take out the whole cult..." _

_Regardless of Molly's opinion, the woman's finger squeezed on the trigger and the gun fired..._

* * *

"This is a quiet spot. Out of the way too, isn't it?"

Terri had to smile at the headmaster, indeed it was, they were certainly quite a distant away from the slumbering others. Molly was tossing and turning more in her sleep than the others, at the vision she was having. Yet she'd been even more concerned if she realised that Hilda wasn't by her side tonight...

"So" the headmaster purred, his beady black eyes slithering all over Terri's tight fitting, green dress "I think I got the gist of what you wanted from me"

"Y-yes s-s-sir" Terri stuttered, as she slowly got to her knees, while the headmaster stood over her. A tall, broad man, with iron grey hairs, a tough square jawline and very masculine features, Terri could class this older man as handsome in many ways. Even when he was strict and yelling at people within the hallways of Wellington high, he had that fierce manliness about him. That just made poor, wittle, fragile Terri Rogers, get a tingly feeling in her little white panties... or at least that was the character Terri was playing right now.

"Y-you've always been there, for all of us students sir" Terri squeaked, as some crocodile tears welled in her eyes as she approached the headmaster "You're big, strong, powerful..." Terri purred, as she crawled on all four's towards him, making sure her rear end, was in very clear eyesight of their strict headmaster.

"and I've always had a little crush on you" Terri admitted shyly, as she lifted her pale hand and began to slowly rub it, over the fabric of the headmaster's black trousers, just below his belt...

"Woah..." The headmaster flinched a little, backing away slightly at this "Y-you're one of my pupils, Terri. We really shouldn't be doing this..."

"Not anymore I'm not" Terri reasoned, "and my group need protection. I need protection. If I do this, will you give me more protection? Because, it seems like the only thing I can do..."

"Hey come on, don't say that" The headmaster muttered, gently stroking Terri's chin, with one of his large hands "You can do so much more Terri..."

Terri smiled.

_So she could._

"...but for now" the headmaster said, a dark glint becoming apparent in his eyes "If you really feel this way about me... then feel free to go ahead and do what you've got to do and I'll promise to protect your group"

"You promise" Terri muttered, gazing up at him, with her big, bark brown eyes.

"I promise" the headmaster told her, in his mind he didn't really care about any of this promising stuff, he just wanted something wet around his privates once again. It had been too long since had last been without it.

"Very well then" Terri concluded, a she let a pitiful look transpire on her youthful, face. Standing up once again she licked her full lips and watched as the headmaster forcefully slam his dry lips onto her own. Terri had to admit, he was a good kisser, as he reached one of his hands downwards, Terri decided to intimate his action as she began to undo the belt around his waist.

"Tell me" Terri panted, with the headmaster's hand now fully being in forbidden areas, "What are we going to do first?"

"We have to chuck someone... ah fuck..." He groaned, lifting his now red face up to the celling, of the small room they had crammed themselves into. It must have previously been the priest's quarters or somewhere like that. But tonight, it was _their_ quarters, as Terri's hand was now fully slid down and into the headmaster's pants. She was now pleasuring him, as his face turned beet red instantly, Terri hoped he could hold out.

Because she needed to give Tom, as much time as possible.

"... We have to chuck someone out" the headmaster repeated, managing to control his curses this time. "They'll swarm around a piece of meat like flies, giving us time to open the fucking church door and drag some walkers inside, because of the distraction. Robert's a fucking pussy, I know what I'd do If I was leader, I'd chuck that Violet girl out, because right now, she's practically dead anyway"

He had no idea, how right he was in those moments.

"I could learn a lot from you sir" Terri whispered into his ear, pressing her body fully against his own. He still looked so powerful and dignified in his suit and tie, yet the first layer of his clothing came off, as he flung his blazer off himself.

"It was my intention to teach" The headmaster grunted, as he applied more pressure with his hand, it moved faster and Terri could feel herself going redder by the second as she clung on tighter to him.

"It was your duty sir, at Wellington High remember?" Terri decided to remind him, of the speech he had gave on the very first day of the new year.

"Yeah, but a fat lot of fucking good teaching did" The headmaster spat "I generally wanted to help people at first and then Wellington starts going to shit. Three days after I'm headmaster that fucking riot destroys everything. All I could be was some asshole headmaster If I wanted to survive. I mean hell, dealing with that kid down there, JT or something..."

"JJ"

"Yeah, suspending him. I couldn't have that shit in my school" The headmaster explained, "I was better than that"

_"Lies"_ Terri thought to herself.

"Of course, I knew you did everything you could" Terri informed him "After the riot, you went back and tried to help everyone in the school"

"Yeah. Yeah I guess I did" The headmaster proclaimed smugly, his eyes finding the celling to this room, as he finally withdrew his aching arm from Terri's pants.

"Get down!" he suddenly barked, as Terri instantly obeyed his command, getting onto her knees and undoing the zip on his trousers, they came down to his ankles as she opened her mouth and in the headmaster's own charming words "Suck it, yeah that's it, suck it bitch"

His repeated groans and moans of pleasure, hardly fazed Terri in the slightest, however as he began to remove his shoes, some of his mutterings certainly did.

"Fuck yes... If I could, I'd stay here all fucking day..."

"You already did" Terri thought harshly "On that day"

The headmaster's polished black shoes slid off his feet.

"This is what I most in life... just fucking this..."

His socks soon came off.

"Fuck the fucking group, fuck Robert, fuck them all. Sometimes you just gotta put yourself first, you know?"

His trousers soon came off as well. Leaving his hairy legs, bare to the elements, as all his layers were coming off now, revealing the naked, twisted and dark soul underneath this image of power and authority.

"It sounds harsh" the headmaster told her, she obviously couldn't reply, but as he began to undo his tie, from around his neck, he carried on speaking regardless.

"But I think we both need this" he reasoned "I mean all that fucking group does, is talk about depressing shit. It's been nothing but depressing, fucking shit in Wellington, ever since that damn wolf started off-ing people. But I see it, as not my problem, I just want to enjoy life, there's nothing wrong with that"

He threw his tie to the ground at this point, as he began to unbutton his shirt.

"Before all this, I got College girls like you all the time" The headmaster crooned "Of course back then I wasn't a headmaster, but I was cop and girls were fucking wet for guys in uniform. All the damn pussy came my way, I thought why the hell should I stop because of zombies? Worked my way up here in Wellington, to get position of headmaster, came with it's benefits and high pay salary, allowing me to enjoy life even more. Like I'm doing now. With you."

Taking a momentary break, Terri drew breath and looked up at the headmaster.

"You speak an awful when I'm blowing you off" she informed him.

"Oh, getting flirty with me now?" The headmaster asked, raising his bushy eyebrows at her "I'm beginning to like this new side of you, shy, petite little girl, starting to get dirty with me..."

"For now, why don't you be quiet?" Terri suggested, "So much talking, when I like to hear your moan..."

"Oh I see" The headmaster mused, as he kept his mouth shut and continued to groan, moan and grunt in sexual pleasure. Eventually he pulled Terri away from his own form and muttered "Goddamnit, give me a sec, you carry on like that I was gonna shoot my load too early"

"Take your time" Terri seductively advised him, "I want to make this last, lover boy"

"That's my intention as well, making this last" The headmaster outlined to her "Because I need some pleasure, we both do. Fuck the group. I honestly don't give two shits about what happens to them. Hell they could be killing each other out there right now, for all I know or fucking care, but as long as I'm enjoying myself that's all that matters"

He peeled his shirt from his form at this point, right after this statement and crumpled it into a ball and threw it across the room. Leaving him completely naked and his last statement had just summarised this man completely. Behind the levels of grandeur and behind the lies and hypocrisy, this was the man laid bare and exposed. Someone who didn't give a shit about anyone else, so long so as he got what he wanted.

Brandon, had always given a shit about other people wanted.

With this thought in mind, Terri allowed the headmaster, to rip off her green dress, amazed by her nude form, he began to kiss and bite and chew all of the sensitive areas of her skin, while Terri simply lay there, feigning pleasure at this mundane activity, as she tightened her legs around the headmaster's head, as he came up for air, he gasped "Fucking hell, that's tight as shit. You ever been with any other guys before, sweetheart?"

"Yes" Terri truthfully admitted "But don't worry, _I made them all scream..._

"I think I'm falling in love with you" The headmaster drooled, his eyes clearly locked on Terri's assets, before he pulled away and (rather than get on her back like the headmaster wanted her too) placed a single small hand on his hairy chest. Pushing down on the jungle of salt and pepper coloured hairs, protruding from his chest, the headmaster fell flat on his back with Terri standing seductively above him.

"Taking control are we?" He inquired.

"I'm about to give you, the ride of your life" Terri explained to him, a massive smile illuminating her features. As the headmaster couldn't help but contain his own gleeful smile, as he placed his hands around his privates and remained captivated by Terri's nude form, as well as getting excited for what was about to happen to him. "This going to be great" the headmaster mused to himself.

"First things, first turn away... William" Terri uttered to him, using his real name.

"Oh, we on first name terms, now... Terri" he responded.

"You could say that" Terri mused, "Now turn away for a second, I've got a big surprise for you".

The headmaster obeyed, turning his head to the side, yet out of the corner of his eye, he saw Terri withdraw something from behind an old desk in the room. Right now he stayed immobilized in place, watching a small ant crawl across the bare floor of this room.

"You can look now"

The headmaster did, Terri was very clearly holding something behind her.

"That better not be a condom" William Cecil begged of her "Because they are fucking joy-killers"

"Planning on getting me pregnant then?" Terri inquired with a thin, raised eyebrow.

"Well, no, it's just much more fun without protection, if you know what I mean?"

"Oh believe me I do" Terri chimed "I really, really do"

"Well then, if it's lube, which I'm suspecting it is. Pour it all over my junk here and get on top of me girl" William told her "I promise it will be fun and I'll be gentle with you".

"How thoughtful" Terri chirped, as she bent her legs and lowered herself towards the headmaster, his anticipation grew to it's maximum in those moments, as Terri had some final things to say to him.

"You really are my headmaster and you tried to teach me... but I'm a bad girl William, I'm your naughty, little cub"

It took two seconds for William Cecil to snap out of his sex crazed state and realise what Terri was really saying. The words Cut-Throat Cub were words that engrained fear into him, because the cub was aiming for his group of friends. Somehow the cub had know what he and his friends had been doing that day, but with that riot erupting around them, they all needed some form of release! It wasn't their fault so many people died outside the school! They could have easily found such a different place, people were just idiots on that day and lost their heads. If they had all bunked down like he and his friends had and chilled out a little, then maybe they'd all be alive and maybe if people were generally more like him, the riot would have never happened. Domesday Report, that airborne strain. Who the hell cared!? They were all going to die anyway, might as well die with pleasure and fun in life, rather than all doom and gloom.

The headmaster understood this, so why couldn't that cunt of a cub?

But now he was face to face with the cut throat cub, with no way out and no way of protecting himself, his mouth parted open in fear, his pupils dilated in terror. But Terri was far to fast, a sick grin of pure pleasure lit her features, as she pulled Hilda from behind her back and sliced Molly's pickaxe through the air and swooshed it downwards towards the headmaster.

For a second, nothing.

Then the headmaster saw the damage, as Terri pulled the pickaxe away from him, it had cleanly spliced his penis into two pieces down the middle.

"Now... moan. I like it when you moan" Terri mused.

The headmaster screamed, a blood curdling scream of agony echoed throughout the entire church, as the headmaster bolted upwards from the ground and clutched his ruined private parts, as endless pints of blood began to spill from in-between his legs.

"Your friends all died screaming too" Terri informed him, twirling the bloodied pickaxe in her fingers, while calmly putting her dress on once again. "But I assured myself your death would be the most...agonising of them all".

The headmaster whimpered, tears and phlegm and blood running down his face, as he desperately tried to pry open the door to the room. But his bloodied fingers kept slipping on the handle.

"You better go outside" Terri stated "Go outside now actually, what you wanted to do for Violet, do yourself. Be a gentlemen for the group William, then again it was your idea. So you dug your own grave..."

"SHHHHHAAAATTT UPPPPPPPPPP!" Came the headmaster's howl of pure agony, as he wept openly and now was desperately trying to open the door.

"You had a duty, people trusted you and you fucked it up!" Terri snapped at him, allowing herself to vent as this pity spectacle of a man, tried with every fiber of his being, to escape this godforsaken cub".

"MY BROTHER DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR SELFISHNESS!" Terri exploded "THE GROUP WILL DIE BECAUSE OF YOUR SELFISHNESS, NOW GET THE FUCK OUTSIDE AND LET THE WALKERS FINISH YOU OFF! YOUR DICK SEEMS TO CONTROL YOUR DAMN LIFE, SO WITHOUT IT YOUR LIFE IS ALREADY OVER! NOW GET THE FUCK OUTSIDE LIKE YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TOO! LIKE YOU WE'RE MEANT TOO LAST YEAR IN THE RIOT! IF YOU DON'T, THEN I WILL CONTINUE TO MUTILATE YOU AND BELIEVE YOU ME, NO ONE IS COMING TO HELP YOU! YOU NEVER CAME TO HELP THEM! SO WHY SHOULD THEY HELP YOU!?

The headmaster was screaming now, knowing all of this was true, he had nothing left now...

"So... die screaming" Terri instructed him.

With that the door finally slammed open and the wailing, naked headmaster ran, he just had to run! To get the hell away from the cut-throat cub! He had to get out of this church! He was in so much fucking agony he could barely see, he could barely walk or run... but he needed fresh air! He needed out! He could see Terri behind him, that cub, no! NO! That cub couldn't catch him! No! He began tearing down the barricade to front door of the church, as the cub slowly approached him.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" He screeched, throwing pieces of the barricade out of the way and in his crazed state, dragging pews away from the church's entrance.

Terri simply smiled, as everyone bolted awake around her, at the commotion that was being caused.

The headmaster symbolised everything Wellington was, an uncaring, cold and sex obsessed society, where everyone only looked out for themselves. But the community hid this under a façade of being a friendly place, a place where everyone looked out for each other and were people were professional in their careers. Now as Terri watched the last of her victims slowly wither away and die, she knew her time as the cut-throat cub had come to an end. The cub had died with the last remnant of Wellington, that came in the form of this headmaster.

She had completed her revenge at last and had avenged her brother and all the ghosts of Wellington High.

With this Wellington was now truly dead, whether that was a good or bad thing was left up for debate. All Terri knew is that she had set in motion and had taken the first step...

...To life, beyond Wellington.

* * *

_Molly felt the force of the bullet tear into her torso, the impact was followed by a searing pain, shooting upwards and through her body. A warm rush found it's way up her __throat and she found that blood drooled from her mouth._

_Click_

_The empty rattle of a gun, made Molly look up. It seemed like the woman had failed to shoot her for the second time._

_"Piece of shit" she snapped, tossing the gun to a faraway point in the snow "Never mind Jane, never mind. We'll finish this" she muttered harshly to herself, as she held the nail file tightly in her fingers and began to charge forwards through the snow, Molly bowed her head._

_"So it's Jane is it?" Molly croaked, just as Jane came within a foot of her and prepared to jab her nail file, right between Molly's arm._

_Suddenly, with no warning what-so-ever, Molly felt herself tense up and swing her arm upwards, Hilda who seemed attached to her arm at this point, sliced cleanly through this Jane's woman's wrist, as her detached hand with her nail file still clenched within it, hit the ground with a sickening THUNK._

_"Meet Hilda" Molly groaned, as she slowly rose to her feet, with a bloody smile "and I'm Molly by the way"_

_"I'm such a badass" Present Molly thought proudly to herself, as Jane gasped held her spurting stump of an arm and openly spat at where Molly was still barely standing. Mustering the strength she had left, Molly felt her temper flare at how this woman had spat at her and felt herself lumber forwards, with Hilda (still coated in Jane's blood), ready to plunge itself into this hostile woman's body, once again._

_That didn't happen._

_Instead Jane dived out of the way at the last second, landing stomach flat on the snow, she used her remaining left hand to pry her nail file from her amputated hand. Before Molly could get her bearings, Jane had leapt on her back and had stabbed the nail file through her shoulder blades._

_"FAAAAAAACCCCKKKK!" Molly screeched in agony._

_"Molly, meet Jamie" Jane greeted in sick humor, as she dag the small nail file deeper and deeper into Molly's back. Molly clenched her eyes shut in agony as she felt, blood spurt up and roll down her back, in an increasing volume._

_"No" Molly thought to herself "It doesn't end here, not like this"._

_Not knowing where she found the strength from, she used her arm (with Hilda still her in grip) and flung it backwards. Her beloved weapon ended up lodged in Jane's hip. The short haired woman, screamed and dislodged Hilda from her hip, as she rolled across the snowy ground, giving Molly enough time to get too her shaky feet once again. But by this point, Jane was already up and charging at her once again, ignoring her own lost limb and the new current of blood that ran down from her hip, from where she had been stabbed._

_Once again, Molly raised Hilda in self defense, as both Hilda and Jamie collided in mid-air, with a sparring CLANK that echoed throughout the snow laden forest. _

_Grunting, Molly pulled away from where her and Jane's weapons (both named after their deceased younger sister's) were connected and charged forward once again. Hilda swung through the air and once again collided, with where Jane quickly used Jamie to shield her face. Locked in combat once again, Jane pushed Jamie forward, so that Molly felt herself sway and found the sharp end of Jamie, inches from her own eye._

_With a burst of strength, Molly used her curved icepick to lodge the straight and small nail file, straight from Jane's own grip, as Jamie landed (defeated) within the snow. Without giving Jane another second to dive back towards Jamie, Molly swished Hilda through the air once again, and Hilda successfully silt through Jane's neck. For a second there was nothing... and then Jane felt the all encompassing pain, but she couldn't scream, but only choke on her own blood as she slowly fell to the ground, trying to stem the flow of blood from her neck, with her trembling fingers._

_"Ah... ah..." she turned to say, but only blood poured endlessly from her mouth. _

_Jane fell, as did Molly. The blonde woman's own blood loss finally catching up to her, now that the rush of adrenaline from the fight she had, had now seemingly evaporated in the aftermath of the fight. She sat slumped against a tree, things bobbing strangely in her vision as she wiped blood from her eyes, she couldn't move her heavy limbs at all, she could (ironically) only use her eyes, as they rolled towards her dying opponent. _

_Jane blood-soaked remaining hand, desperately tore through the cold air, in front of her, as she feebly tried too drag herself towards Clementine's corpse._

_"Uk... anna... cond...ance...ack...tine... mie..."_

_With that, Jane stopped moving, her eyes still open as the blood gushing from her cadaver, soaked into the pure white snow around her prone form._

_"What a mess" Molly thought to herself, as she managed to lift her head to the purple-ish coloured sky beyond the nest of tree's above her. Dying like this, it wasn't really that bad at all, it wasn't even that painful, Molly could feel her own blood leaving her system, but she simply felt too drowsy to move, as her vision began to blacken, she dropped her gaze once again, to the bloodied pickaxe still in her fingers._

_"We won Hilda, we won" she panted deliriously, before laughing to herself, coughing up some more blood, she held onto Hilda tighter once again. Surviving for this long, it had taken it's toll on her and she realised in those moments how peaceful dying really was._

_and how happy she was._

_"I'll coming back to you now Hilda" Molly now felt herself weeping, "Get everything ready for me up there... okay?"_

_The only response she got, was the gist of the winter winds, bathing in this news and the last thing she saw, being the graceful, clear winter sky stretched out above her dying body. Molly finally allowed herself to fall into a layer of comforting darkness... _

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

Molly snapped awake, into blackness at this very sudden and audible shout, emitting from a point to her left. She wasn't the only one to awaken because of this, many of the others awoke as well, just as William Cecil pried to church doors wide open and managed to get one foot outside, before a dozen walkers fell on his naked, wailing form and instantly began to feast on his fresh, flesh.

"THE DOORS OPEN!"

"CLOSE THEM!"

Several people snapped out of their stupor's and raced towards the church door, all while Terri Rogers wrapped her slim hands around the rotting clothes of walkers, and dragged them within the church, when she had about six of them, that's when everyone else managed to slam the doors shut (unaware of the walkers, as Terri made a quick and efficient job, of slicing them up with Hilda). Luke, Robert, Tom, Luis and 3 other men got to work on slamming the doors shut, however as they did, the headmaster's screaming had stopped and a first "AH!" from Luke along with the door being pushed inwards, confirmed the walkers (with the vast number of them) had quickly devoured the headmaster. Leaving them now focused on the rest of the prey.

"I NEED HELP! WE CAN'T HELP THEM BACK HERE!" Luke roared, his face was already shining in sweat and he had barely been holding the door for seconds. Instantly, Clementine, Nick, Maria, JJ, Rebecca, Miss King and even a reluctant Jason ran up to the door to try and hold it back and instantly felt the pressure of thousands of walkers against their own futile attempts.

"PUT THE BARRICADE AGAIN!"

"I CAN'T REACH!"

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

"WHAT THE HELL DID HE DO!?"

All these panicked questions and exclamations rang through the church, Terri was already busy smearing herself in walker guts, while everyone else panicked. She simply waited for everyone to point out what she had done. It would take them seconds to figure it out and she simply didn't care, instead she heard someone shout her name. She looked up to find every single eye in the church, trained directly on her blood drenched form.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THEM FROM!?" Rebecca roared.

"Outside" Terri announced "He provided a great distraction while he lasted".

"YOU PLANNED THIS DIDN'T YOU!" Robert thundered in fury, "THIS WAS YOUR PLAN! YOU DID THIS! I SAW HIS DICK SLICED IN TWO! I SAW HOW YOU PRACTICALLY RAN HIM OUT OF THIS CHURCH! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU! WHAT DID HE DO!?"

"He killed my brother" Terri told him calmly "On the day of the riot, he failed his duty to protect us. I was simply ensuring he now fulfilled this duty".

"YOU TOLD US, THERE WAS NO ONE IN THAT SCHOOL!" Luis exclaimed.

"I lied" Terri bluntly replied, looking a hurt Luis, directly in his remaining eye.

"WHO THE HELL GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THIS!?" Robert screamed "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! I'M LEADER HE...!"

"Let me tell you this" Terri began to explain "Every Wolf has a cub"

"NO!" Robert screamed in instant denial, understanding instantly in those moments who Terri Rogers really was, "YOU CAN'T BE... YOU'RE... YOU'RE THE CUT-THROAT CUB!"

There were several gasps between the remaining members of the group, all of whom knew the notorious cut-throat cub very well, from the numerous reports in the papers detailing how the cub had murdered 13 people and now it all made sense, she was after all, aiming for William Cecil's group all along.

"Oh My God..." Maria proclaimed, sinking to her knees in shock and holding her head in her hands.

"SOMEBODY KILL HER!" A woman shrieked "SHE'S A MURDERER!"

"BITCH!"

"GO ROT IN A HOLE! ROBERT KILL HER!"

It was then Terri began to laugh, cold, unforgiving laughter, that encompassed all the remaining church members.

"It's so funny!" Terri screamed in mirth "I can hardly believe it can you?"

Everyone was now silently staring.

"You see, this murderer has the guts she needs!" Terri informed them, "While you're all stuck defending a damn door, what the hell can you do, huh?"

It then became apparent to everyone, they were all holding the door, Molly had managed to stumble over next to Luke, where she joined in pushing against the walkers. The only person who remained seated was Eddie, with Violet still on his lap.

"Now Robert let's talk about a deal" Terri said, looking at the leader directly in his eyes "I'll push these corpses up too you, so you can all use them to cover yourselves. Because this church isn't going to last now, under the promise you don't kill me. Or that you plan to kill me in the near future, if anyone tries to kill me. You have to grant the cub-throat cub protection, can you honestly do that?"

There were a few seconds of silence, as the banging at the door grew, ever louder.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE!" A woman finally screamed "ROBERT DON'T DO IT! IT'S A TRAP! SHE'LL KILL US ALL AS SHE SLEEPS!"

"HANG ON!" Luke interjected "ROBERT LISTEN TO WHAT'S SHE SAYING! SHE MIGHT BE A MURDERER, BUT WE CAN'T ACT ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY AND PRETEND WE'RE ALL SAILING ON A BETTER SHIP! SHE DID THIS FOR THE GROUP! SHE GOT US THE WALKERS WE NEED! AIN'T THAT RIGHT TERRI!?"

"Correct" Terri mused, now beaming.

"WE NEED HER AROUND, SHE SAVED OUR ASSES, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" Luke roared.

"SHE GOT US INTO THIS MESS, IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Another man bellowed "KILL HER FOR FUCK'S SAKE! SHE WON'T GIVE US THE BODIES ANYWAY! AND THAT GUY OVER THERE AND DO IT FOR US!"

"SHE HAS THE WEAPON THOUGH!" Miss King screamed in fear.

"WAIT, SHE HAS HILDA!?" Molly asked, clearly appalled.

"EDDIE!" Rebecca called "EDDIE! GET OVER HERE AND DO SOMETHING!"

Eddie was silent and still, finally after what seemed like a short struggle, he stood up, Violet lay on the ground next to him.

"It was you wasn't it!" He snapped, an unusually aggressive growl, replacing his usually laid back tone of voice.

"Me, what?" Terri inquired.

Everyone was staring between the pair of them now.

"YOU KILLED THE HEADMASTER, FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF THE GROUP!" Eddie suddenly exploded "IS THAT WHY YOU KILLED VIOLET AS WELL!"

A shocked silence reigned over the remaining group, as this news had yet to digest with everyone who was currently watching.

"Wait!" Stephanie shouted "Violet, is she...!?"

"SHE'S DEAD!" Eddie announced, anguish interlaced in his screams in his grief stricken tone, "SHE HASN'T GOT A PULSE! SHE'S NOT BREATHING!"

"EDDIE! OH MY GOD EDDIE I'M SO SORRY HONEY!" Rebecca shouted over at him "SHE... SHE MUST HAVE BLED OUT OR...!"

"NO!" Eddie declared dramatically "SHE PROMISED ME, SHE'D FIGHT! SHE CAN'T JUST DIE! NOT LIKE THAT, SHE CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME LIKE THAT! SHE HAD TO HAVE BEEN KILLED AND NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY! DID YOU THINK KILLING HER WOULD GIVE A BETTER CHANCE! HUH!? TERRI!? DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT!"

"I didn't kill her" Terri told him "and I don't know who did, she must have died by natural causes. She had a horrible wound after all..."

"WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT!" Eddie spoke over her "I LOVED HER! AND NOW I'VE FUCKING LOST HER! I FUCKING LOSE EVERYONE! WHY...!" Eddie's sentence finished there, as a fresh round of tears, overcame him, as she wept openly into his hand, AJ wanted to scream the truth to him, but when he looked at Tom and then Robert. He knew he had to stay silent, Terri and Tom didn't want to do this, Robert had made them. Whereas Tom himself kept silent, his group was in the shit as of now, he expected a third degree very soon...

"KILL HER!" Came Robert's sudden roar to Eddie, as Eddie looked up at him.

"JUST KILL HER AND GIVE US THE CORPSES!" Robert exploded at Eddie once again, as Eddie blinked stupidly.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE! YOU INSENSITIVE PILE OF SHIT!" Rebecca shrieked "GIVE THE MAN A MINUTE!"

"WE DON'T HAVE A DAMN MINUTE" Robert roared in return, referring to the door, which was slowly giving away behind them, despite all of their efforts.

"EDDIE DON'T DO IT!" Luke shouted at his ally.

"EDDIE PLEASE!" Clementine pleaded, backing up Luke. By digesting everything she had heard, she wasn't as shocked as she thought she would be, to learn that Terri Rogers was the infamous Cut-Throat Cub, she may have been a murder, but they needed her around and getting rid of her now, would have long term consequences for the rest of the group.

"It doesn't matter" Terri decided to inform them all "Whether or not Eddie decides to charge forward or not. You've broken your promise Robert, you want me dead. Lots of others do. So I'm going to clear off until things die down"

"HEY!" Robert screamed, as Terri began to walk away "WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING!?"

"I'm taking Hilda here, smashing an upstairs window, jumping out of it and will proceed through the herd, using the walker guts method" Terri explained clearly and almost comically in this insane situation, "You want me gone anyway, so it's the solution that benefits all of us, don't you agree?"

"You'll come back though, won't you?" Robert snarled "I can't risk having you around"

"Fair enough then" Terri told him, with a small smile highlighting her features "Good luck not having me around, many of you are going to die screaming, just like the headmaster there..."

"GET THE HELL OUT, WITCH!" Someone shouted, losing their head.

"JUST KILL HER!" Someone else demanded of a still-staring Eddie.

"LEAVE NOW!" Robert demanded "DON'T COME BACK! NOT FOR YOUR GROUP! NOT FOR ANYONE! STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS GROUP, YOU GODFORSAKEN MURDERER!"

With this judgement hanging over her head, Terri simply smiled once again and bowed to Robert, before she departed, skipping away covered head to toe in walker guts. For the briefest of seconds, she looked back and gazed directly at Tom, she nodded slightly and Tom understood instantly what that meant. She was going to come back to them, in some way, shape or form, she would find her way back and that gave Tom even more reason to make sure Robert was out of the way, because it was now clearer than ever, that it was either Robert's leadership or his own. Getting rid of someone who had saved their asses, by getting them the walker guts was a stupid move, if people were going to let their hearts led them, rather than their heads, then they were all, truly, going to die.

"She comes up to you, kill her!" Robert snapped, directly to Tom who blinked and returned to face the angry ex-editor "I don't want any of this she was previously in my group, bullshit. She's a murderer, one of the worst kinds. She laughed at us! Laughed at the thought of us suffering and she just left us without even offering to help us! I want to know where your loyalties lie here Tom".

Tom was able to formulate a very quick reply.

"I'm with you Robert, I'm... I'm in shock myself..."

He looked over at the rest of us group, a sobbing Maria gazed back up at him, Luis glare tore right through his fake facade in an instant, while JJ looked slightly blank once again, Tom guessed he was either in shock or thinking about something. Either way he knew Luis (and probably Maria for that matter) knew he wasn't being entirely truthful, they knew he had some role to play in all this.

But for now, they wisely kept silent.

"We're all shocked" Tom said to him "We're with you Robert..."

"Glad to hear" Robert panted, before he turned to Eddie "OI YOU! GET MOVING YOU USELESS SACK OF SHIT!"

If looks could kill, Rebecca would have murdered Robert fives time over.

"THE CORPSES, WE NEED THE DAMN CORPSES!" Robert continued to shout, followed by the rest of the church group, shouting similar things. A now dry eyed and blankly staring Eddie, lugged the already cut open corpses towards the group by the door, slowly, surely and wordlessly he began to reach his hand inside of the walkers and pull out an array of guts which he smeared the group members within, as he smearing the ex-editor, Robert sighed to himself.

"Listen here man, I'm sorry" Robert told him "But you need to understand I'm leader here, I got a lot of pressure on my shoulders. There's no doubt about it that Terri girl killed Violet. I know you're grieving man, so I am. Violet was a great girl but, you need to reign it in until we're in a safe place. Okay? She wouldn't have wanted you to die as well. I forgive you for not going to kill Terri, I asked too much of you..."

"No, it's cool man" Eddie reassured him, yet there was no conviction behind his words "I understand, I..." yet Eddie was unable to finish his sentence, as he finished covering Robert and went to his own group who offered him sympathies he didn't really hear, that wasn't until Rebecca was next to him.

"Eddie" she told him sternly.

He looked up.

"Don't give up" was all she said, Eddie then felt someone rubbing something wet on his back and looked down to see AJ, rubbing walker guts over his own clothes.

"You need some too" was all AJ said.

It was then Eddie felt the tears well in his eyes, wiping them away he bent down to AJ's level and muttered (with a small smile) "Yeah dude, mind if you help your mum looking after stupid old me?"

"Of course" AJ muttered, but the 4 year old's gaze kept filtering away from Eddie's intense brown gaze and back from Violet, to Tom, to Robert, while Rebecca was busy wiping guts all over Eddie's still form. Eddie became aware of AJ's discomfort, as he eyes flew from Violet's body, back to Tom and then back to Robert.

"Hey little dude, are you okay?" Eddie finally asked in concern.

Aj flinched, Eddie couldn't know anything.

"F-fine" AJ stuttered "Are you okay Eddie?"

"I'm just, being stupid but I'm fine" Eddie mumbled sadly, his gaze finding the ground below him, before he tried to summon whatever inner strength he had, while gazing at AJ once again. Even in his grieving state, it was obvious to Eddie that something really was bothering the 4 year old in front of him.

"AJ, are you sure you don't want to talk about anything?" Eddie asked of him, while AJ felt his heart rate increase, if Eddie could see he was uneasy, then who else.

"It's nothing, it's fine" AJ mumbled in haste, his eyes darting back from Violet's body to Robert once again. Deciding to drop the subject for now, Eddie remained silent but suspicious, something wasn't adding up and as much as he simply wanted to lay down and die in those moments. There was nagging tick at the back of his mind, that there was more to Violet's death then what met his eye and that one thought was enough to keep him standing in those moments, as Robert began to address the group.

"OKAY! EVERYONE COVERED!?"

There was a universal nod of agreement at this.

"ALRIGHT! WE HEAD TO THE HOSPITAL FIRST! WE GATHER ALL THE SUPPLIES WE CAN CARRY! WE KEEP CALM AND THEN WE'LL HEAD TO PEOPLE'S HOUSES TO COLLECT BELONGINGS AND WEAPONS! THE GROUP WILL STAY TOGETHER NO MATTER WHAT! SPLITTING UP NOW IS FAR TOO RISKY! AFTER WE'VE GOT WHAT WE NEED, WE'LL LEAVE WELLINGTON AND ONCE WE'RE AT A REASONABLE DISTANCE FROM THIS GOD DAMN WALKERS! WE WILL DISCUSS OUR NEXT MOVE! AGREED!"

"YESSSSSSS! Came the universal roar of agreement.

"ARE WE READY!?"

"YESSSSSS!" Came the war like cry, from the remaining group, as the door finally gave way, flinging open, in seconds the group were swarmed by thousands of walkers. As they spilled into the church and went directly past them, as the group held their breaths in anticipation.

"Okay everyone..." Robert hissed "Stay close and let's go!"

Slowly but surely, the group advanced from out of the church, drenched in walker guts with the winter winds stinging at their skin. Suffice to say they were frozen to the bone.

Molly grasped the air in front of her, feeling the forms of walkers stumbling around everywhere around her, she held her breath nervously. Her death in her pre-life had been peaceful, a death here certainly wouldn't have been. In her nervous state she held her breath, her empty hand grasping for her lost weapon.

"Fuck you Terri" Molly muttered to herself "Killing people can be forgiven, but taking Hilda cannot", however Molly sighed after she muttered this. She was lost without her trusted weapon by her side, what on earth was she meant to do now...

Without warning, a blood drenched, yet warm, hand slipped perfectly into her own.

"I got ya" came Luke's kind southern drawl, from next to her "I'm gonna lead you out of here Molly, I promise"

Molly wanted to tell him then about the dream she had, about how she had encountered his ex (she had connected the dots, the Jane she saw and the Jane Luke were always banging on about had to be the same people). That would have all made for a very interesting chat, but right now that wasn't what Molly wanted to tell him. Or at least express to him, with walkers on all their sides and about to walk into new dangers with a high likelihood of dying, there was only one thing she could do and with his warming presence by her side, she knew now was the right time.

She used her remaining hand to curve around his neck and pull his head next to her's, their lips met for a deep kiss, in which Luke instantly (and rather enthusiastically) responded too, by using his remaining free arm, to wrap it around Molly's waist and pull her closer, as their kiss grew deeper.

As soon as it started though, it was over. As Molly pulled away, both of them panting slightly. Molly didn't want to make this relationship public this fast, so the kiss had to end fast and judging by the lack of wolf whistles coming in their direction, added to the walkers obscuring everyone else's view. Molly doubted anyone had seen their brief (yet meaningful) kiss.

"Later, lover boy. We'll talk later" Molly told him, Luke didn't say anything, but as he squeezed her hand even tighter, Molly knew this simple action spoke a thousand words he couldn't in those moments. She was aware of herself smiling as well, grinning foolishly like an idiot in the face of the biggest herd she had ever walked through, yet she was smiling and she could tell Luke was smiling too.

Meanwhile, Clementine kept between the forms of Nick and Stephanie, Stephanie muttering down to her "Stay next to us Clem, you're small. If you lose you, we won't be able to find you..."

"Okay" Clementine muttered, she could see the rest of the group around her, they were all okay, for now. Luke, Molly by her side (she had missed them kissing) Eddie, Rebecca, AJ, Luis, Maria, Tom and JJ. Without Terri there group was even smaller, but Clementine gathered that despite being alone in a herd this big, somehow Terri would be fine. There was also that asshole, Jason staring directly at her, for some strange reason, Clementine noticed he had been silent the whole argument, it was his perfect opportunity to speak up, yet he hadn't done. This struck Clementine as very odd, she'd only known him a short while but he seemed to love the sound of his own voice, so why be silent now? and why was he looking at her? When Jason saw her looking back at him, he made a show of looking away once again.

But for now, she focused her attention in front of her, where there was just an endless barrage of rotting walkers.

Nick and Stephanie took a step forward, preparing to leave a church for a second time, Clementine held her breath and plunged straight into a new sort of hell.

Hoping, things truly did turn out better this time.


	26. House Of Cards

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews once again you guys and I'll get onto answering them! **

**ShatteringSoul- Yes, Jane will start to play a role once again as the chapters progress, although that's all I'm sharing for the time being, as for what Jane said, you've got some of it so kudos on you for that as I read it back and struggled to understand what she said as well, before I realised I bloody wrote it! Suffice to say I suffered from author's embarrassment before I managed to figure it out again, but I think the reader's got the gist of what she was trying to say and I love how every reviewer so far has pointed out how unfortunate it was Clem couldn't give Luke or Molly, one of her infamous "looks" for kissing at a time like that, also for Terri's scene, yep murdering the headmaster and going off alone is fine and all, but you when you steal Hilda that's crossing the line...as for Robert,Tom and Maria you'll have to wait and see if you're predictions are right this chapter. Either way thanks again for another detailed review! **

**Justsomeguy23- Yeah, Grammar is my poorest point when it comes to writing but I will try to work on it this chapter. Anyway I see you and many others think last chapter upped the intense factor, well, wait and see what this chapter gives...**

**Chameishida- Yep, Badass Molly and I'm glad you're liking her with the epic past fight with Jane and all, the shouting match between them, dropping the titles of the fic was meant to be symbolic or something, but reading it back it did sound rather humorous. Suffice to say Tom may have to go to even greater lengths if he wants to save his hide for even longer in this fic. As for JJ and Terri, it's already been established Terri's done some messed up stuff. While so far JJ/TT has only inflicted damage on enemies, but keep an eye of JJ/TT as his role will continue to grow... and sorry for the typo's will try and clear that up this chapter (although the success rate maybe limited). **

**and finally AquaDestinysEmbrace and ffapathy all the points I've mentioned above, I think pretty much cover everything given in your reviews. Although ffapathy I did like your analysis of the characters once again and I see you're loving/shipping Molly and Luke, while Tom continues to surprise you, all in all thanks again everyone and now onto chapter 26!**

**(P.S. Long ass chapter ahead and also what do people make of the Michonne DLC if you have played or seen it. Is it any good? I haven't had any time to see it yet or play it, but hopefully it shows signs of improvement from Season 2 and gives us something to look forward too while going into Season 3!)**

* * *

"Ugh..."

It was the Universal groan of the dead populace of Wellington that pressed tirelessly against Clementine's eardrums, that made her shiver the way she did. It wasn't the fact she was soaked in walker guts and that it was freezing out here in the pitch black night, no. No matter how many times she thought she was used to dealing with walkers, they still interjected a sense of fear into her. Admittedly not as much as they had done when she was a frightened 8 year old, but having been in Wellington for two years now and having to deal with people, she had almost completely forgotten the threat of walkers.

Not anymore.

"The bite's not going to kill you, calm down" Clementine thought to herself, trying hard to control her breathing, as she clung onto Stephanie's hand in front of her, but the sheer number of these lumbering corpses, that could puncture a vital vein or artery, with their teeth and hands was more than enough to get her concerned for her life. The last time she had been through herds this big...

The first time had been with Lee and she knew how that ended.

The second time had been with Luke's group, when they escaped Howe's in a pre-life and that was when everything went wrong for them.

The third time had been in Luke's timeline and everything went to hell, during and after walking through that herd.

Lee, Carlos, Sarita, Kelly... in her mind, those were the people lost to her as the result of herds this big and the consequences of walking through a herd and dealing with the aftermath, well that's how her first life had fallen apart...

If she thought about it, she was given her second chance just before a herd ruined it all for her and was given the chance to prevent it all. Whereas Luke had been given a second chance after a herd and had to manage the aftermath, while he had too get as many of his group to Wellington as he could, against the cult, a cult Clementine was responsible for creating by not shooting the leader when she should have done.

The cult existed because of her, Luke had to deal with her mess, whereas it wasn't Luke's fault she had to deal with Carver and his gang...

She was getting these melancholy thoughts, because she could see the outline of graves in the dark night which cast her mind back to her failures and sure enough when Stephanie stopped in her tracks, Clementine knew whose grave they had reached.

"I'm so sorry" Clementine heard Stephanie croak to a point below her.

"Stef" Nick whispered, as he placed a comforting arm around her, she fell into his embrace and with both of them holding back tears, they proceeded onwards into the twisted jungle of corpses ahead of them. As Clementine looked up at the raven haired couple, she caught a clear glimpse of Nick's bright, cat like blue eyes, gazing back at another grave. He let out another sigh and lead his wife onwards, moving on for good and in a few seconds Clementine would join them.

But as she looked down at Sarah's grave for the final time, she discovered then she really didn't want to leave.

She couldn't even muster anymore words to say to Sarah, she just gazed down at the grave and then back at Lilly's. She could see Kenny's old red cap was placed on the gravestone, Lilly was wearing it when she died and it was the final remnant of Kenny's new family and of the bearded Floridian himself. He was long gone, as were both Lilly's and Christa and Omid, all of her old group were now truly gone as was Sarah. For a split second she could envision all of them standing there, smiling at her and waving.

Omid was wearing his jolly smile and goofy face, Christa's arm was enveloped around her shorter boyfriend, her eyes glistening with the maternal love for Clementine, while a blue bundle lay nestled in her long arms. Kenny was flashing her a grin, with a salute he seemed to be rooting her onwards, while Sarita was beaming at her. Lilly was wedged between her parents, the parents she had never met in life, holding both of their hands and sharing her mother's smile at Clementine. The older Lilly, was leaning on a nearby grave and gave Clementine an encouraging smile and in between them all, with the largest smile, was Sarah of course...

She didn't say a word, but she felt her legs move of their own accord, as she gripped onto Stephanie's hand and the graves soon vanished from view, as did the people in her past. This was truly it, whatever happened in this herd or in it's aftermath. It was the third chapter of her life, the cult was gone and Carver was gone, whatever happened now depended on the walkers.

As well as the people in her group.

* * *

It was fast.

Luke hadn't expected it to be, he held onto Molly's hand as he followed the burly forms of Tom and Robert through the herd towards the hospital. He expected someone to scream, he expected at least one person to die. He expected it start raining like it did last time and then... all hell would break loose. Or he expected someone to break down and scream, hence throwing the group into complete chaos. Every gut churning second that passed and with every step he took, he expected disaster.

Five minutes into the herd, in an ocean of moving corpses with no idea where he was, his heart was racing and he was coated in sweat. He kept flickering his eyes back to Molly, for some form of distraction from just staring at the corpses. Before he remembered that he was meant to be leading her and would keep gazing back at Tom and Robert. The group all around him, yet no where in particular, an occasional pale face among a never ending mosaic or rotting black faces.

Robert, despite Luke's previous doubts about him seemed to be holding himself together, to lead everyone towards the hospital.

It seemed that the 20 minute trek to the hospital went on for an age, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon when they reached the large building, as if the star in their solar system was nervously peeking it's imaginary eyes at them, to see if they had made it to live and breathe another day.

The glass doors to the hospital were being held open for Luke... it was if he was suffocating in that herd, it was as if the whole group had sucked all the air out of Wellington, to hold their breaths on that unnerving journey. But the second Luke dragged himself and Molly inside of the cool air of the hospital, he breathed a massive sigh of relief. Looking around the reception area for the now abandoned hospital, everything seemed quiet, with no walkers bothering to enter this place. Although Luke knew there had to be some walkers around this hospital somewhere, as well as people. Some of which may have still been recovering from their injures in the past riot and could not attend the wedding.

"Well this seems cosy" Molly muttered, regarding the peaceful ambiance she could hear.

"Everyone keep your guards up" Robert snapped, "It's too quiet here to be true"

He waited until the last of the group had funnelled inside of the hospital, the doors were carefully closed by Maria, who entered the hospital last, breathing a sigh of relief, Robert's eyes diverted to the floors above him as he scanned one face and then another.

"It's best we spilt up" he ordered "If he travel in small groups of 3, than we'll be able to cover the whole hospital, everyone gather whatever you can, meds, bags to carry meds, hell even weapons if you come across them. Food and drink are important as well, so I'll put together the groups I think will work..."

"Hang on" Luke piped up "Don't we get something of a say in all this?"

"I'll be keeping groups in general together, don't worry" Robert informed him, before he began to pair off the people that had voted for him, into clumps of 3. To Clementine they were starting to look like an imposing large group, against her own and the diminished size of Tom's group was no comfort to her at all.

"Okay, Billy seems like you're still left" Robert noted, gazing over a middle aged man who had been left out of Robert's followers. The ex-editor scanned his eyes quickly to find two people to travel with this gentle looking man and soon enough a conclusion was drawn instantly in his mind.

"Clementine!" he called out "and Jason, you two go with Billy over here!"

"Now hold on a minute...!" Luke began to thunder instantly, as he shouted this Clementine gazed over at Jason, who gave her a very quick wink and something of a smirk. He almost seemed amused by this fact, almost as if he could see this coming a mile away. Turning away from the British asshole of a survivor, Clementine diverted her attention back towards Luke.

"Luke honestly it's fine!" Clementine informed him.

"She's seen some shit, but surely you can leave her alone for five minutes can't you!?" Robert cruelly inquired of Luke. The former farmhand cast a worried glance in Clementine's direction. Before he released all of his anxiety with a sigh and tried to calm himself down.

"Okay" he finally seemed to breathe.

"Good, the girl needs to integrate with other people, I thought this choice would be best for her" Robert reasoned.

"Clem, honey. If there is a problem..." Rebecca began.

"I'll be fine Rebecca" Clementine muttered, the sort of snappish tone she used to take with Rebecca, returning to her voice, of here in all places.

"Now as for you Rebecca" Robert said, aiming his gaze on the mid aged mother.

"Alvin stays with me" Rebecca spat out, anyone who tried to pry herself and son apart would no doubt, be ripped apart themselves and it was a challenge Robert was not up for. Leading them through a herd, was something he had managed to do successfully, but separate Rebecca from her son, to look around a potentially dangerous hospital was not a smart move. Particularly with what happened last time Rebecca left Alvin (in both riots) still being fresh in her mind.

"I guess Alvin doesn't count as a third person in grand scheme of things, sorry kid" Robert told to a silent AJ, who continued to cling onto his mother's leg. "I'll send you off with Eddie and Cristina".

"Jolly good" Miss King chirped, while Eddie just continued to look downtrodden.

"Luis, Maria and JJ" Robert called, as the three nodded at their group.

"Nick and Stephanie, I'll give you two some time alone together. Plus you need to change your clothes" Robert noted, at the pair's skimpy t-shirts which now, even further soaked in blood, showed more of what was underneath. If Clementine was freezing beforehand she dreaded to think how Stephanie and Nick were coping, with their bare legs exposed to the elements.

"Sounds like a plan" Nick muttered in agreement.

"Guess that leaves us four then" Molly concluded, counting herself, Luke, Robert and Tom, yet to be assorted into a group.

"Right then, Molly you can actually go off with Rebecca's group" Robert announced "I'm taking Tom and Luke with me, there are matters we need to discuss".

Luke looked disappointed and Molly certainly felt the same, that they wouldn't be able to air their thoughts to each other in a private place. Shrugging this off for the time being, Molly muttered to him "Best of luck, country boy"

"You too"

"Alright, we'll meet back here in an hour!" Robert shouted "Now everyone, let's go!"

* * *

Clementine knew the hospital was quiet, too quiet for that matter as she placed one cautious foot in front of the other, with no weapon in hand she felt especially vulnerable as she scanned the empty white corridor for anything she could have used. Hell she used basic objects to prevent Troy saving her life back at Howe's and judging by the fact she was with an asshole right now.

Why not repeat the process?

CRASH!

Her heart rate accelerating, she turned around to find that other guy her and Jason were with, Billy or something like that had searched inside a nearby drawer, only for his clumsy hand to knock a torrent of empty pill bottles to the ground, they cascaded with clatters that would draw any walker within 100 feet, straight towards the spot, after a few seconds of unnerving, heart pounding silence, no groans of walkers assaulted at neither of three's eardrums.

"Idiot!" Jason snapped at Billy instantly.

"S-sorry" Billy muttered quietly, scratching the back of his greying hairs, as the mild mannered, middle aged man, looked around, before his small green eyes found Clementine's own.

"Guess there can't be any walkers nearby" he boomed cheerfully "Otherwise they would have come down hard on our asses"

"I guess" Clementine replied, something about how cheery this man was being to her, seemed… off.

As Jason stormed on ahead, Billy decided to continue his conversation with Clementine.

"So… you erm alright?" he asked.

"Fine" Clementine replied.

"Oh, well that's good" Billy mumbled.

"Yep"

"Err… so your hat huh? Where'd you get it?"

"My dad gave it to me"

"Oh, that's nice"

"What about your… erm… coat?"

"This thing? Just something I got in Wellington I guess, keeps me warm" Billy informed her, as she inquired on the glaring red colour of his coat

"Well warm is always good"

"Yeah it is"

"So do you have any family or anything?" Clementine decided to ask, trying her hardest to generate some sort of conversation with this man. It was always nice to try and get to know new people and this conversation reminded her of some of the first awkward conversations she had with Lee.

"No. No" Billy mused with a light smile "Just me. Used to work as Psychologist here in Wellington, I can tell you, it's been a busy job".

"I can imagine"

Billy laughed "Yep, anyway we better keep an eye out. We don't where the walkers are and me with my clumsy ass…" he sounded like he was pitying himself as he said it.

"We all make mistakes" Clementine reminded him "Don't let what Jason said get you down"

"Yeah I gathered that guy is an asshole" Billy told her "It's why I voted for Robert to take power. No offence to that Luke guy he seemed nice. But Robert speaks the truth and he stood up to Jason, now that's what I like about Robert. After losing his son and wife as well, he continues to solider on. It can't be easy for him…"

"Yeah" Clementine echoed.

"I mean, I know you and that Luke are friends, but don't take this the wrong way… Clem was it?"

"Yeah"

"Well Clem. Luke just seems… broken and something of a pushover when compared to Robert. I mean, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I know he was a leader, but that might have broken him inside you know?"

"Luke's been through a lot" Clementine admitted "It was bad last time, I hope he'll be okay this time".

"Me too" Billy agreed "It always best to try and keep a group together. That's why I don't trust that other guy. Tom. His whole group just seems fucking shady. Pardon my French, but that's what I think. That JJ guy gives me a bad vibe as well…"

"I don't know…" Clementine muttered, for some reason she found her voice was trailing off and she couldn't muster anymore words of defence.

"I mean after what he was screaming in the church" Billy recalled "That kid's got something wrong upstairs. If that's the type of group Tom's leading and that Terri girl as well. Fucking hell, she was the cut throat cub! Okay, she got us the bodies, but I think it's best she stays the fuck away from us! We can't have that crazy bitch around us anymore and as for the mother and son as well, I don't know. Their whole group puts me on edge Clem, I'm sure a lot of people feel the same"

"I think they're okay" was Clementine's meek defence of them.

"Only because that Tom guy seems to be leeching off your group" Billy cut back "I mean, I've seen it. He knows Robert and lot of us are wary of him and his group. So I've seen him trying to chat to members of your group. I would advise caution against that Clem, do you really think that Violet girl really just dropped dead? I bet it was Tom's half assed attempt to raise distrust against the group so people would blame Robert as the leader for it"

"I've never thought about it like that" Clementine muttered "But she was bleeding out there Billy…"

"I know that Clem, but we need to start actually thinking about all of this" Billy began, his voice becoming intense and his stare ever harder, as he stopped standing and crouched down slightly to meet eye to eye with Clementine.

"We were once a community of thousands and now were down to a group of less than 30 people, which is getting smaller all of the time, we could actually be the last of humanity because we have the cure in our veins! Our lives are fucking important; the stakes are higher than they have ever been! We need to survive Clem, that's all there is too it"

He straightened up again, as Jason came walking back to them, while Clementine was left standing there, thinking very deeply about what he had just said.

"Nice to see you two are getting along" Jason growled, in his usual polite manner.

"We were just discussing the group and things" Billy summarised.

"Yeah, yeah whatever" Jason waved him off "Listen here, Billy no mates, there's a drawer stuffed with meds in there" he pointed to a nearby room. "Try to rectify your earlier mistake and get them all out in one piece".

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because I'm an asshole"

Billy sighed and seeing as there was arguing with Jason, he proceeded on into the room, to begin his mundane task of gaining meds for the group.

"Well, you really are as stupid as I thought" came a voice, Clementine was still thinking about what Billy had said, however when she heard this, she snapped back into the hospital and found Jason was staring down at her, with those cruel green eyes of his. That reminded Clementine so much so, of William Carver's eyes…

"What?" she questioned aloud.

"You just got played like a Xylophone and all you can say is what" Jason snarled "Honestly, the amount of crap he was force-feeding you, you might as well have just lain on your back and let him…"

"What are you talking about!?" Clementine snapped, "We were just having a friendly conversation, is something wrong with that?"

"In this situation, yes" Jason replied. "Let me teach you a damn lesson in true psychology, little girl…"

"I'm 15"

"You are still the little girl in this group" Jason said "and that's what Robert sees you as and it's what the others see you as. Learn your god-damn stereotype and learn it well, if you want to survive".

Now Clementine was listening.

"Firstly, let's analyse the situation. Robert's a smarter cookie than a lot of people think, why would he send you off with me? The token British villain and the mild mannered, friendly man, who just happens to be a psychologist?"

"I don't know" Clementine admitted.

"Automatically that makes Billy over there look nicer than me" Jason explained "It makes you more open to trust him. Especially after poor whittle Billy, drops all those meds and I have a go at him. Because he is honestly that clumsy…" Jason looked at the ground in disgust at this point.

"I don't get where you are going with all this" Clementine muttered.

"That's why I'm teaching you. Now listen" Jason commanded "He mentioned he was a psychologist, he didn't say his job was finished. He said his job was busy, which meant it was ongoing. Which meant he was still analysing people and you heard him. He was watching the groups, Tom and even Luke. So if he was watching Luke, he was obviously watching you as well and he already has you figured out Clementine".

"I'm not…" Clementine began to protest.

"Don't give me that crap" Jason snapped, cutting her off "You're not as mysterious and as cool as you think you really are. You might be a hardened little girl or teenager now. But Billy's most likely seen a hundred million little girls' like you. He had to check on them in Wellington all the damn time and assessed them when they entered Wellington. His violated you like a paedophile Clem and you don't even know it…"

"How…?"

"You have a weakness for helping weak people" Jason informed her "You wouldn't have kept the conversation with Billy ongoing had you not felt sorry for him. At first it was the classic, awkward trying to get to know you talk. After what, like 2 minutes of knowing the guy?"

"He was being nice!" Clementine protested "There isn't anything wrong with…"

"Anyone can be nice, if they wear the right mask" Jason explained "But yeah, they are going to be more inclined to be nice to you, because remember you are the little girl of the group. You fulfil their stereotype Clem. You're not a real fucking person to them, you simply fill a role and if you honestly believe they care for you. Than you are completely fucking retarded".

"It doesn't matter if they care for me or not!" Clementine exclaimed "I think it's best we try and keep the group together and getting along does that. Rather than be an ass hole like yourself…"

"Dear me, they're already brainwashing you into their way of thinking" Jason sympathised "The whole, keep the group together no matter what bullshit. God, that fucking trope makes me want to puke. Whatever bad things they've done or are planning to do, stem from that justification and getting the little girl on their side, eases their guilt. You're nice to them and you are young, they are going to use like a wrecking ball, to destroy Tom's group".

"Huh?"

"Yep. You heard how Billy spoke about Tom's group and you know he speaks to Robert a lot?"

Clementine shook her head at this question.

Jason grinned.

"So everything you just told Billy, will be going straight back to Headquarters" Jason said "The fact that Luke is broken and unfit to be leader, your growing doubts about Tom's group as well. At the end there, he got you thinking didn't he?"

Clementine nodded in understanding, her gut was slowly start to sink.

"First it will be Tom's group" Jason counted off "Then your group, then they'll start to off each other. This group is already doomed, some groups work and some don't and this one is heading straight for hell. But one thing they all want, is you around. They want you Clementine for their own selfish reasons, you play the morale compass for them and as Billy went on speaking did you notice how the awkward talk, very quickly became a deep analysis of the group?"

Clementine nodded.

"You're even just nodding at me now, in same way you turned into an automated machine, by saying yeah, when Billy kept speaking" Jason said "He has you in the palm of his hand, you've been in groups before Clementine I know that. But you are still a teenager and your group alone is a group that wouldn't break. I heard you took that cult on and survived and they were notorious for fucking with people's heads. You probably think you mastered the art of being manipulated against, but you are wrong".

"So, they're using me?" Clementine concluded.

"I wouldn't be telling you this if they were just using you Clementine" Jason muttered "Haven't you got the gist yet? Billy mentioned not having a family, all of the people backing Robert are adults who have probably lost families. You're the little girl who they see as a replacement and nothing more, they might save your life or stick up for you, but at the end of the day they won't do an actual thing that will make you happy, or do anything for you in general".

Clementine was now pondering on Jason's words; he had basically just described Lee. But Lee can't have done… Lee cared for her! Lee saved her lots of times and she liked that. But then Lee did more, he didn't keep her around for his own selfish reasons. He went through the effort of teaching her to survive and helping her grow as a person, he was brave enough to do the things Clementine hated at the time. Like cutting her hair or having her shoot a gun, he fixed the swing for her at the St. John's dairy and would sleep next to her whenever she got scared. But he also knew how to give Clementine and himself space for themselves and… the bottom line was, thinking back to Lee and false front Billy had put on. She knew the difference between someone who truly cared for her and for someone who was caring for her, for their own purposes.

If she allowed Billy to slowly manipulate her, she'd end up with one of them. Unhappy maybe, but alive and the group would be together…

But, is that what she really wanted?

She now understood, despite how long Jason had been talking to her what his bottom line really was.

Robert was going to use her, to destroy her own group and Tom's and she had blindly walked into his trap.

Because everyone trusted the word of a child.

Because everyone trusted her… stereotype.

"You get it now, don't you?" Jason mused "You need to keep close to that group of your's, or Luke at least. I know he cares about you".

Jason then turned away, Billy was still scrambling meds in the other room, but before Jason could go, Clementine had a few questions to ask him.

"Why did you tell me all this Jason?"

He turned around.

"Because I can see the outcome already and it's fucking boring and predictable" He snarled "You are the key character that can change things here Clementine. I'd rather you did, rather than everything goes to a shit-storm. Ironically I'd kind of like the group to be together in this scenario, but more or less your group in particular. You seem like the best of a bad bunch"

He turned away once again.

"You're just using us to survive aren't you?"

"Of course" Jason answered instantly "At least I'm honest about it though. I would change things if I could, but I'm the already established asshole. So I've decided to shut my mouth as of now. With tensions rising and people using each other, if I speak up now, I'm as good as dead. I need to lay low and we can't be seen speaking like this again. It's a one off, if we do. I'm as good as dead. Period."

"But how do you know about all of this?"

"Ironically I was part of a group just like you guys before" Jason decided to unveil "We holed up in a bar, but then we had our own Wellington Wolf. A crazy fucker who'd basically just murder people and leave one bloody hand-print on their bodies. Eventually after a lot of distrust and false shootings. We shot the real fucker, but by that point tensions had formed and rifts had formed too deeply, so we all offed each other. I survived because I avoided trouble and shot the last guy in my group in the back of the head and escaped that place. I've been part of about 3 groups that have gone the exact same way since then. Then I found Wellington, the fourth group like that".

"You sound a lot Luis, it's quite depressing" was all Clementine could say.

"Lippy limbless you mean? That asshole is some wannabe macho man, who thinks losing a few limbs gives him every bragging right on planet earth" Jason summarised "His bullshit of a survivalist attitude lacked so much evidence, even you saw through it and pointed it out. That kid is a lot like you actually, he thinks he knows it all, when he doesn't have a clue, I guess it's a thing with you whiny teenagers. But believe me when I say I do know what I am talking about".

He turned away for the final time, but he still had some last words for Clementine.

"Little girl, remember to play your cards right. Keep some to your chest, reveal the false one's and the real ones to the right people".

Clementine nodded, understanding his words as he departed into the other room, to berate Billy on something most likely. Being an asshole as per usual, but not as an attention seeking asshole, as he previously was.

He was playing the game.

Everyone was playing the game.

Jason had made her realise, herself and her own group were the mindless pawns, to be moved and to be used to wipe each other and whoever didn't meet Robert's fancy.

Clementine wouldn't allow that.

She wasn't going to be manipulated by anyone.

She was getting _her group_ out of here and making her second chance count, as it had always done. She was sticking with her own group and no would try and convince her otherwise, Luis' idea of gaining allies wasn't the worse one for survival and Clementine had been open to that. Just as Sarah was, Clementine had tried being like Sarah, being kind and trusting to people. Trying to be what Sarah was too her…

But she wasn't Sarah and Sarah was dead now.

It was time to start surviving.

* * *

"Nothing you guys found then?"

Rebecca, Eddie, Miss King, AJ and Molly had a surprisingly mute journey throughout the hospital. Eddie was mute for obvious reasons, but Rebecca expected her son to make at least one mandatory comment to Eddie or ask about things. Yet AJ was silent as well and despite Rebecca asking if her son was "fine" he quickly replied that he was and he was just tired. Which was a very un-AJ thing to say, Rebecca guessed after everything that had happened he was closing up, just like he had done after the first riot and after he lost his friend in Lilly.

Still, it made Rebecca worry, as all mothers would.

Then there was Molly's whose humour seemed to leave her and go off with Luke, because she too seemed absorbed in thought. Carefully treading through the hospital corridors, despite being people next to her she could use for help. Maybe it was the loss of Hilda that had made her feel this low, Rebecca noticed how she seemed to be very attached and confident when with that pickaxe. But Rebecca couldn't help but think there was another factor behind it.

Either way, in the lack of Eddie, Molly and AJ speaking, she expected the humorous Miss King to say something. Yet the British teacher had her head in the clouds as well and not even in a funny way, in which she would clumsily knock everything over, more in a way that something heavy was weighing on the former teacher's mind. Violet had been her friend as well and it seemed her death had affected her as well…

Returning to the reception, encountering no walkers, but gaining new weapons (in the forms of several sharp and discarded table legs and some baseball bats that were left lying around covered in blood. It seemed there had been a struggle at the hospital, but there were no bodies and all trails lead upstairs, to the floor Luke, Tom and Robert were covering.

They would return with news, but for the moment, it was Luis who asked the group if they had found anything. Which they had done, meds, weapons and a lot of warmer coats to wear, along with food and drinks spilled from vending machines. They had all that they needed.

Other than group morale.

Rebecca's eyes scanned over her own downtrodden group and Robert's followers who had also returned to the reception, who lay huddled in their own big group. Discussing something urgent and throwing the occasional glare at the remains of Tom's group.

"We're fine" Rebecca replied to Luis, as he walked up to himself, Maria and JJ "The others still not back yet?"

"No" Luis replied "We found stuff as well, should be good for going out there and all"

"Yeah us too" Rebecca mumbled.

Silence prevailed, Rebecca couldn't believe that out of everyone, she was being the most talkative out of everyone. Was there something she didn't know?

"What's up with everyone?" Rebecca finally asked of the group as a whole.

They all looked back at her, as if she had grown two heads.

"Violet" Eddie mumbled.

"Yeah" Miss King echoed.

"It's just really sad, Mum" AJ repeated.

"Yeah that's sad and all" Luis snarled "But there's also the issue Tom's not telling us something and all of Robert's red-shirts there, want us out of this group. In the same way they kicked Terri out".

"I'm sure it can't be that bad" Rebecca reasoned, before she turned to Maria. She was shocked to see the mother she shared so much gossip with, shared her son's pessimistic gaze in those minutes.

"I wish it wasn't" Maria mumbled "But me and Luis we're discussing it while we were looking around and it all seems true Rebecca. Not to mention Terri being that foul cub, I always knew she had issues, but being this bad…" she sighed to herself and turned to face the double doors that led out of the hospital, where dozens of walkers stumbled past the doors, without noticing the people inside.

"I hope we see her again though" Maria muttered.

"Yeah" Luis echoed "I wish she'd told us she was the Cub, I mean those bastards in the school, were the reason Brandon died. I could have helped her…"

"Don't say things like that young man!" Maria suddenly exploded at her son "That's a horrible thing to say!"

"If Terri didn't do it, we wouldn't be here" Luis reasoned.

"That's what scares me" Maria told him "You and everyone else going down this dark road. A darker road than we have ever been on previously…"

"Yeah, yeah whatever" Luis waved off, as though this wasn't an issue at all.

"Where are the others. Luke, Tom, Robert, Nick, Stef, Clem…?" Rebecca asked to break the once again, growing silence.

"Still gone" Luis mumbled.

"Well" Molly piped up at long last, with a usual inkling of humour in her voice "Do you think Nick and Stef, are busy… how shall we say. Changing clothes?"

"Now wouldn't be the time for all that" Maria informed her.

"Oh no, you'd be surprised" Molly told her "Back when I first met them. They were stark naked in the back of a car and poor Sarah had witnessed it all…"

"What, really!?" Maria inquired with large eyes.

"Oh yeah" Molly said dryly "Then merely a day later, I caught them having a little rumble in the jungle…"

"You went to a jungle?" AJ asked.

"No AJ and don't listen in on all this" Rebecca snapped, although inside she was smiling at the humour finally developing, in this stark situation.

"I bet right now, Stef's cosplaying as a sexy nurse in front of Nick" Miss King chipped in "Probably found themselves a small room to lock themselves away in…"

"Oh please" Eddie interjected, finally lifting his head, a scowl was lined on his face. He looked like he was about to yell in irritation.

"…we all know it would be Nick in the sexy nurse's outfit" Eddie said.

A chorus of ringing laughter broke out at this, as Rebecca had to smile at Eddie's strength. Despite everything, he was still able to crack a joke, rather than ruin the developing good mood and nothing could make Rebecca prouder of him, than that simple fact.

"He doesn't look like the type that would last long though" Luis added.

"Why do you think that?" Rebecca asked.

"Because, look who's coming back to us right now" Luis explained, as many heads turned and saw Nick and Stephanie walking back up to them.

"First thing he says" Rebecca predicted to the group in a whisper "He'll put on a serious face and ask, so what did you guys get? Then we don't reply and then he'll ask if Luke's back yet".

Everyone waited for a few seconds.

"So, what did you guys get?" Nick asked with a serious face.

The urge not to laugh was becoming rib cracking, as everyone played along with not replying to him.

"Is Luke back yet?"

Roaring laughter broke out at this, as Luis thumped his knee with his remaining hand, Maria giggled so much she cried. Even AJ was laughing as he got his mother's sense of humour, while Nick looked on turning pink, while Stephanie looked puzzled behind him.

"What's so funny about that!?" Nick snapped defensively.

"Just… everything!" Rebecca wheezed between her chuckles.

Stephanie patted Nick on the shoulder.

"There, there" she soothed him "We are the only couple left now. Of course we are the ones, who are going to get roasted at every social interaction"

Overhearing this, Molly wanted to correct her, but decided against it for the time being.

"But I still don't get what was funny" Nick muttered, approaching the group.

"Rebecca predicted what you'd say and she was bang on right, dude" Eddie mused.

"Really, you think I'm that predictable?" Nick asked of the group.

"Obviously" Luis replied.

"Alright Captain Obvious, of the Arr islands" Nick snapped, once again bringing up the pirate thing to Luis.

"We're bringing that up again?" Luis snarled.

"I'm always going to bring it up to you" Nick reminded him, in evil glee.

"Is this what he promises you every night Stef?" Miss King interjected.

"Promises yes, goes through with, rarely" Stephanie remarked.

A chorus of laughter broke out once again and once again, it was at a red faced Nick's expense.

"NOW YOU'RE JOINING IN!?" He screamed at Stephanie.

"Why not, seems like fun" Stephanie reasoned.

"WELL YOU KNOW, BEFORE YOU KNOCK DOWN MY SEXUAL PROWESS TO NEAR NOTHING! MAY I REMIND YOU, THAT YOU SEEMED TO BE HAVING A LOT MORE FUN WITH ME, VERY RECENTLY!"

A chorus of "OOOOhhh's" broke out at Nick's successful comeback, now it was Stephanie's turn to become red faced.

"Wait, were you two actually…?" Maria left the question hanging.

"Of course not!" Stephanie gabbled, far too quickly to come across as convincing.

"Oh my God, you fucking did! You dirty sons of bitches!" Luis yelled, with a malicious smile.

"We didn't!" Stephanie squeaked, however her red cheeks told a different story.

"At least I'm a dirty son of a bitch, who gets some" Nick taunted to Luis.

"I'm not interested!" Luis puffed.

"I bet you are" Eddie teased.

"Am not" Luis sourly replied.

"Are too" Eddie repeated.

"Are not"

"Are too"

"Are not"

"Are too"

"What about that Clementine girl, you seem to like her Luis" Maria said, breaking through Luis and Eddie's exchange.

"What, really?" Luis snapped "For fuck's sake, she is like 12…"

"Isn't she 15?" Molly corrected him, but Luis carried on regardless.

"…plus she's not interested either and from what I gathered" Luis explained "Also she confessed at the wedding she loved Sarah before. So she wasn't into guys from what I gathered…".

"Wait, when did you hear this?" Rebecca inquired instantly.

"At the wedding, I was drunk and she was sad about something I can't remember" Luis grumbled "Then we just decide to start throwing bottles and confess all our dirty little secrets. It was quite fun and then she comes out with the I love Sarah line and I realise, she could very well be the group's token lesbian".

"Did she mention herself and Sarah, doing anything together?" Eddie asked.

"Eddie!" Rebecca snapped "Mind out of the gutter, please!"

"I wasn't thinking dirty, I just wanted to know if they were in a relationship or something that they weren't telling the rest of us". Eddie explained "Besides why would I get dirty thoughts about Clem or Sarah, it's too weird. Clem still looks like a little girl to me and Sarah was always the innocent one"

Anyway, to answer your earlier question, No. I don't think she did" Luis cut in.

"Awww, it must have been a crush then" Stephanie said "I always got a slight feeling, you know they were best friends. But the way Clementine admired Sarah…"

"I can't believe she wouldn't tell us about it" Nick muttered "We'd have been fine with it. I mean, we're not all racist, homophobes here".

"Yeah, my granddaddy's dead, so were all in the clear" JJ muttered sourly, speaking for the first time. He laughed a little at his own joke, but otherwise kept silent.

"Did Sarah feel the same about Clementine though?" Miss King said "I mean, I can't contribute much, but Clementine was very quiet and distant in my class after Sarah died and beforehand they were very good friends".

"Maybe we should just ask her about it" Eddie concluded.

"Still, I'm glad the group has its first lesbian" Molly mused.

"Yeah, you're doing a great job" Nick remarked.

"Piss off" Molly retorted, as Nick laughed to himself.

"Still with a lesbian in the group…" Rebecca began.

"Who's a lesbian?"

Whoever would ask this, other than Clementine herself, who had returned with Jason and the other guy, who instantly went to Robert's group.

"Clementine honey, Luis was just telling us" Rebecca began "About you and Sarah"

Clementine went pink and gazed over at where Luis was grinning at her.

"Why didn't you tell us Clem?" Nick inquired "We honestly don't have any issues with it"

"You two, weren't like. Together before all this, were you?" Eddie cautiously ventured.

"Erm… no" Clementine finally muttered, mortified at the situation. She… she didn't want all this to come out now! She felt enraged and she looked at Luis, causally tossing out this information as if it was nothing. When it meant a great deal to her, this was meant to be her new start. She didn't need him reminding people of Sarah all over again, now she would be asked constant questions all over again…

"Clem, honey. If it was just a crush, there's nothing wrong at all with the way you feel" Rebecca tried to reassure her.

"I'm not… I'm not a lesbian" Clementine croaked mortified, hating the way everyone was looking at her now, with sympathetic eyes. As if they stuck that title LESBIAN on her forehead and that's all she was every going to be to them now.

"Clementine" Maria called out to her "It's the 21st century, how you feel is absolutely natural…"

"But I'm not!" Clementine shouted, getting rather annoyed now "I'm not interested! I really am not!"

"If you're really not interested, why are you getting so defensive over it?" Jason asked.

"Wait, who invited you here?" Nick snapped.

"No one, I invited myself" Jason explained.

"Care to un-invite yourself?" Nick asked with poison in his tone.

"I'll die of boredom in that other group" Jason whined "Better to pretend to be with you guys than those guys".

With that settled, all focus settled back on Clementine once again.

"I WANTED TO MOVE ON LUIS!" She suddenly roared over to him "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING EVERYONE THIS!?"

"WOAH CALM DOWN!" Luis roared back, clearly taken aback by Clementine's response "YOU WERE SHOUTING IT FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO HEAR! HOW THE HELL DID I KNOW YOU WERE ASHAMED OF IT!?"

"WHAT!? LIKE YOU TELLING EVERYONE YOU'RE ASEXUAL!"

There was a silence at this point, in which all eyes turned to Luis.

"THEY ALREADY FUCKING KNOW!" Luis replied with a reddening face "I'VE TOLD THEM, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN ANYONE! ESPECIALLY NOT YOU!"

"YEAH WELL I FUCKING HATE YOU SOMETIMES LUIS!"

With this dramatic outburst out of the way, Clementine felt the tears sting at her eyes and quickly departed in a huff, down a nearby corridor. Everyone looked after her and then at a still fuming Luis, whose mother made a show of jabbing him in the arm.

"What!?" He snapped.

"Go after her" she snarled.

"But…"

"Now mister!" Maria shouted, her voice becoming deadly, after a few seconds. Luis moaned and proceeded to take off after the upset Clementine.

Silence once again prevailed.

"Love is in the air…" Eddie began to sing, before he was silenced from where Rebecca punched him in the arm.

"No" was all she had to utter.

"Ain't nothing wrong with a little bump N' Grind…" Miss King began to sing, in Eddie's place.

All eyes turned to her.

"Really?" Rebecca asked appalled.

"Well, love in the air wasn't right and well I thought with other circumstances…" she blushed there and muttered "I'm terrible aren't I?"

"Yeah, but that's why people like you" Molly said to cheer up the embarrassed teacher.

"I just love, how none of us are taking their argument that seriously" Eddie informed everyone, as their still seemed to be a jolly mood about.

"They are fucking teenagers" Jason muttered "No surprise there".

"They always bicker anyway" Maria said "I've seen them at it most of the time. They'll resolve their differences, I just sent him after her, because we cannot afford it now".

"I guess that's smart" Stephanie mumbled.

"Any-way!" Molly announced loudly to move the conversation onwards, "We have our maybe lesbian now. We have our asexual, we have our red-shirts over there. Who Luis was just very happy to call red-shirts…"

"If you don't mind, can you keep it down over there!" a woman yelled over to them "With all the noise, the walkers might hear and although we have some walker bodies here at the ready. We don't want to be attacked without any warning".

Ignoring her completely, Molly ploughed onwards.

"…so now we need our token gay and congratulations Nick. You and Luke make a fantastic couple!"

"I'm with Stef, that wouldn't work" Nick instantly argued in his defence.

"That's a load of shit, you and Luke have been friends for years. Maybe the two of you had some past encounter or something" Molly theorised "You know, teenage years, experimental stage and all, wake up lying naked next to him one morning…"

"That's ridiculous!" Nick exclaimed, going red at the mere suggestion. "Stef, tell her that!"

However, to his horror, Stephanie was grinning too.

"I've always found you and Luke kind of cute together" she admitted.

"You have got to be fucking with me" Nick droned.

"No. You and Luke would make one sexy couple" Stephanie admitted with a coy smile "I mean, you've been friends for ages, so who knows. Maybe it would explain the drama and angst between you back at Howe's. I mean maybe, deep down you have slept with each before. But both of you deny it happened and don't tell anyone and push it to the back of your minds…"

"You've had too much time on your hands, thinking about all of this haven't you?" Nick asked.

Stephanie's guilty smile, confirmed it all.

"So you're just somehow fine with it all?" Nick enquired "If you just found me and Luke sleeping together".

"Meh, wouldn't bother me" Stephanie muttered.

"But what's the appeal of it!" Nick demanded for an answer.

"Same way lesbians, appeal to you I guess" Stephanie answered "Say if you found me and Molly together…"

"Waiting for you tonight beautiful" Molly complimented, with a click of the tongue.

"…you'd like it too" Stephanie concluded.

"Yeah but come on, this is Molly were taking about…"

As Molly retorted to Nick's comment, AJ smiled and looked around at his group. They were all having a good time here, even if it was just briefly, he didn't want any of them to die in the near future. But then he looked over to Robert's group and gulped, they did have greater numbers…

"Mummy" AJ muttered "You, you aren't going to let the bad man take any of us away are you?"

"Of course not" Rebecca replied, holding her son in her arms "and what do you mean, bad man?

"N-nothing" AJ mumbled "I just hope we can all be safe".

"Me too baby bear, me too" Rebecca said.

Well it explained why the hospital was empty.

Robert could hear them on the other side of the locked door, walkers and a lot of them. Judging by the bloody cadaver of a doctor next to the locked door, with the key still in his hand, it had seemed the doctor had successfully managed to draw all of the walkers into the hospital into this locked area. He had shut them inside, while gravely injured by their attacks, he slumped by the door and died bleeding out, thinking he had saved so many lives.

Yet unbeknownst to this doctor, everyone in the hospital had already turned by this time. So he had unknowingly trapped every person and every walker who used to be in hospital here. Tapping the walls from one side to the other, Robert guessed the hospital had soundproof walls, explaining why walkers from the outside weren't attracted inside of here, by whatever noise this doctor had made. The walkers were attracted to come into the hospital in the first place, by the screaming, freshly scented victims of the people inside.

His own group had been covered in walker guts when they entered and would leave the hospital, in warmer attire, coated within walker guts.

Wouldn't it be a shame, if someone unlocked these doors? Allowing the walkers to come in?

"I think we gathered what happened here gents" Robert told Tom and Luke behind him.

"Poor guy" Luke sounded genuinely upset, for the doctor he probably never knew.

"It's a tragedy" Tom grunted stoically.

"Yeah" Robert said, before he found what he was looking for, he turned to Luke and muttered "Here Luke, help me pry open these elevator doors would you?"

"Sure, but why do you want to open them?" Luke inquired.

"Just gotta double check something" Robert grunted as he and Luke, applied pressure and tried to open the doors to the elevator shaft.

"Are you sure you don't want to help us here Tom?" Robert asked with a raised eyebrow.

_Daring him too._

"I'm good, thanks. You two seem like you can handle it" Tom muttered.

_He didn't take the bait. Coward._

Now the shaft was open the full way.

"Hey Robert, didn't you bring us up here, too talk to me about something?" Tom inquired.

"Oh yeah, I guess I did" Robert remembered "This seems like a good place to talk about things. You get me?"

_Yes, he did. Walkers to be used as an excuse, with the turn of a key and an elevator shaft, where a body could disappear down._

"Yeah" Tom answered, "So what's this all about?"

"Well" Robert began, before he turned to Luke "Luke, double check the shaft for me, would you?"

"Sure" Luke replied brightly.

As Luke hung over the edge of the elevator shaft Tom became aware, of Robert's hands slowly moving towards his coat pockets. Tom followed his movements, as the pair of them store each other down.

"Well it's about what happened with Violet you see and then Terri" Robert informed him.

"Oh, is it?" Tom muttered.

"Yep. I mean first things first, I am still a little bit suspicious, about how Violet, really died…"

"She bled out" Tom answered simply.

"Terri was the cut throat cub, and yet I'm meant to believe that you had no idea about what she was up too?".

"She was very good at keeping secrets" Tom answered meekly.

"Hmm, seems like you are too"

The tension that had been building between these two, ever since they had taken off alone had been building and building and building. With a naive Luke being wedged between them, the three of them had found supplies, on this top floor, but while Robert had directly ushered off Luke elsewhere, he went inside the room, he knew where the guns were stored in the hospital and took a rifle for himself.

He was a Journalist beforehand; he knew this stuff.

Whereas Tom had followed in his footsteps and had slyly grabbed his own gun as well. By the way Robert was treating him and the tension that was building. Tom knew his game was already up.

So when Robert whipped out his rifle from his pocket (it was large pocket) Tom wasn't surprised. However Robert knew aiming his rifle at Tom, wouldn't be enough to make the African American man draw his own gun on him.

But when Robert pointed the gun at Luke, Tom had to act, pulling his own powerful pistol from his pocket.

"HANDS IN THE AIR MOTHER-FUCKER!" Robert exploded at Tom "OR I'LL BLOW LUKE'S BRAINS OUT HERE!"

"WHAT THE…!?" Luke bellowed in complete shock, to find himself with a rifle wedged between his shoulder blades.

"DON'T FUCKING MOVE, LUKE!" Robert roared.

"I AIN'T DROPPING SHIT!" Tom bellowed back "YOU'LL SHOOT ME!"

"OF COURSE I WILL!" Robert snarled "BUT YOU CAN'T KILL ME TOM! YOU SIMPLY FUCKING CAN'T GO OFF WITH ME AND COME BACK SAYING I DIED! MY GROUP WILL KNOW! THEY WILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID AND TEAR YOURSELF AND YOUR GROUP APART! THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU WANT IS IT!"

Tom kept his gun raised, but didn't say a word. Everything Robert said was true, Robert couldn't be killed here and he could have been killed easily. But then there was this extra ingredient, Robert had added to the mix…

Luke.

The leader of the group, Tom's was trying to ally with. Tom couldn't believe how easily he had fallen into this trap. Not only would Luke now know everything, but Robert was testing him to see how far he would go to survive.

If he kept his gun raised, then Luke died.

If he dropped his gun, he died.

Either way his own group was doomed, if he returned back alive with Luke. Luke would know what he had done and instantly tell everyone, Luke's group would distance himself from his own group and if Robert returned with Luke, then his group would have been slowly whittled off and killed, without him there to guide them and would Luke's group even trust his own, after all Luke learnt?

Then, there was always the option that Robert would kill Luke as well, after he killed him. But then if Robert returned to the group that both Luke and Tom had been killed by walkers, the story would fall flat and maybe, just maybe his own and Luke's group could get away from Robert's group.

Or most likely, they'd all be killed by Robert's group.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS DOING THIS! WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE GUNS?!" Luke roared.

"I'M DOING THIS TO GET RID OF TOM!" Robert answered "HE CAN'T BE HERE ANY-MORE! THE CUT THROAT CUB IS IN HIS GROUP! THAT JJ GUY! AND HE KILLED VIOLET! I KNOW HE DID!"

"SO WHAT IF I DID!?" Tom exploded "WE WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH THE HERD ALL IN ONE PIECE IF SHE HAD BEEN THERE! SHE'D HAVE BLED ALL OVER US AND ATTRACTED WALKERS…!"

"YOU KILLED VIOLET?!" Luke screamed "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH EDDIE HAS SUFFERED ALREADY! HE LOST HIS BEST FRIEND AND NOW VIOLET! ALL BECAUSE OF A LITTLE RISK IN A HERD!? YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY TOM! YOU JUST ASSUMED KILLING HER WAS BEST FOR THE GROUP! SHE COULD BE HERE, NOW! SHE COULD BE ALIVE! WHAT THE FUCK WAS KILLING HER GOING TO ACHIEVE!?"

"THAT'S WHAT I'M ASKING!" Robert backed him up with.

"AND I DON'T WANT YOUR SHIT EITHER!" Luke roared to him "TAKIN' THE GOD-DAMN MORALE HIGH GROUND WHILE YOUR POINTING A RIFLE AT MY DAMN BACK! YOUR SMART ENOUGH TO REALISE TOM KILLED VIOLET! YET YOUR USING THIS HOSTAGE SHIT TO RAISE TENSIONS! JUST SO YOU CAN GET RID OF TOM'S WHOLE GROUP!"

"THEY ARE ALL FUCKING DANGEROUS!" Robert exploded "THEY ALL NEED TO GO LUKE! BEING A LEADER MEANS MAKING HARD CHOICES!"

"I HAVE BEEN A GOD-DAMN LEADER AND YOU ARE NOT MAKING ANY HARD CHOICES, YOU SON OF BITCH! YOU'RE BOTH MAKING THE EASY ONE'S!"

"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANNA SPEAK LIKE THAT LUKE!?" Tom inquired "YOU GOT TWO PISSED OFF GUYS HOLDING GUNS AND YOU AIN'T HOLDING ONE! I'M HELPING YOU HERE MAN! I'M GONNA SHOOT ROBERT IF HE SO MUCH AS SO, PRESSES HIS FINGER DOWN!"

"WHAT, THAT MAKES YOU THE GOOD GUY!?" Luke laughed, "IT DOESN'T TOM, YOU BOTH WANT TO GET RID OF THE PEOPLE YOU THINK HOLD THE GROUP BACK! I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS IN A GROUP BEING LED BY SOMEONE LIKE THAT! I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS IN A COMMUNITY LED BY SOMEONE LIKE THAT! AND NOW IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN! YOU KEEP THINKING LIKE THAT, THERE WON'T BE A GROUP LEFT FOR YOU TOO LEAD, BECAUSE EVERYONE WILL HOLD YOU BACK!"

"OH, WHAT MAKES YOU SO HIGH AND MIGHTY THEN!?" Robert snarled.

"I GAVE ALL OF MY GROUP A CHANCE!" Luke bellowed "EVEN THE BASTARDS I DIDN'T INSTANTLY WANT TO KILL THEM! I LET THEM LIVE, EVEN WHEN I SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE! I GAVE MY GROUP SECOND CHANCES! A LITTLE EFFORT FROM A REAL LEADER IS WHAT YOU NEED! NOT ALL THIS BACKSTABBING SHIT! BOTH OF YOU GROW A FUCKING BACKBONE AND SORT THINGS OUT!"

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD WE! THE WORLD IS NOT YOUR VISION OF SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS LUKE!" Tom roared "YOU MADE LOADS OF MISTAKES AND LOOK AT HOW MANY OF YOUR GROUP HAVE DIED!"

"LOOK AT YOUR'S!" Luke retorted "AND ROBERT, WHEN YOU GET OUT THERE, YOUR GROUP NUMBERS ARE GOING TO FALL!"

"MY GROUP HAS NOTHING TO FEAR!" Robert informed him "TOM'S RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING, NOT HAVING VIOLET IN THAT HERD, SPARED US ALL!"

"YOU'RE DANGEROUS, BOTH OF YOU!" Luke concluded "I'M FUCKING PISSED OFF, ALL THIS TIME, I'VE BEEN USED AS SOME SORT OF PAWN IN YOUR FUCKING GAME! I'VE BEEN TOO KIND YOU SEE! THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE CUT OFF IN THIS GROUP, AND IT'S YOU TWO!"

"WHAT HAVE WE DONE!?" Robert dared to ask "YOU KILLED A GOD-DAMN HELPLESS TEENAGER, FOR JUST TRYING TO TOUCH CLEMENTINE! TOM KILLED VIOLET TO SAVE THE GROUP AND SOME OF YOUR OWN GROUP! DON'T YOU GET IT LUKE! YOU'RE THE DAMN FAILURE HERE! EDDIE PROBABLY LOST HIS FRIEND IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE OF YOUR POOR LEADERSHIP!"

Luke sighed, they were both right. He was a poor leader and he made many mistakes.

But he'd be dammed if he was going to leave Clem and the others, trapped in a group by two William Carver's in the making.

"EVERYONE KNOWS MY MISTAKES! I LIVE WITH THE GUILT OF THEM EVERYDAY! Luke argued "PEOPLE KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE! AND YES THEY MAY HATE FOR IT! BUT THEY ALSO RESPECT ME FOR IT! BECAUSE REAL LEADING IS DIFFICULT AND YOU HAVE TO FACE YOUR MISTAKES! WHICH YOU TWO ARE AVOIDING! ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME TOO? JUST SO YOU CAN DELAY KARMA FOR A LITTLE BIT LONGER! BUT LET ME TELL YOU THIS, IT WILL COME DOWN AND BITE YOU ON THE FUCKING ASS, HARDER THAN EVER!"

"How cute" Robert muttered, suddenly calm, as his finger slowly began to press down on the trigger. "But regardless of what we are Luke, we've got guns and you haven't. You lose and we live, now I'll give you an option. Agree with me, to keep what happened here a secret, as I kill Tom. Or just die here and I kill Tom anyway. You want to be around for your group, don't you Luke? Don't take the selfish way out. There's nothing heroic about dying here…"

Luke managed to turn his head towards the doctor, lying on the ground nearby. That doctor died thinking he was a hero, when he had really died in vain. Was that foreshadowing for his own demise?

He looked down the elevator shaft, it was a long drop.

"What's your choice, Luke?" Robert asked of him.

Luke made up his mind.

"My choice is, fuck the pair of you"

With that being said, he allowed himself to plummet down the elevator shaft, towards his certain death.

* * *

"WHAT!?" Robert exploded, staring blankly at where Luke had just killed himself, rather than simply live and help his group.

"WHAT A FUCKING MORON!" Robert exploded, as Tom couldn't help but laugh.

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Tom mused, then Tom decided to do something unexpected and put his own gun back in his pocket.

"What are you doing now!?" Robert asked.

"Shoot me then, now's your chance"

"What are you up too?"

"Nothing. Just me dying here and then thinking about how you'll have to explain to everyone, how Luke and me somehow didn't come back".

"This is horse-shit" Robert snarled, but then he rubbed the scarred half of his face and sighed, before dropping his own rifle back into his own large pocket.

"But now you have to come back and explain it as well" Robert mused at a still staring Tom, "Then we find the next place to hole up. I'm going to destroy you in front of fucking everybody and everybody will know! And you'll be there to hear every fucking word and I'll tell them how you killed Luke!"

"Give it your all Robert" Tom told him "Believe you me, I'm ready for you to challenge me"

"You are too calm about all of this, what have you got under your sleeve?" Robert demanded to know.

"Nothing. Other than the fact, I know I'll be believed over you" Tom grinned.

"You're a god-damn idiot" Robert informed him, as he picked up the key and turned it, there was a click and the door, creaked open as hundreds of walkers converged on them in seconds. Robert and Tom ran on, side by side.

"After we clear this hospital and find our next hole-up!" Robert shouted in glee "It will be the end of you!"

"Whatever tale you tell them Robert!" Tom shouted "I know for a fact they won't believe you!"

Tom knew they wouldn't, he had his wrecking ball of AJ at the ready to use against Robert. Anything Robert said would be undermined by AJ and Robert would be toast here.

Tom had already won.

While Robert was gloating openly, Tom was silent, yet he couldn't help but take one last look back at the elevator shaft. Luke could have gone along with Robert, pretended to keep it all secret and then tell his group and flee. Yet maybe Luke knew, Robert wouldn't let him live regardless, so he chose his own way out.

"You should have played the game smarter than that though" Tom thought to the now absent Luke.

* * *

Clementine allowed herself a few seconds to breathe, it may have been funny to everyone else, but too her it was personal. God damn Luis and his stupid fucking mouth…

"Clementine" came a familiar, annoyed voice.

She didn't even mutter a word to him, but waited until he was close enough and then swung around and landed a well-aimed fist, squarely in his nose. Grunting in pain and sliding back a few steps, Luis swore under his breath as blood flowed freely from his now stinging nose.

"FUCK YOU, BITCH!" Luis roared.

"WELL FUCK YOU TOO LUIS!" Clementine screamed back at him "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE, LIPPY LIMBLESS!"

"LIPPY LIMBLESS? WHERE'D YOU GET THAT SHIT FROM!?"

"SUITS YOU, WITH YOUR BIG MOUTH!"

"STOP BEING SUCH A FUCKING DRAMA QUEEN!" Luis told her.

"ME, THE DRAMA QUEEN!? SERIOUSLY!?"

"OH HA HA…!" Luis interjected with a dose of sarcasm.

"Just go away" Clementine snarled turning away from him.

"Why the hell are you so upset about it, anyway?" Luis asked "I mean I thought It wasn't a big deal"

"It is, I just… I just wanted to move on" Clementine murmured "and now all anyone is gonna do, is bring it up to me again and…" she sighed there.

"My whole attitude's wrong Luis. It was the attitude Sarah taught me and people are just using it against me" Clementine muttered, seemingly defeated "I just wanted to move on, it's about survival out here Luis and I need to move on, for all our sakes".

"What are you talking about and whose using your attitude against you?" Luis asked.

"Oh Jesus Christ…" Clementine groaned "I can see right through you Luis. Don't you get it!? We both think we're something we aren't! We're still kids here! Everyone can see that and everyone is going to use that against us! They are going to turn you into some sort of hitman or something".

"What?"

"You instantly came to the conclusion, that whoever is trying to change my attitude, needs to be taught a lesson. That's not going to solve anything and people will use that against you. No one in the group, probably other than your mother gives a shit about you Luis".

"How the hell have you come to that conclusion and why are you going all deep on me?" Luis demanded to know "Just…" he sighed there and looked over at Clementine.

"Look, I'm sor…"

But before he could finish his apology, Robert and Tom raced past.

"WALKERS UPSTAIRS, THEIR COMING DOWN, WE GOTTA MOVE NOW!" Tom roared to Clementine and Luis.

"WHERE'S LUKE!?" Clementine instantly inquired.

Tom looked back at her, she could hear the walkers approaching from behind her and saw the sorrowful look plastered over Tom's face.

"No" Clementine uttered.

"I'm sorry Clem, he got ripped to shreds before we could do a thing" Tom explained, as Robert rushed into the reception and warned everyone of the approaching threat.

"No, that's not true" Clementine told him, her whole being going numb. Luke… her whole point of this second chance. Well, one of the main points of it, her strongest source of support, the person who cared about her the most, he couldn't be gone. Not like this, he… he didn't even say goodbye.

"I'm… I'm going back for him" Clementine muttered, aware of the tears that now rolled down her cheeks.

"Clem…" Tom began, but Luis silenced him.

"I promised I'd go back for him, his not dead. I know it" Clem mumbled, standing up and proceeding towards the walkers.

"You're going to go and get him aren't you?" Luis asked, he seemed remarkably calm right now.

"Yeah" Clementine answered.

"Despite the walkers?"

"Yeah"

"Okay" Luis concluded.

Without any warning what-so-ever, he lifted his remaining arm and used his balled up fist, to smash it across Clementine's face. His hardest punch sent Clementine sprawling to the ground, blood leaked from her mouth and nose, she was knocked out cold, as Luis sighed to himself and gazed at the large bruise already covering her cheek.

"Carry her, I'll tell his group" Tom said to Luis, before he ran on. Luis, with a mournful look on his face, lifted Clementine's petite form from the ground and bent down, so that the girl rested on his back, as he wrapped some rope he had acquired on him, around Clementine's wrist and ankles to ensure she didn't fall off him, when the group were navigating through the herd. It was difficult task with one hand, but one he managed to accomplish.

He looked back at her knocked out form.

"I'm sorry Clem" he muttered, finishing his earlier apology.

With that he ran on into the reception, people were being covered in walker guts, but Luke's group was as out of it as Clementine was. Nick was clutching onto Stephanie for support, Molly was planted on the ground, she would be crying if she had eyes, as Rebecca and Eddie were the one's who found themselves rubbing their numb group in walker guts. While Rebecca (wiping tears from her own eyes) began to help Luis and Clem get dabbed in walker guts.

"She tried to go back for him didn't she?" Rebecca asked.

Luis nodded.

"Idiot" she mused, with a small smile, before she stroked some of Clem's hair from her face, in a maternal act and sighed. Despite the news of Luke's sudden death, they all had to carry on moving, even if that meant she had to practically carry Molly through the herd.

AJ, was crying, as they all stepped out into the herd…

His eyes connected with Tom's for a spilt second, AJ understood. Robert had done it again, the bad man had come and taken Luke away from them.

His grief turned to anger.

Not anymore, he was going to make sure the bad-man never did this again.

As for Tom, he bathed in an evil smile, as did Robert, as the group waded itself through thousands of walkers, towards their next destination.

Where shit, would truly hit the fan.

and where this House of Cards would fall.


	27. Firestarter

**A/N: Okay, quite lazy today and will not be answering reviews individually, but remember I appreciate all of them! So thank you guys and now I'm going to give you another mammoth chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy once again!**

* * *

Broken.

That's what they all were. Broken.

"Don't you feel any sense of guilt!?" One walker demanded of him.

"Dude, you have got to try and put this right!" A fat walker shouted over to him.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" A walker woman screeched.

TT keenly observed all of the accusing voices, screaming out to him from the depths of this herd, he was aware of himself blindly tailing after the group, an evil smile lay concealed under the layers of muck and blood. But what the living eyes, couldn't see, in their panic and haste and concern about themselves. The dead's pure white eyes saw straight through him, they saw the monster hidden behind the puppet of a 17 year old, teenage survivor.

"You're all broken" TT mumbled back to them "You think you're right, you're not. I'll do anything to avoid becoming like you"

With that he moved onwards, trailing behind Luis and where that girl lay on his back. She was going to end up broken like that, TT had to laugh at her, why on earth were they emotionally attaching themselves too each other? At this stage and this far into the apocalypse, they should have known differently. Only the weak people relied on each other, he promised himself, he'd save himself if push came to shove.

"Where's that going to lead us TT?"

A new voice cut through his rambling thoughts, TT was surprised to see a blonde walker ahead of him, which looked so much like him...

He recoiled in horror, he watched as that walker, became... became himself!

"We can't be alone!" JJ exclaimed to him "TT, the dead know! Do you want to be surrounded by this, for the rest of our days! We need the group!"

TT was silent for a few moments, his panic was starting to overcome him when he realised. He was a teenage boy, a scared teenage boy in the middle of a herd of corpses that would kill him, if he so much as made a loud noise. He couldn't breathe, he felt himself hyperventilating! He needed someone... he needed his granddaddy! His dad, his mum! Maria, Luis, Terri, Tom... anyone! Who would come to help him!?

That's when the answer hit him and his breathing slowed...

No one.

No one was coming to help him, he was already the "insane one" of the group. His breakdown after Edward's death had certainly not gone unnoticed, now he saw the suspicion in everyone's eyes. They hated him. With the group already cutting off liabilities, he was bound to be next. Violet was going to slow them down in the herd, so she had to go.

and Luke... if Tom and Robert thought TT was that stupid to assume, that Luke had simply "got devoured by walkers" after successfully walking through herds beforehand, added to the fact the bites were no longer effective. It was plain stupid to assume, a powerful man like Luke, in his prime would simply allow himself to be caught off-guard and devoured by walkers. Besides what were Tom and Robert doing in this fictional scenario, helping him out? Three strong men could easily have fought off the walkers, but no for some reason, Luke had somehow been the only one to die, while Tom and Robert seemed fine.

TT could smell the bullshit reeking off that story and so could everyone else.

Luke had been murdered, he was too compassionate for this world and Tom and Robert had to make sure, he wouldn't hold the group back. Plus, he was a threat to their leadership.

So who was next? After going through this herd, would they off Jason because he caused conflict before? Would they murder little Clementine? Because she was knocked out and try and pin the blame on each other? It seemed likely, maybe AJ as well, Tom had no problem manipulating children, so Clementine or AJ being murdered next, seemed very likely. A child's death was much more likely to provoke angry reaction and support, than it would for an adult's...

Then there was him. Also a child, also "the insane one" he was highly likely to be next on the kill list as well.

"You started this chain of events though TT!" JJ told him "If AJ hadn't seen Tom kill Violet then..."

"Then what!?" TT harshly told him "He was still going to do it, regardless of who was watching. He is going to kill us all! He is going to kill _us!_ We have to fight back JJ! We both got too attached to Edward, they are using that against us now! We are going to break JJ if we don't carry on surviving!"

"But what's the point, what are we surviving for?"

TT took a moment to look around at the undead herd around him, there was just dead people everywhere. JJ, had a point what were they surviving for? He was going to say too find a better place, to find better people, but with the airborne strain of the virus present. There was no way anyone else would be out there. Would people get better towards him? That was a low possibility, even if Tom and Robert were wiped out, who knew who was going to be next? Someone would fill that role, someone would always hate him...

"We... we don't want to break JJ" TT admitted "That's what motivates us, that's what motivates you at least".

TT carried on walking, as that evil smile dominated his facial features once again.

"But for me, it's fun!"

Because TT needed something to play with.

* * *

The House seemed to call Robert too it, rather than him, finding it himself.

It was located on the outskirts of Wellington, just past the main town and right where the rolling wheat fields began. These fields used to feed the once mass population of Wellington, were now dotted with walkers, clambering their way through the dry yellow stems, although the populace of the walkers in the fields, was much sparser, than the ones' currently funnelling through town.

"Maybe there are people back there" Robert thought to himself, yet despite the thought of a family, or a weeping, lone survivor stranded in a building surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of walkers. With no walker guts to use to save themselves, tugged on the ex- Journalists heart-strings. He couldn't afford to risk his group! The only damn group possibly left alive in this world right now!

Because if the virus was airborne, how many others communities had walls that could hold back the strain? How many other communities had managed to develop a cure, while it's people were at a safe distance from the walkers? Now, Wellington had been reduced to around 25 or 20 people in his group now and probably only around 10 to 20 others still lingering around somewhere.

4,000 to around 50 people in the space of two years. In 24 Months roughly 3,950 people had lost their lives in this community. That first riot… Robert remembered finding his son outside of Wellington High. His body littered with bullet holes, surrounded by so many other corpses. Robert didn't know or care about anyone else, he couldn't extract revenge, the people that had done this to his son had already been killed. All he could do was hold his son's frail body in his arms and weep to high heavens above, while screaming his heart out…

He always remembered thinking, back then he was almost comforted by the insanely high death toll, during the first riot. His world had been torn apart, so it felt good that a lot of other people were dragged down to these depths with him. Of course, he soon managed to rise back to the top for a simple reason…

He wasn't the only one to lose a child.

It was shown that 70 per cent of the people killed during the first riot were children or the elderly. Most able bodied adults were able to survive the cult's onslaught and the civil war and violence exploding around them. But children panicked, they were much more viable to die from wounds than adults were. He had lost his son, Luke's group had lost that Sarah girl and Lilly, Tom's group had lost Brandon, it seemed everyone had lost some of the youth from their group. The next generation they were preparing for here in Wellington, almost wiped out within 2 or 3 days of the high school system restarting…

"This community doomed itself" Robert thought sadly, approaching the house that stood on the edge of the golden fields. At the other end of the fields, was the almighty wall itself, all of it still lay intact at 50 feet high, only a thin stripe of it collapsed due to the weight of the snow and year of neglect it had suffered. Yet that weak point was all that was needed for Wellington to fall…

Robert sighed, there was even an empty crane, right by the wall. This is where reconstruction of the wall would have begun, but they never focused on it on time. If only they all knew how weak the wall truly was… maybe… maybe Wellington could have been saved.

Entering the house, Robert flung open the door with a heavy heart and looked back at where Tom was watching him.

Like Wellington this group was going to doom itself if Tom remained here.

Robert couldn't let that happen again.

* * *

The group squeezed itself into the house, which lay empty. Luke's exhausted and grieving group simply collapsed within the living room. While Robert crept into the kitchen, to find no walkers lurking about. Although the group had weapons, they were unaware of the gun Robert possessed (nor Tom for that matter) although Robert wouldn't use his gun, unless it was for a major purpose.

There was nothing much in the kitchen drawers, a few dry food cans, lay scattered about but that was all. It seemed by a quick observation of this house, whoever had once lived here, had fled in a hurry.

"They must have tried to get to the wall" Billy told him, as Robert nodded at this conclusion.

"Rest of you!" He ordered "Check upstairs, there might be something we missed!"

They obeyed his order, however other than "THERE'S NOTHING UP HERE!" bellow from Cristina King, nothing else happened upstairs and Robert doubted there was anything of interest up there.

"Very well, let's gather in the living area for a group meeting" Robert told his bustling group "We'll discuss our next course of action there"

Robert's green eyes flickered back to Tom for a second, Tom was leaning his powerful form against the kitchen sink. He was now openly glaring at Robert, through the rows of people that walked past him. Robert could only return Tom's glare, shit was indeed about to hit the fan when this "group meeting" occurred. But Robert tried to steady his accelerating heartbeat, as long as he spoke clearly and confidently, he would win the group over.

Tom had something up his sleeve no doubt. Whatever it was Robert would have to win this war of words.

* * *

Clementine was aware of herself slipping back into conscious, she gathered by the way her clothes felt damp on her that she had recently been covered in walker guts. Louder footsteps and the rustling of clothes and bags made her realise she was in a much more confined space, than the open reception of the hospital. It smelled dusty wherever the hell she was, but already the familiar stale tang of sweat and blood, was overcoming her sense of smell and taste.

The last thing she remembered was going after Luke and then… a blur… Luis' fist.

Quickly she prodded her cheek with her fingers and instantly her jaw soared in agonising pain, as if it had been set on fire or something. Gasping and withdrawing her fingers from the affected area, Clementine now realised the pain that was ebbing back into her being. She had been punched (hard) around the face, enough so to knock her out. She thought Troy whacking her with the butt of her rifle back at Howe's was bad. But this was probably the worst she had been punched…

There could only be one person responsible.

"You should take it easy" Came Luis' voice from next to her. He had heard her gasp in pain, when she had touched her face.

"Why didn't you let me go back Luis?" Clementine groaned.

There was a short pause.

"You know why" he eventually answered.

Opening her eyes, she found Luis' face was drenched in drying walker blood, the surrounding area was dark, so his eyes appeared lighter than usual. His facial expression was near enough impossible to read at the time being, but Clementine gathered he was exhausted and underneath all of the walker blood. She could just about make out the thin trail of dried blood from his nose, that she had caused.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Some house near the wall" Luis answered "Robert's about to discuss our next course of action"

"Oh… okay" Clementine muttered, not really interested in the group. If Luke was no longer within it, but then again, Luke dying felt so unreal. That too her it simply could not have happened, despite the fact Tom had confirmed it too her…

_"Everyone's playing the game…" _

That's what Jason had made her aware of and suddenly Tom wasn't just some distant figure she knew she could trust. But he became a lot shadier in those moments, Billy had tried to get her onto Robert's side, Terri had hidden the fact she was the cut-throat cub. Violet "bled out" at too convenient a time, something was defiantly wrong in this group.

"I'm sorry about hurting you earlier" Clementine felt herself mumble to Luis, she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Likewise" he echoed, in the same miserable tone.

"Hey Clem" Luis began "All that shit you were talking about earlier; I need to know…"

Clementine zoned out, she gazed across the small living area. Nick and Stephanie lay huddled in a dark corner, seemingly completely forgotten. While Rebecca and Eddie were speaking amongst each other, their voices low and mournful, while Molly sat unmoving on a nearby couch. Maria was next to the stunned blonde, trying to comfort her, by her holding her hand.

"I know he meant a lot too you" Maria was saying "My late husband, Jorge meant the world to me. When I lost him I didn't know how to carry on, the only thoughts that kept me going were the fact. He would have wanted me to carry on and I was carrying his unborn son, who I would promise to live for. I know you don't have any unborn children in all this, but the point that is the same, is that Luke would have wanted you to go on…"

Molly didn't look as though she was paying attention, but she did seem to appreciate the fact Maria was there. Talking to her about something…

"I didn't even get to tell him how I really felt" Molly thought to herself, "Only one kiss and… and that was it…"

Her thoughts were cut off by a cough from Robert, the meeting was about to begin.

* * *

"Basically" Robert announced, as the murmuring in the room died out to be replaced with silence "The plan here is, we get to the wall. There are simply too many walkers streaming in from the fallen section, we'd get pushed back in the walker tide. It's too much of a risk to go that way. So I propose we head on to the drawbridge, it might make some noise when we lower it. But if we cross quickly and silently, we'll be able to escape Wellington. Anyone got any other ideas!?"

There was a short silence.

"Well" Stephanie piped up nervously from a dark corner "Rather than run the risk of the drawbridge, or the fallen section. We could try and head on over the wall, there's a staircase that runs down the opposite side of the wall…"

"There's only one of those though!" A woman shouted "and that's on the other side of Wellington!"

"Plus the wall's unstable" Billy added "We could walk along the top and be safe from the walkers, but we're talking about a 50-foot drop here, with a fuck ton of debris on top of that as well. One false step, or one loose plank on the top of the wall and we all go SPLAT!"

"What about the moat?" Miss King suggested "It's quite large, I know it's probably clogged with walker bodies by now. But if we were to fall from the wall, the moat might break our fall…"

"You've been watching way too much Hollywood films" Jason snapped "Hitting the moat from 50 feet high, is not only unlikely. But would most likely do just as much damage as hitting the ground. Maybe hitting the water from lower angle might soften the fall and we could swim to safety. But for one I don't want to fall off the wall in the first place and two, I'm liking this drawbridge idea the most…"

"Just pointing it out" Miss King murmured, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Okay we'll put it to a vote!" Robert announced, "Those in favour of the drawbridge, raise your hand".

A large majority of the people in the room, placed their hands in the air at this point. Robert counted, there was more than half, so he guessed that settled it.

"That's a majority" Robert called "Drawbridge it is then"

He looked around his now settled group, there were two other topics that needed discussing and Robert wanted to put the third one on hold for as long as possible. So he brought up the second one…

"Well's that all good" Robert said "But what about the plan after we leave Wellington? Where do we go?"

There was a short silence.

"We head on further north!" someone shouted "Walkers will freeze their asses off. They'll be less bandits and fuckers up there for us to deal with. With less people they'll be more wildlife for us to hunt and…"

"No, that's all wrong!" A man bellowed back "For a start this airborne strain has probably wiped out most bandits so we don't need to worry about them at all! Plus we're in Michigan, how much further north do we need to go, until walkers become ice blocks! How do we know that they can freeze up! I say we head on south, warmer weather, no bandits to worry about and because of that they'll be wildlife around for us to hunt…"

"But everything down south will be picked clean!" Billy stressed "Buildings will be decaying in the moist temperatures, think about the mould and all that shit that will get on our lungs. Plus we have the supplies and clothing to survive further up north. The buildings will be in better condition and we know for a fact, they'll be less people or walkers up there. Because it was more sparsely populated there, before the damn virus began!"

"What if people fled north!" Jason snapped, entering the debate "I mean all of us fled here to Wellington. So how many other people did, plus even if they aren't any walkers about, that could be a bad thing. Because the airborne strain might not have spread to those in isolated little communities up north. Then, suddenly what do you know, we're dealing with a damn bandit group at sub-zero temperatures. Plus, there is nothing up north! Other than ice and snow fields and the odd forest or two!"

"What do you know about the American North West?" A woman demanded of Jason "You're British!"

"Yeah, because I'm British, that stops me getting around" Jason droned sarcastically.

"Anyway maybe it would be best if we had this debate, after we escape Wellington" Robert concluded, he then faced Tom.

This was it.

Robert was quite frightened now, that was a nice, distracting little debate and now came the conversation that would blow this house of cards straight to ground.

"Tom" Robert thought.

"Robert" Tom thought in unison.

"Do your worst"

"There is a third point that needs discussing here Ladies and Gentlemen!" Robert announced "and it involves Luke".

It was as if every member of Luke's group that had been switched off from the debate, had suddenly come to life once again. Clementine and Molly's heads cracked up in interest, Nick and Stephanie leant forward and out of the shadows. AJ, Rebecca and Eddie suddenly went still and fixed all their attention upon Robert.

"What about him?" A woman asked, to cut through the growing silence.

Robert didn't say a word, neither did Tom. They were now very openly staring each other down.

"All right, enough of the shit!" Nick suddenly snapped, leaping from out of the shadows and approaching Robert "That whole, Luke got devoured shit, isn't convincing any of us!".

The group was now as silent as a stone, everyone was watching Nick intensely, waiting for the words that would come pouring out of his mouth next.

"So, which one of you killed him and why?"

Clementine couldn't breathe now, she had her suspicions, but Nick's outright words of distrust had the group on edge. No one could move, sweat began to build on everyone's skin.

"None of us did" Tom finally answered, before the look in his eye darkened.

"That idiot killed himself".

Gasps of shock echoed around the room, before she knew what she was doing, Clementine found herself in Tom's shadow, finding herself absolutely furious.

"BULLSHIT!" She swore "He'd never do such a thing! Tell us the truth! Who killed him! WHO!?" Clementine screeched, begging for an answer.

"Like Tom said no one" Robert answered for her, as Clementine turned to face him.

"That Idiot is still alive".

Now it was Tom's turn to act shocked.

"We saw him fall!" Tom bellowed "He fell down that shaft, after you pointed a gun at him…!"

"GUN!?" Rebecca imploded "WHAT GUN…!?"

"I knew where the guns were in the hospital" Robert explained "I picked one for myself. As leader, I need a gun to protect myself, especially from a psycho like Tom, who also picked up a gun!".

"WHY THE FUCK WEREN'T WE ALLOWED GUNS!?" A woman screamed.

"The whole group with guns, imagine the noise sweetheart" Robert snarled over to her "I took a gun, as it's my sole responsibility to protect this group".

"That's a sign of distrust people!" Tom shouted "He don't trust any of you! He is only out to protect himself…!"

"So are you!" Robert snapped "I'll pull out my gun, if you pull at your's. Go on then Tom, reach into your pocket and pull out the gun. Show them how much better a leader you are, you god-damn hypocrite!"

There was a short silence, as Robert reached his hand into his pocket.

"Tom" Maria said.

Tom looked over at her, then at Robert who was slowly drawing his own gun on him.

It happened in a flash.

Clementine was turned away from him, so that gave Tom enough time to wrap his burly arm around her neck and pull the surprised teenager back to his form. He then whipped his gun out and trained it on Clementine's well known cap.

"CLEMENTINE!" Nick exclaimed.

"Everybody keep calm!" Tom babbled "A-anyone, a-anyone move! I'll shoot her! I will! I n-need to e-explain m-myself! L-l-let me…!"

"You holding a little girl hostage, that explains everything!" Nick roared and before anyone could stop him, he charged forwards, despite Stephanie's warning of "NICK NO!" it came far too late.

BANG!

Nick screamed, the hand he had grasped around his weapon of a baseball bat had been blindly shot at by Tom, the single, powerful bullet, had made Nick's right hand explode into nothing but a torrent of flesh and blood. With the flesh of what was once his right hand, now splatting onto the ground, Nick's roared in agony and clutched his stump, as Stephanie charged forward and dragged him out of the line of fire. Everyone else was in shell-shock, unable to move, unable to say a single word. Despite the fact (along with the walker guts) they were now drenched in Nick's blood that had sprayed everywhere as well.

Tom had just blown off Nick's right hand.

Tom himself couldn't believe it, his grip around Clementine tightened in those moments, as the 15-year-old struggled for breath. Nick was now whimpering in the corner as Maria quickly tended to him, as he clutched his stump and gasped in shock under his breath…

"WHY!?" Maria suddenly shrieked at Tom "WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!?"

Tom was unable to formulate a reply to the clearly shaken and upset woman.

"Tom… what… what the fuck" was all Luis could say.

JJ however remained forgotten behind a sofa, history was repeating itself, the first time they had met. Tom had him hostage at gunpoint, now he was doing the same with Clementine.

"I… I d-don't…w-w-want to do this!" Tom stuttered "BUT I HAVE TOO… BECAUSE… YES… I…I KILLED V-VIOLET…!"

"There!" Robert yelled "There it is! You see! His dangerous! His cutting off liabilities from the group!"

"But?" Jason interjected, cutting over Robert and knowing Tom had more to say.

"BUT… BUT WHO IS LEADING US HERE!?" Tom asked of the group "WHO DO YOU THINK IS CONTROLLING ALL OF US! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK GAVE ME THE ORDER TO KILL VIOLET! HE COULDN'T GET HIS HANDS DIRTY! AND HE THREATENED TO KILL MY GROUP IF I REFUSED! MY GROUP IS ON BAD GROUNDS ANYWAY AND LET'S BE FRANK HERE PEOPLE! IF ROBERT TOLD YOU TO KILL MY GROUP BECAUSE WE ARE THREATS, YOU'D GO ALONG WITH IT WOULDN'T YOU!?"

Their silence, confirmed their answer.

"I KILLED VIOLET TO SAVE MY OWN GROUP!" Tom roared "I DIDN'T WANT HER DEAD AT ALL MAN!" Tom was now addressing Eddie, who seemed to be made out of stone in those moments. "YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT… I REALLY… DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT…!"

"BOLLOCKS!" Robert roared "I HAVE NEVER SAID SUCH A THING…!"

"But it's true!" came a sudden small voice.

All eyes turned to AJ, Rebecca's were the largest of them all, she felt like she was going to be sick. She didn't want to hear what her son was going to say next, but he spoke up regardless. Steeling his inner courage, the four-year-old looked at Tom and then back at Robert.

"HE IS THE BAD-MAN!" AJ roared pointing an accusing finger at Robert "I SAW TOM…I SAW TOM KILL VIOLET!"

There were some gasps at this statement, as Tom let a tear fall from his eye, as he croaked "It's true. I didn't know. I was so sorry; I didn't want the kid to see all that…"

"Jesus Honey! Why didn't you say anything!" Rebecca wept, now feeling the tears fall from her own eyes.

"Because Robert would kill us if we did!" AJ explained "Tom told me the truth and how scared he really is! He doesn't want to do this! He is not the bad guy! He could have killed me for seeing it, but he didn't! Robert's the real bad man in all of this!" AJ snapped, hatred pouring from his eyes, at the leader who remained standing. Having not yet drawn his gun on anyone.

"Oh that is brilliant Tom" Robert finally said, (after a short silence, in which Robert surveyed the four-year-old) "Evil and brilliant, this is your trump card then? This is what you had up your sleeve? Manipulating a four-year-old against me…"

"You stop talking right now!" Rebecca thundered "You leave my son alone! You… You…!"

"It's working, it really is" Robert mused, as a smile lined his features "See the group's turning on me Tom. They all believe this kid; they all believe you really don't want to hold Clementine there at gunpoint and I'm with you. I know you don't want to do it…"

He paused there, as the group all wondered what on earth would come out of his mouth next.

"But you are still doing it" Robert concluded "That's why you are danger Tom. You convince yourself that everybody else with some form of weakness has to go. You're an army veteran and that mind-set has never left you. Don't get me wrong, that works absolutely great in a group out in the wild, surviving alone. But, we're in a more domesticated, bigger group kind of situation here, you think you are a survivalist Tom. But that's all you are, a survivalist. You don't have the skills necessary to lead us all out of here and the longer you are around, the worse it's going to get…"

"You don't know that!" Tom snapped "and how the hell do you know I'm an army veteran! That's…!"

"I don't want to dig up old skeletons here Tom" Robert explained, as he set his backpack on the ground and pulled out a stack of papers from it's contents.

"But I have to keep this on me, you see. It was the best-selling issue we have ever had".

It was a copy of the Wellington Weekly, the one that contained the infamous Domesday Report.

"This shit!? Really!?" Luis questioned.

Robert ignored him and flicked the paper open at the report itself, eventually he found Tom's name.

"I'm doing this to prove the facts" Robert explained "and here it reads, Tom Akastu, former Sergeant in the US Military. Sent out to Afghanistan for a few months before you came home to spend some time with your aunt and brother. During your time, in the army you experienced traumatic things, what's this? A confirmed diagnosis of PTSD…?"

"You can't use that against me!" Tom snarled "The shit I saw in the army…"

"It was grim shit yeah" Robert agreed "But it's printed here Tom. You have PTSD, I bet a lot of us do now. But you had it before shit went down. Maybe that's why you took your brother and fled into the woods for years. Maybe that's why you avoided Wellington for so long, maybe that's why, when the riot broke out. You were the one to put an end to your brother's suffering…"

"I… I couldn't" Tom mumbled "I couldn't let him go through what I did".

"You've never left that mind-set, in times of war. You gotta leave those that get injured behind to save yourself. You know it's not right, you know you don't want to do it, but you've been trained to do it. Against your moral code, you still obey orders, you've still got to work for the greater good…"

"Why are you doing this?" Tom muttered, sounding weary and exhausted "All this homework you've done on me. All this shit, this is a vendetta or something. You've had something out for me for a while. What's this really all about Robert?"

"Glad you picked that up" Robert told him, "If I did just hate you for being a dangerous leader, then my motivation would be pretty damn flat and stupid. You think I'm going to kill your group once you are out of the way. But you can't be more wrong Tom, I'm saving Maria, JJ, Terri and Luis from you. They all deserve better".

"What? Even… even that Cub?" Billy asked of Robert.

"She got us the damn bodies, she can do shit. Yes, even her" Robert snapped "Why the hell do you think I sent her off in the first place Tom? I know how you two worked as a tag team, I had to get her away, because I know she can survive shit. So when she comes back to the group, I'll be able to extract her true potential…"

"She won't listen to you" Tom mocked, with a daring smile.

"What makes you think that?" Robert inquired.

"I just know" Tom answered cockily.

"Well, you don't know people at all then do you?" Robert quizzed "Your group is gold, you've got the kindest nurse in the shitty apocalypse, whose medical skills are vital out there! JJ is just some messed up kid, his grandfather, or you for that matter never did anything right by him. I'd be dammed if I'd just leave him like you guys did and as for Luis… Luis is the one I want to thank most of all…"

"Why?" Luis asked of Robert "What the hell did I do?"

"You killed those cultists for me" Robert answered "Simple as really. You do have a lot of potential Luis, you killing those cultists showed it and then Terri, the cut throat cub, has now killed all the bastards responsible for it, in the first place. So yeah Tom, I don't want your group dead, I want them away from you…"

"They won't listen to you!" Tom snarled "_I _led them through hell for years! _I've_ stood by them all!_ I_ led them through this shithole of a community! _They_ are loyal to me! Right!?" He demanded of JJ, Maria and Luis.

A short silence, only made him feel more uneasy.

"WELL!?" He demanded again, looking directly at Luis.

"Well!? Tom, we… we have the right to make our own decisions here" Luis reasoned.

"He is right Tom" Maria spoke up "We have the right to do what we want and you kept so many secrets from us. Why should we have respected you as a leader, if you couldn't respect us?"

"Don't" Tom growled dangerously "After everything Maria, don't you fucking dare…"

"I am too old or too peaceful for this world?" Maria shot back, glaring openly at Tom "Am I too fat? Not the young, skilled little solider, you're looking for? Is my son missing to many limbs? Is he too much of a hot headed idiot for you?".

"Yeah, thanks Mum" Luis called over, but Maria carried on regardless.

"Is JJ too messed up for you to look after? Hmmm? We're all that's left Tom, I know you used to see Ana and Brandon as the cream of the crop, the survivors you could take far. After they died, you turned to Terri, now she's out there somewhere…"

"I can't believe this" Tom muttered blankly "After everything I've done, after the years we spent together, you all just turn on me…" he breathed in deeply there and held onto Clementine tighter, as he whipped his gun from Clementine's head and aimed directly at Maria. Everything kept still, knowing one sudden movement could result in the Mexican mother being shot dead.

"You'll shoot yourself in the foot if you do that" Robert explained "She's the group's only medic".

Tom continued to point his gun at Maria regardless.

"Put that thing away Tom" Maria told him calmly "I can't treat Nick here, if you are pointing a gun at me"

He didn't move an inch, Clementine saw (out of the corner of his eye) how Luis' was slowly creeping towards Tom, in order to disarm him.

"Don't…" Clementine wanted to mouth to him, but he carried on moving regardless, everyone could see him, but everyone wisely kept quiet. But Clementine got the bad feeling that Tom would easily overpower and shoot Luis dead and all hell would break loose…

"He is not a good man!" Tom thundered "All that bullshit about Luke earlier! Luke is as dead as a fucking dodo! All he is now, is flattened lump of flesh at the bottom of elevator shaft".

Molly gasped, finally coming to her senses.

"What the hell happened to Luke!?" she demanded "Tell me truth here Robert, is he alive!?"

"Of course" Robert told her, "Before you say anything Tom. Yeah, we did both hold Luke at gunpoint and yes he did fall down an elevator shaft. But I know that damn shaft, I know every inch of Wellington I've reported on. And that shaft is nowhere near high enough to kill someone from a sudden fall, it might end up with someone breaking a leg, but that's it".

He paused there and carried on explaining himself.

"You see Tom, I set up that whole scenario, knowing exactly how you'd react and making myself an asshole as well. So Luke, being typical Luke would do the honourable thing, the second I knew the hospital was near enough empty and when I saw that doctor by the door. I knew what to do. I told Luke to open that elevator shaft… I…"

"That's fucking impossible!" Tom snarled "There's no fucking way you could have planned all of that!"

"I knew something was going to go down" Robert told him "Violet was a good friend of mine. I didn't want her death to be in vain. I suspected right from the onset, it was you who did it. With your history and the way you acted and after Terri told us all she was Cut Throat Cub. I knew you knew, that she was the Cub and had no problem lying about things..."

"But…" Tom spluttered.

"He had help" Billy informed everyone, stepping forward "I was damn good at my job, I could see all the signs building up at that church…"

"Oh… that! That is bloody brilliant, you've surprised me" Jason suddenly announced as he stepped forward. "Here's me thinking you just wanted the girl for yourself and that you were going to use her to destroy Tom's group. But you going with me and Clementine, it wasn't about assessing her at all. You were assessing me!"

"That's the gist of it" Billy explained "Quite naturally being the guy you are here Jason. Robert was going to send someone to keep an eye on you, we sent the girl with you. Because we know the girl can handle herself, but it was you we were testing".

"I don't follow" Jason said "Somehow me being with the girl, is testing my state of mind?"

"Indeed" Billy mused "You see Robert showed me that Domesday report he has on you Jason. You're an evasive type, stuck with groups that fallen apart before. But the cult kept a good eye on you. Because they've got the typical murders listed down that you committed. But there was one thing you didn't tell Clementine while you were trying to sway her against Robert and the group, wasn't there?"

"Don't" was all Jason muttered, catching onto what Billy was saying.

"You see Clementine" Billy was now addressing the girl in Tom's grip, as Luis crept ever close to Tom in the distraction, "Jason was manipulating you. He tried sounding clever, using us as the villains. But that was too cover his own intentions. He wants to use your group to survive, but he also wants you to himself. Because of the same old story he fed you, he wants a replacement daughter figure…"

Clementine was staring at Jason now, clearly appalled.

"In that bar, it wasn't that handprint murderer who got her was it?" Billy asked of a silent Jason, "You had to run your mouth like you always do, you accused the wrong people of murdering another member of your group. Conflicts happened because of this, people died on both sides. Eventually they got your precious little girl, when you found out what those guys did to her, you killed them all in a rage. That's when you left the bar, when you killed them all".

Jason now looked completely stunned, the hard-ass survivor he was previous playing, seemed to melt in front of everyone's eyes in those moments.

"God fucking damn you" He snarled, as he leant against the wall for support and gazed solemnly at the ground.

"We're not going to hold this against you" Billy told him "Just don't fuck with the girl's head anymore, that's a warning Jason"

"You don't get it" Jason mumbled mournfully "My daughter was 5. Five years old, excuse me for being a little messed up because of that"

He remained silent for a short while now, clearly deflated from his earlier glory and that was the effect Robert and Billy had clearly intended, no doubt. By having all of this come out in front of the whole group, exposed Jason for what he really was and people would know exactly what he was up to now, if he tried anything. Now Jason knew this as well, there was nothing he could say.

"This group has certainly gotten a hell of a lot more interesting though" Jason thought to himself, he thought he knew it all. But it had seemed like himself and many others had underestimated Robert's group completely.

"So now Tom, back to you…" Robert said.

"You still put Luke at risk with your plan!" Tom exclaimed "Even if he somehow survived the fall, he'll be injured! and alone in a hospital crawling with walkers…"

"He'll have got up and covered himself in walker guts and proceeded to leave the place" Robert informed Tom "You underestimate that man Tom, he and his group have survived hell on earth and come through the worst things. He is probably hobbling through the herd right now, looking for the group…"

"That… that will be Luke" Molly mused, a smile forming on her face.

"SO WHAT!?" Tom exploded "HE COULD STILL DIE! ROBERT STILL PUT HIM AT GREAT RISK WITH THIS FUCKING PLAN! ARE YOU ALL JUST GOING TO OVERLOOK THAT!?"

"I DID IT TOO EXPOSE YOU!" Robert roared "Yes it was fucking risky! But it is not outright killing him! If I could, I could order Jason to be killed right now, for trying to fuck with Clementine's head! I could kill Terri when she comes back! I could order Luke to be killed, or could have shot him regardless! No doubt those three people will be pissed at me! But I'm keeping them around, because as a wise man once said, real leaders give their people that freedom. They give those people second chances…"

"DON'T ACT ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY!" Tom screamed "YOU CAN SPEAK A GOOD GAME, BUT YOU CAN'T…!"

"Walking through the herds. Not a single fucking causality, explain that?" Robert demanded of Tom, who was becoming more delirious with every passing second. He couldn't actually be losing all this, could he?

"You're trying to kill me" Tom snarled "You are trying to create a causality…"

"You are the only one that needs to go" Robert informed him "I need your group on my side, hence I went through so much effort to do that. I could have simply killed you and be done with it, but I didn't. Because I'm trying my damn hardest on the knowledge I have, to keep the group together!"

"LIAR!" Tom chanted, "YOU'RE A LIAR! AIN'T THAT RIGHT AJ! YOU KNOW THE TRUTH!"

All eyes once again averted to AJ, who now looked frightened in his mother's grip, he was also confused, who the hell was the real bad-man here?

"Erm… I…I…" AJ fumbled for words here, but it was then, Miss King finally decided to speak up.

"Hey AJ" she muttered nervously "Did… did Tom also tell you about what really happened to Violet in that herd?"

AJ now looked puzzled, all eyes found the British woman, as AJ slowly shook his head.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Tom snapped.

"In the herd before you saved me" Miss King spoke up, now feeling a sense of defiance bloom in her chest, as she stared Tom down. "I saw what happened and how Violet really got her stomach slashed open. It wasn't shrapnel from the explosion, like you convinced Molly it was. No. I'm sorry you have to hear this Molly… but…"

"But?" Robert inquired, this was information he didn't know.

"But it was you that struck Violet in the stomach" Miss King said, breaking the news to a frozen Molly, whose previous smile, sunk off her face. Eddie turned to Molly, his eyes darkening with every second he gazed at the blonde woman.

"Tom covered for you, he lied to the group" Miss King spoke out "and I was a fucking idiot. I kept quiet because I was so scared, with everything bitching and backstabbing, I thought… I thought staying silent would…" she sighed there and wiped her eyes "I know. I should have spoken up sooner and then maybe… maybe we could have ratted out Tom sooner, but…"

"We all fuck up" Robert told her "Ain't nothing wrong with that, Tom would probably kill you for keeping quiet like that. But I'm more forgiving here…"

"YOU'RE A LIAR!" Tom roared again.

"No… No… it… it is you"

Everyone turned back to AJ once again, whose eyes were now locked upon Tom.

"You didn't tell me about how Violet really got injured, you… you must have been lying then! You really are the bad-man!" AJ exclaimed in shock.

"SHE'S LYING AJ!" Tom spat "DON'T YOU GET IT! SHE'S WITH ROBERT'S GROUP! THIS IS ALL A BIG CONSPIRACY KID! WHEN THEY GET RID OF ME! YOUR GROUP WILL BE NEXT! THEY'LL KILL YOU ALL…!"

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Stephanie suddenly snapped, from where she crouched next to her husband and where Maria was slowly bandaging his stump "You sound more insane by the second!"

Tom only continued to glare openly at her, knowing full well he could move his arm a mere inch and shoot the raven haired woman, rather than Maria.

"I… I can't… did I? Did I do that too Violet and not even know?" Molly asked blankly of Tom.

"No! You! You really d-didn't M-Molly…" Tom blabbed, in a voice that convinced no one.

"Oh Fuck me, I did! FUCK!" Molly screamed, bashing her head against her hands in frustration and curling up into herself.

"I'm kind of glad Hilda is with Terri now" Molly blankly muttered "I'd just be useless with her and probably kill someone else…"

"Yeah." Eddie cut in darkly "You probably would"

Molly sunk into herself, knowing full well Eddie would be damn pissed at her and he had every right to be. Rebecca turned to Eddie, his face was like thunder after having to sit down and absorb all this news in silence, Rebecca knew he had finally snapped.

"Eddie, please not now. Molly didn't mean too…" Rebecca began.

"SO WHAT!?" Eddie screamed, his spit flying all over the place "SHE STILL DID IT! THE FUCKING USELESS BLIND BITCH KILLED THE WOMAN I LOVED! AND WHAT! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME ALL TO DO!? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO REBECCA!?"

"Calm down!" Rebecca begged of him.

"CALM DOWN!" Eddie bellowed "FUCKING CALM DOWN! FUCK NO! I'VE DEALT WITH TOO MUCH FUCKING SHIT THIS PAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND EVERYONE EXPECTS ME TO JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN! AND PLAY THE FUNNY GUY I'M ALWAYS MEANT TOO! WELL, GUESS WHAT I CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE! IT SEEMS LIKE ALL OF YOU PLAYED SOME PART IN VIOLET DYING! AND YOU ALL KEPT IT FROM ME!"

"Eddie!" Rebecca snapped.

"NO! NO ONE IS GOING TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN NOW!" Eddie seethed "AFTER WYATT DIED, DO YOU KNOW HOW STRONG THE URGE WAS TO THROTTLE LUKE TO DEATH IN HIS SLEEP!? I WANTED HIM DEAD, MY BEST FRIEND WAS DEAD BECAUSE LUKE GAVE THAT PIECE OF SHIT VINCE ANOTHER CHANCE! BUT I DID WHAT WAS RIGHT AND I CALMED DOWN! I NEVER DISCUSSED HOW I FELT WITH ANYONE! THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH A GUY CAN BOTTLE INSIDE FOR SO LONG BEFORE HE SNAPS! AND NOW I HAVE A NATURAL FUCKING RIGHT TO BLOW MY TOP!"

He panted heavily, gazing at one guilty face to the next.

"I know you do" Rebecca began, "But…"

"DON'T FUCKING BUT ME REBECCA!" Eddie imploded "TELL YOU WHAT, YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING FUCKED UP!? YOUR SON! LITTLE AJ THERE WAS THE REAL ONE WHO KILLED PRESIDENT SCHULZ! HE LUGGED A FUCKING GUN INTO THE CENTRAL HUB DURING THE RIOT AND SAVED NICK AND STEF'S LIVES! ALL BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T KEEP AN EYE ON HIM! AND YOU LEFT HIM DURING THE FIRST RIOT! EVERY TIME I'VE HAD TO PICK UP YOUR SON'S SHIT! I LIED AND SAID I KILLED SCHULZ TO SPARE AJ THE TRAUMA…!"

"NO!" Rebecca roared "THAT'S NOT TRUE! IT CAN'T BE!" AJ HONEY… YOU DIDN'T…!"

AJ was now crying silently into his hands.

"It is isn't it?" He asked of Eddie "I really did kill that bad-man"

"Yes you did dude" Eddie told him darkly "What this damn group needs is to be aware of things! Like how we know Molly can no longer be trusted with a pickaxe, or how AJ has inherited his father's gene's…"

"DON'T!" Rebecca exploded "EDDIE DON'T YOU DARE SAY MY SON, IS ANYTHING LIKE THAT MONSTER…!"

"Maybe he is…" Eddie said with an evil smile, as AJ wept harder into his mother's shirt.

"I wasn't the only one who kept it from you though" Eddie informed Rebecca "Nick and Stef knew it too, they kept it from you as well"

"Please tell me, that isn't true" Rebecca sobbed, turning to Nick and Stephanie. Nick was still groaning and nursing his lost hand. Whereas Stephanie's gazed silently back at Rebecca, she didn't know what to say.

"Re…"

"Don't speak to me! The pair of you!" Rebecca screeched "You're atrocious!"

Stephanie's head sank into guilty depths, whereas Nick felt even worse than he already was.

"Anyway… you!" Eddie snarled, pointing directly at Tom "You were the one that actually killed my girlfriend, as such. I am going to fucking kill you" he smiled there at Tom, revealing his still white teeth to him "You got that?" Eddie asked of him.

"You make one move" Tom warned him "I'll shoot Maria over there…"

"Don't care" Eddie mused, as he began to skip towards Tom, the cleaver he had acquired from the hospital now lay within his grip, as he swung the weapon up and down.

"I'll shoot Stef and Nick" Tom panicked, as Eddie bounded closer to him.

"Don't care" Eddie repeated.

Luis was now behind of Tom, Eddie was getting ever closer to Tom, whose gun trembled within his fingers. Clementine tried struggling, but Tom was simply too strong for her. Luis looked around, clearly panicked as Tom's finger squeezed down on the trigger.

"NOOOOOO!"

Luis leapt forward and rugby tackled Eddie straight to the ground, furniture and chairs flew everywhere. Someone screamed, as Tom felt himself get knocked to the left, as his gunshot fired, with a resounding BANG! Which echoed across the room, Maria and Stephanie ducked in fear, but the bullet had been fired off in another random direction and hit a woman square between the eyes. She collapsed as dead as she could be, onto the ground, with the bullet Tom had fired splitting her skull in two, as brains and blood leaked from her corpse.

However, in the commotion, no one noticed the dead woman, but more on a struggling Eddie who was pinned beneath Luis.

"STOP STRUGGLING!" Luis roared.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME!" Eddie screeched "LET ME FINISH HIM OFF! YOU KNOW HE HAD ALWAYS HAD IT AGAINST VIOLET'S FAMILY! JUST BECAUSE HER SISTER SLEPT WITH HIS BROTHER AND RUINED HIS GROUP'S CHANCES IN WELLINGTON! HE WARNED ME OF THE SAME THING! HE HATED VIOLET! BUT IT WASN'T HER FAULT, YOUR SHITTY GROUP FAILED!"

"That's a good point" Robert said "It had to be Violet who got injured, probably made it a hell of a lot easier for you Tom. To imagine her as Stacy who ruined your group's chances at Wellington…"

"Shut… the hell…" Tom began.

"TARA!" A man suddenly roared, everyone turned to the noise and it was then, they all noticed that Tom had indeed killed someone and that she was laying on the ground.

"Oh God, honey, no… no… no… get up… get up…" the man wept, to his (no doubt) clearly dead wife on the ground. Tom had killed someone's wife, the man in question was going to charge forward at him, very soon. Robert knew this too as he finally pulled his own gun from his pocket.

"Game Over Tom" Robert muttered "Release the girl and I can give you a less painful death, than the one, Gregory over there is going to give you in a mere minute".

Tom looked around, he was nothing now. He truly had lost, Robert had beaten him, his trump card of AJ had failed. His group now hated him, Robert had won and seeing the smug look on Robert's half scarred face, made Tom want to kill him most of all. But Tom knew life was never fair, there was no way he'd be able to kill Robert.

But someone had started this all, he knew that much.

"AJ why were you up at that time?" Tom inquired of the boy.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING SPEAK TO HIM!" Rebecca screamed.

"I couldn't sleep! I was very quiet and that's how I saw you, do what you did!" AJ roared back. Tom was now insane in the eyes of the group, his questions were pure madness looking for somebody to blame and AJ knew JJ had asked him to play watch out with him. But in those mad moments AJ completely forgot about JJ.

But JJ didn't.

He peered behind the sofa he was hidden behind and gazed at AJ, Tom saw the blonde haired teenager's eyes lock on the back of AJ's curls. JJ then looked up to find Tom glaring directly at him.

"So it was you" Tom thought in savage delight, "You're the bastard who masterminded this chaos".

He laughed to himself, Robert was wrong, this wasn't game over for him just yet. He was too far gone to be saved no doubt, but he was going to do one last favour for the group. Even if they never knew it nor appreciated it.

Without any warning what-so-ever, Tom grabbed Clementine by the waist and threw the girl, directly at Robert. He didn't see this coming and dropped his gun to the ground, as Tom leapt over their fallen forms, he quickly hopped off the sofa and grabbed JJ's messy blonde locks. With a squeal of painful surprise, JJ was dragged along the floor and out of the front door. The grieving husband (Gregory) leapt up after Tom and grabbed Robert's gun.

"I'MMA KILL YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" He roared.

"GREG DON'T!" Robert warned, too little and far too late.

* * *

Reaching the outside world, the first thing Tom did, was throw JJ painfully to the ground the teenager was screaming in pain as he felt a few bones snap at the impact with the hard surface. Tom could only laugh as the teenager wept on the ground. That lying little shit had been trouble since day one, that innocent act had all been a façade.

If it wasn't for JJ and Wilbert, Tom could have still been alone, doing right by his brother. But they came in and ruined everything and ultimately led him here and turned him into what he was.

"IT WAS YOU THEN YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Tom bellowed, kicking JJ hard in the ribs. JJ felt the wind get knocked out of him, as his torso ached terribly. Tom had pulled his hair so hard, strands of it lay in his dark fingers and blood leaked onto JJ's face, getting into his eyes and mouth as he coughed and spluttered it out.

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO STARTED ALL THIS! YOU SET AJ ON ME!" Tom bellowed.

He kicked JJ once again, as JJ begged him to stop… all this pain! He didn't… he didn't want to break!

"I'M GOING TO DO THE GROUP A FAVOUR NOW! AND GET RID OF YOUR FUCKING LYING, DECEITFUL, INSANE LITTLE ASS!" Tom roared, pulling his gun on JJ, as JJ looked up. This was it, this is how it ended…

Suddenly a door opened from behind Tom, he whipped around instantly, as the grieving husband Gregory, charged at him, with Robert's gun raised.

Tom was a second faster.

BANG!

Gregory collapsed to the ground, a small hole in his chest that had pierced his heart, made him drop his gun and instantly begin to bleed out on the ground below him. Turning back to the fearful looking JJ, Tom pulled down on the trigger once again.

It clicked emptily.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" Tom roared, shooting Nick in the hand and killing a married couple, had wasted three of his bullets. Three bullets he could have used on JJ right now…

"Very well then" Tom snarled "Looks like I'll do this, with my bare fucking hands"

He reached down, but with a sudden speed, JJ rose up and darted into the golden wheat fields behind him, cursing, Tom blindly followed him inside, where the crops grew larger than himself. So he was concealed in here from the others, behind him. He cursed when he realised, he should have gone back and picked up the gun, the other man had been carrying. But he was in here now, pursuing that insane freak…

"What's a matter Tom!?" Came JJ's voice, who suddenly sounded a lot more malicious then he had done beforehand.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Tom roared.

"Come and play with me" TT taunted.

"If that's what you want, I'll fucking play with you" Tom snapped "Admit it though! It was you who set up that shit with AJ"

"Yet, you used it to your advantage" TT reminded him.

"YOU'VE WANTED ME DEAD FOR A WHILE!? HAVEN'T YOU!?" Tom bellowed.

"YOU'VE ONLY EVER HELD ME BACK!" TT taunted "NOW COME ON TOM! LET'S FINISH LIKE MEN! COME AND FIND ME! WHAT'S A MATTER… BROKEN!?"

With his teeth gritting together harder than they had ever done beforehand, Tom pursued TT into the wheat field.

However, JJ had a trick up his sleeve, he was going to prove to them all he was a survivor and seeing how the snow had melted in Wellington and that with all the walkers around, the place had become completely bone dry. How would some nice little fire spice things up in this game? He wanted Wellington to burn to the ground right now, TT wanted this place obliterated along with Tom. He wanted a new start and burning down Wellington, didn't seem like that crazy a prospect in his crazy mind.

All it took was for TT to use a lighter he had found the hospital, he clicked it onwards, as a nearby crop caught fire. Instantly the embers spread across the dry field, within five minutes, JJ could hear Tom coughing, as the quickly greying smoke obscured his own vision. TT fled onwards through the now fiery maze, as the wind around him picked up...excellent! The fire would spread even faster now! As TT ran on he managed to pick up an abandoned sickle, which must have been used for cutting down crops previously. But now it was weapon and made him…

_Tom's flaming grim reaper._

TT had to smile.

Out of control fire, him being hunted down by Tom, the group in tatters now…

This was all so much fun!

* * *

"Fuck…" Robert snarled, gazing down at where the man (Gregory) lay dead at the entrance to the house. Walkers were clear from this area, although the group were still coated in walker guts, so walkers weren't there only problem.

However madmen were.

"This has all gone to shit" Robert groaned, many of the group were behind him.

"You are partly responsible for this chaos!" Rebecca snapped "What were you expecting? Tom to simply go quietly?"

"He had to go, that was purpose of this" Robert informed her.

"Yeah well he took JJ with him!" Luis snapped "We can't just leave JJ behind with that crazy fuck, we don't leave the group behind! So that's why I'm going go get him!"

"Luis, no! That's fucking risky!" Robert snarled "Tom's out of the way now, we just need to get to the drawbridge. You know how crazy Tom is…"

"I know!" Luis snapped "Would I be any better, if I just left JJ behind as well? Okay so JJ might have something wrong upstairs, but the guy tried to be my friend and I shut him out. If I don't do something, I know I'm going to regret it…"

"His right" came a surprising voice, everyone turned to see Maria standing there by her son's side.

"Nick has stabilised, I'm going with you son. Because if we do find JJ, he'll be injured and I need to be there for him" Maria explained as Luis' mouth dropped open at what his mother was saying.

"I can't stop you from doing what you feel is right son" Maria decided to explain to her confused son "and this is a good thing, going back for someone. We don't have to go down the dark road Tom went down. This is good for us; it proves will still have humanity…"

"Sorry to cut the lecture short" Clementine interrupted "But I'm going with you two as well"

Luis gazed down at her "What, trying to beat me at everything?" he asked with a light smile.

"Hmm… that and Luke's out there" Clementine informed him "I knew he was alive and I know he is out there now looking for us and I just realised. What he told us is true".

"What are you talking about?" Robert asked.

"She's right and I'm going with her too" Molly told everyone.

"Molly, in your state…" Rebecca began.

"No. I can't stay in that house. I know now, I fucked up" Molly told Rebecca "I have to do something now and If Luke is out there, blind or not I am going to find him. Besides Clementine's right, remember what Luke told us Rebecca. I can already smell the smoke in the air…"

Rebecca looked up at the wheat field and saw the smoke plumes rising from it.

"Oh shit!" Robert exclaimed "TOM THAT CRAZY FUCK HAS STARTED A FIRE! IT WILL SPREAD ALL OVER WELLINGTON WITH THIS WIND! FUCK! I GOTTA GET THE GROUP MOVING TO THE DRAWBRIDGE…!"

"Yeah good luck getting the group to move in it's tattered state" Molly said sarcastically.

"Oh and Robert!" she called out.

He turned around.

"Yeah!" he called back.

"The group is in a mess because of you!" she informed him "So you get them all to the wall and prove you're a good leader!"

"I'll try my best. I promise!" Robert called back to her "You guys hurry up and find Luke and JJ, try and explain it to them! You don't have long though, because that fire will spread fucking fast. We'll wait for you for a little while, but understand once the fire consumes this place…"

"You gotta go. Yeah I get it" Molly said "and if Luke dies because of what you've done. Rest assured Robert I will kill you myself, so pray he isn't dead".

"Believe me, I am!" Robert exclaimed "Luke's a good guy, we need him around. Even if I was complete dick to him, he kept his Morales intact…"

"Yeah, that's great! Now get the group moving!" Molly ordered of him, as Robert found himself obeying someone else for once, as he charged back into the house, where his group followed him. Nick and Stephanie were still inside recovering from events, Eddie was sat down, as numb as could be and ashamed of himself, while AJ was currently clinging onto Rebecca. Rebecca watched Maria, Luis, Molly and Clementine approach the field.

"Please be careful!" Rebecca begged of them.

"Aren't we always!" Molly called back, before the four of them entered the field.

"Luke's alive you guys" Clementine informed them all, the second they entered the field. "He is going to be in here, JJ will be as well and maybe even Terri…"

"We have to find them" Maria summarised, before she looked down at Clementine once again. "But… how can you say for certain Luke is in this field?"

"He saw it and he told us about it" Clementine answered "My group have visions Maria, we know what's going to happen and Luke is alive because he had that vision. Now, we have to find him…"

"Visions?" Maria asked, "What visions…?"

"You know Luis, you overheard us" Clementine said "and we're in a burning field now, so…"

Luis was silent for a moment, before it hit him. How could have Clementine predicted they'd end up in a burning field? No one could have predicted that and if that was the case…

"Holy fucking shit…" Luis swore heavily.

"You have to believe us now, don't you?" Clementine mused.

"I'm sorry, but what is going on? What is all this?" Maria inquired.

"I'll try and explain it later mum, it's not really important now. For now we need to find JJ, Terri and Luke before the whole of Wellington burns down" Luis summarised, as the four of them nodded in agreement at this statement and ploughed onwards into the field.

* * *

Clementine was right of course.

Because one man had fallen down an elevator shaft and broke his fall by clinging onto the cables, still that didn't stop the painful impact that had broken his leg.

That didn't stop the man, from using the ladder in the shaft, to help him escape the place.

He limped past the walkers on his one leg, having to shove many to the side, as he reached the entrance to the hospital and instantly wiped himself down with walker guts, at the torn up bodies that still lay at the entrance.

He moved on quickly through the herd, trying to find out where they could have gone… but soon the walkers began to notice his bleeding leg.

So he retreated into a place where there was a lack of walkers.

The golden wheat fields.

So when he saw the first plume of grey smoke rise from some point in front of him and looked around to discover he was truly lost in this jumbled maze of crops (he cursed himself then, he had been so focused on getting as far away from the walkers as possible, he couldn't find the way out now).

His vision was about to come true and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Oh shit" Luke muttered.


	28. Don't Look Back In Anger

**A/N: Hello again people! and sorry for the wait, life's got on top of me once again and my sense of writer's block started to creep in after last chapter, as I know where the story is going and what will occur during the big chapter 30. But this chapter and the next one I struggled for a long while to write them and what would ultimately lead up to the finale of this "episode" itself. So I wrote one big block of text, which I've spilt into Chapters 28 and 29, so because of this, this chapter and the next one may be a lot shorter than the chapters I usually write. **

**Anyway enough waffle, onto answering reviews!**

**Paradoxilla- Yep, Luke's back although I wouldn't kill off such a major character now, would I? (Laughs evilly). The Tom arc has indeed reached it's end, but the question is, what other arcs will end with Tom's? and what new one's shall be created?**

**Chameishida- Couldn't help but laugh when you put "Tom get rekt" because that was basically the last chapter summarised in three words. Also I'm glad Robert's group managed ot surprise you as the way his character has developed has surprised me as well! It sounds strange but originally I was going to go with the whole "Robert is another Carver and his group are mindless followers route" but as this episode became more emotionally complex than I intended it to be and too keep in with the theme of disillusionment, that centred around Clementine in Going To Ruin? I wanted to keep the theme fresh that you're reading the story from a character's POV and these POV's no matter who they are, are unreliable and don't always reflect the truth and as you'll realise this chapter, there is another character who is disillusioned and lying to themselves about their past. Suffice to say this will all come together for my massive grand plan with the second chance stuff and all...**

**Also Tom VS TT, yep I could come up with a load of symbolic stuff to say about this upcoming fight, but I imagine you've figured it out on your own. But Tom and TT initials as (TT) show that both Tom and JJ have given into their darker sides, hence a TT has been created, and TT always spells trouble, or it could even stand for Tell-Tale, as we know how emotionally evil their games can be! (I think it's clever little pun, but I'll shut up now). **

**Finally, loving that you're loving Maria, as Luke whose started to take the spotlight once again after lying quite low in episodes 1 and 2, whereas Maria has laid pretty low for Episodes 1,2 and 3 so far, but with her being the most popular of the 2000 days characters back during it's initial pop poll, I have planned for a long while to have her lie low and have her potential as a unique survivor come to the surface later on. As the walking dead world is saturated with father figures, so a strong maternal figure I feel is needed (Rebecca takes this spot as well, but it's always nice to have more moral, motherly characters around, rather than the usual, macho, fatherly figures) anyway Eddie will be one to watch this chapter and overall I'm happy you were on the edge of your seat last chapter! Get ready for this one!**

**ffapathy- I outlined a lot of points replying to the review above, but I will answer some of the points you made as well.**

**First about Jason's character being knocked down a peg or two, originally he was going to be a sort of likeable rogue survivor who gave Clementine advice to trust no one but herself. However, as reviewers didn't take too him as warmly as I thought they would, I decided to knock him down a bit and give him a much more vulnerable side in a short space of time. As I imagine "the hardass survivor" cliché has been done to death, so Jason right now is a bit of wildcard like Marisol was in GTR, however with his views and his secrets now in the open, I'm excited to see where his character will go. The debate you picked up on, about heading North or South, will be similar to the debate on whether or not to go leave Howe's in GTR. As that debate divided reviewers and I'm hoping to emulate it's success when the chapter to have that debate comes up (suffice to say, it will occur in Episode 4). Terri and the Wolf showing up? You will have to wait and see, and finally your thoughts at the end got me thinking, so thanks for them and thanks for reviewing!**

**Okay mass note over, enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

_"LUKE GET BACK HERE!" _

Luke staggered on through the fields...

_"LUKE!"_

He swatted his head and continued his trek, past the billowing crops.

_"LUKE! GODDAMIT BOY!" Luke felt himself get spun around by a powerful hand._

The young man turned to see, no sign of escape behind him.

_Luke gazed at Pete's glowering face, he knew he was in trouble now. _

He sighed to himself, there was no escape.

_"Luke, where the hell did all that shit come from boy!?" Pete demanded of him, his calculated brown eyes never leaving the younger man. _

Luke knew he was walking into trouble, back then and now.

_"It'll be safer there!" Luke argued back "You know it! I know it! and Nick...!"_

The smoke was starting to clog Luke's vision now, as he blindly stumbled onwards.

_"I long gathered my nephew is a hot headed idiot" Pete snapped "But even my sister noticed your mood shift back there Luke..."_

"God dammit!" Luke groaned to himself "I need to find the others!"

"_It's a hardware store!" Luke protested "We saw it! It's shelter Pete! It's what this group needs!" _

Luke could have used a shelter now, it was getting far too hot for him to handle.

_"I get you there son" Pete said "Sarah's just a girl, she needs somewhere safe for the time being. Me and Martha know for a fact Nick wouldn't last ten seconds away from the group. Alvin and Rebecca could also use a place to call home..."_

_"I know, I know" Luke fretted. _

_"But" Luke knew Pete's infamous "But" was oncoming just by his tone of voice._

_"But?" Luke questioned. _

_"But if there's one thing me, Martha and Nick have in common" Pete explained to him "Is that we can smell bullshit from a dung heap, miles away and Nick snapped at you, because he and Martha are right about one thing, boy. How do we know anyone in that hardware store is trustworthy?"_

_"I suppose you're on your family's side here then" Luke muttered bitterly "It's fine Pete, no really it is. But I just want to argue my case with you, like I did with the others. We can't afford to wander on aimlessly forever in the woods, we need shelter and look at that store Pete! It looks like a well run community to me! Basic bandits wouldn't be able too...!"_

_"I know that" Pete snarled "But if we do go there, I am advising you to be cautious with it Luke. Any sign of trouble..."_

_"I know" _

_"One sign..."_

_"I KNOW!" Luke snapped, casting a glare Pete's way. The old man's gaze never tore of the younger man._

_"You seem damn determined to argue your case" Pete finally concluded "Tell me something honestly here Luke and look me in the eye!"_

_Luke obeyed, his eyes connecting with Pete's._

_"Is there anything or anyone at that store, that is drawing you there? Can you honestly say, that you're making this decision on what you feel is best for the group, rather than a personal reason of your own?"_

_"I can honestly say that Pete" Luke lied._

_He had, after all been the master of hiding things. _

_It was because of this, Luke lead the group to Howe's in the first place. Under the pretence of a "good feeling". _

Luke opened his eyes once again in present day, tumbling through the drying crops, as the fire's roar grew forever louder, the smoke thicker and the temperature forever hotter. The crackling of the deadly flames that licked through the drying plant life was spreading at an alarming rate and if Luke didn't drag his injured leg any faster than his current pace, he'd be a signed corpse within this field, within no time at all.

Quickly fumbling with his neck, he pulled the chain to his old locket and held the locket itself right up to his nose and sniffed deeply at it. The air smelt of nothing but thick, acrid smoke at the time being. So there was no possible way the locket could have still smelt of Jane. There was simply no logic to it at all, yet when Luke inhaled, he was hit with the all to familiar, all too imaginary waft of his late girlfriend's distinctive and beautiful scent. That made him clench his eyes shut and exhale in pleasure.

He opened the locket, the photo of his smiling parents gazed back at him.

That upcoming vision, it was going to happen to him very soon. Regardless of the final outcome of this whole field fire, he was going to end up in a sorry state regardless and the worst thing of that, was that he was going to be facing it alone, right now he was stuck in this fiery maze, alone.

It terrified him.

He would never admit it, but that was the truth of the matter. Whenever he was alone, when he cried at Howe's alone, when he felt alone, when he was alone, like he was now. He would cling onto the scent of his dead girlfriend and his parents.

Yeah... his parents.

He'd cling onto that right now and follow his "good feeling" like he always did and hoped it would take him to a better place than it did last time.

* * *

"OKAY EVERYONE WE GOTTA MOVE!" Robert roared, storming throughout the house, to rustle his shell-shocked group into a sense of alarm and urgency. There was a goddamn fire outside, spreading at the fastest, fucking pace the former editor had ever seen! So how was everyone reacting!? Packing their bags!? Scurrying out of the front door!? Running for their lives, while helping the others along with them!? No. Many of them still sat or stood in a frozen stupor, some of them trembling over the body of the married woman, still laid spread-eagled on the ground to the small living room.

"HAVE YOU GONE DEAF!?" Robert demanded, shaking one man by the shoulders, as the man turned to face him "WE GOTTA MOVE!"

"But..." the man began.

"NO IF'S OR FUCKING BUT'S!" Robert exploded "I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A HARSH ASSHOLE RIGHT NOW! AND YES WHAT HAPPENED WAS PARTIALLY MY FAULT! I'LL ADMIT THAT, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE EVERYONE, WE HAVE GOT TO GO! I'M TRYING MY HARDEST TO ENSURE YOU GUYS GET MOVING AND SURVIVE, THAT'S WHY I HAD TO GET TOM OUT OF THIS GROUP!"

"Through that method?" The man leered at him, "Fooling us all? Manipulating us all? What's it going to be like outside these walls Robert? Are you going to use us there too...?"

"We don't need to bring this...!" Robert began to snarl.

"Why not dig up the past!?" Eddie snapped, standing up and squaring up to Robert, his earlier fury surfacing one again, "You dug up the Domesday report? and to do what? to save us? To get us to the wall? So you can be such a good leader? Huh!?" Eddie challenged, in the silence that filled the room once again, Robert was left to gulp at his furious group and he thought getting them to the wall would be easy, he really should have known better. Billy's blank look was no help to him at all right now, so he had to muster up his own words.

"Yeah, you're mad at me" Robert snarled "So fucking what? Accept what I did, accept I did to save all of you from what Tom would do later on. He killed your girlfriend Eddie, not me and if anyone else in your group, or anyone gets injured and slows us down then they would die too. I had to put a stop to that, so that's why I did what I did? You don't like it? Than stay in this house and burn to death for all care, I've done all I can here, I can only do more, if you help me get to the wall".

With those words still lingering in his throat, the ex-editor, span on his heel and stormed out of the front door, not once looking back. He was fuming himself... after everything he had done for them...!"

He gasped and slowed in his tracks, he was starting to sound like Tom.

Inhaling deeply, he looked across the golden fields to see the fire was rapidly eating it's way through the field and was rushing towards the moat, if they didn't move soon, well if he didn't move soon, then none of them would escape Wellington on time.

He took another step forward, the acrid stench was filling his nostrils, as wisps of faint, grey smoke began to swirl in his vision.

From behind him, he heard the others follow, as he knew they would. Whether they were happy or not with his leadership, they still followed him, they followed him for one simple reason.

He was keeping them alive.

So with that thought in mind, Robert kept his gaze planted on the plains ahead of him and placed one foot in front of the other.

* * *

Luke stumbled onwards, he was certain he could hear someone though...

Could it? Could it have been..?

"LUKE! LUKE!"

Screaming. Clementine's screaming and she was calling out for him! Luke looked around wildly his eyes quickly adjusting to the scene around him.

It was bright, far too bright and intense and a low roar and snapping and crackling behind him indicated a fire. A large fire, in fact he found himself dragging his scorched body across dry yellow stems on the ground. Hay... crops...fire...a field...grey-ish smoke clogging his vision, so he couldn't fully tell exactly where he was.

"I'M OVER HERE CLEM!" Luke bellowed into the inferno "CLEM I'M OVER HERE! I'M OVER HERE...!"

He kept on shouting this, he heard Clementine's replies get forever louder, she was getting closer to him. It was urgent that she found him soon, he couldn't stand up and run to her, his body had been burnt. His clothes were still smoking and his hands that he placed in front of him were still ruby red with burn marks, but he was also aware of the fact his leg had been broken. It had cleanly been broken at the knee, rendering him, of his ability to run on both legs. So now he had to crawl through this god-damn field and find Clementine, before...

Before they found him first.

So they did,, his shouting and the general roar of the fire had drawn them to the scene, as mousetraps would lure unsuspecting mice to their deaths.

However as the walkers, stumbled towards him (seemingly appearing out of the orange haze all of a sudden) caught Luke off guard. He was injured and defenceless and the blank, soulless eyes of those hungry corpses, were actually going to find a feast in the fire.

Panicking now and with even more cold sweat developing on his skin, Luke turned back towards the fire, he couldn't go back... but then he couldn't go forward either...

Then he heard the groans, inches from behind him.

"CLEM!" He roared as he felt about three walkers fall on top of him, as they made instant work of biting down on his flesh, in agony Luke clenched his eyes shut...

* * *

"Lu...!" Clementine started to scream, the embers were now stinging at her skin, breathing was becoming insanely difficult.

This time, she gained a response, as she heard a distant, howl of pain.

"ARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

"LUKE!" She shrieked, forgetting about the heat, the pain, the struggle to breathe and the smoke clogging her vision, she ploughed on towards him. Maria, Luis and Molly were left to stare momentarily, at where Clementine had suddenly bolted off, into the insane inferno, before Luis ran forwards after her and guided his wide eyed mother, a restless Molly, towards the source of noise.

Clementine meanwhile ran on...

She prayed, she wasn't too late...

* * *

Luke remembered now, that was his vision he just had.

No wonder it felt so dreamlike, like he was seeing the field for the first time, he felt so light headed after all the smoke inhalation and he remembered he needed to find Clementine... but now... now that didn't seem to be happening.

The walkers were burning, of the three on top of him, two were still covered in flames, as the embers ate away the last of the walker's decaying clothes, while the other walker was naked and scorching to the touch, so Luke could safely say while he was also being devoured by these things, they were leaving their fair share of burn marks on his body.

Yet even now, despite his warning dream and earlier anxiety, he couldn't... he simply couldn't struggle. He couldn't fight them off, he couldn't move a single limb. Or even feel an ounce of pain, as their teeth and hands dug under his skin and blood erupted from every part of his body. His leg was still aching... and then it wasn't. There was sickening crunch and a splatter and Luke felt a group of walkers converge and drop on something behind him, as they tore into a bit of detached flesh...

He looked back.

He didn't have a bad leg anymore, because from the knee down, the walkers had ripped it off and were now chewing his detached limb down to the bone, as they tugged on the arterties and red strips of muscle that still attached Luke, to his now lost limb, a mass pool of blood was enveloping beneath him, soaking his clothes. But he felt so warm and so sleepy... it was like he was peeing himself! Just with a slight twinge of pain...

"LUKE!"

A distant howl? What was that? Someone? No, no one ever came back for him, he had helped the others, now he could die alone.

He was happy, but in pain? How was that possible? Who was that, speaking above him?

A walker cocked his head up and Luke looked up to find William Carver gazing down at him, Carver began to speak gibberish words, his face deforming as the fire and smoke seemingly melted the former leader of Howe's in the way, a wax candle would be melted, as blood and blobs of white skin began rolling down Carver's face, his body was deforming...

Then Luke felt the walker grasp it's scorched fingers against his face.

"DON'T YOU SEE!?" Carver suddenly exploded, as a horrible buzzing and sort of static exploded in Luke''s head, making the young man gasp in surprise, as the walker tore it's sharp nails across Luke's face... one... twice... three times... red was obscuring his vision...

Then, he felt his eye roll out of it's socket, just as both of Carver's eyes rolled down his face.

"WE LOOK THE SAME NOW!" The empty socketed, phantom form of Carver shrieked.

Luke didn't know where to look! He turned around to see the nude form of Kenny, who licked his lips and pointed at his own empty socket, while thrusting himself inside of a charred out corpse, who had Kelly's hair...

"Just like me son!" Kenny chuckled with a fatherly affection present in his tone, as he continued to guffaw and continue his business with the corpse, who Luke could see, was no longer Kelly, but had morphed into the none charred, very alive form of Jane, he blinked with his remaining eye, to find that Kenny was gone and the angelic nude, glowing white form of Jane was standing above him.

"J-J..." he felt himself mumble.

"Luke" she replied, her voice cold and her eyes even more so, as she gazed down at him, while swinging his parents lockets through the inferno, it's golden tint caught Luke's eye, as he gazed up at it. Wait? Didn't he have that on him...?

"Ask yourself honestly" Jane muttered down to him, as Luke awaited for what she had to say.

"What's real" she uttered "and what's right"

Luke couldn't formulate an answer.

Jane's look, became that much darker in those moments.

"Because we never were"

"Jane!" Luke croaked, managing to lift his hand towards her form, instead he found the form of nude, female walker bounding towards him, as his eyes dilated in terror. Finally fearing fear, pain, emotion in those final moments, because the second this thing fell on top of him, it would all be over...

LUKE!

SPLAT!

The female walker was thrown back with a hatchet cleanly embedded into it's brains, Luke couldn't take the pain anymore, the agony... the fire... and what the hell he had just seen or hallucinated that had severely shaken him to his bones!

From above him, Clementine wasted no time, the hatchet she had thrown had landed cleanly between the walker's eyes. She pulled her trusted weapon out of it's skull and got to work in no time in killing the other three walkers, feasting on her friend's flesh. She heard a growl from above her and quickly swiped her blood soaked hatchet through the heated air, to slice open the skull of another approaching walker. Gasping for breath and soaked in sweat, with her adrenaline rush finally fading from her body and her arms overfilling with lactic acid, Clementine could only look down at the damage done.

She gasped, just as Maria, Luis and Molly converged on the scene. Luis reaction was a shocked "SHIT!" while Maria gasped louder than Clementine did.

"What is it!?" Molly demanded "Maria! How bad is he!?"

"CLEMENTINE!" Maria ordered instantly "Drag him over here...!"

"HOW BAD IS HE!?" Molly screeched.

Maria harshly pushed Molly to the side, while she instantly ran up to where Luke was, neglecting her previous order for Clementine to drag him over to her.

"HE'LL DIE IF I DON'T TREAT HIM HERE AND NOW!" Maria summarised, to a still confused Molly.

"FUCK!" Molly screamed.

"LOOK OUT!" Luis bellowed all of a sudden, from where Molly had been pushed over, a walker leapt out of the flaming inferno to maul her. Thankfully though Luis was much faster and swung his axe through the air and planted it, in the walker's skull, as the burning thing fell to the ground. However this wasn't before, it's dying arms brushed across Luis' still functioning arm, and instantly the moody Mexican leapt back in pain, massaging his scorched skin, with his stump.

"The thing fucking burnt me!" He snapped to a shaken Clementine, who was noticing more of the fiery walkers emerging from the burning storks around them.

"Keep them off me!" Maria howled, as she coughed into her hand and looked down at Luke, struggling to arrange her equipment, as blood poured endlessly from his form, he was going white and Maria had to think fast... the eye she could manage with the equipment but as for the leg... there was only one solution and seeing as she was surrounded by fire... Wearily the Mexican woman looked, at the young man's face, he was still semi-conscious but slipping from them, too much pain would send him into shock and kill him. But right now, that's the only option she had and she was going to need help.

"MOLLY!" She shrieked "FOLLOW MY VOICE AND GET OVER HERE! I NEED YOU TO HOLD LUKE DOWN!"

Molly stumbled on over to Luke's prone form and held him down by the shoulders, as she did Clementine swore she heard Molly choke to him "Hey again Country boy..."

"J..Jane..." he murmured in his delirious state back to her. Clementine didn't know if that was the reason Molly cried harder, or if it was because of his current state. Although she couldn't see the full damage, Clementine could, there Luke was, laid down in front of her, with a leg and eye missing...

"We're going to protect you Luke" Clementine promised "Just like you did for us"

With that being said, her and Luis held their bloodied weapons high and stood back to back, as the pair of them watched walkers emerge from all sides.

"Hey Clem" Luis said "Let's play a game, whoever kills the most walkers wins"

Clementine grinned back at him, despite the dire situation they were in, they had to try and make light of it somehow and maintain they're fighting spirit.

"You're on" she mused back, as the pair of them charged forwards.

* * *

"FUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!"

Robert's roar of frustration and his accompanying kick of a nearby patch of grass, basically summarised the group's overall mood when they saw, the path to the moat, was now blocked by a wall of roaring flames. The patches of field they had to cut across to get to the moat were up in flames, leaving the moat blocked off and Plan A of their escape in tatters. But Plan B was also in tatters, as the fire was now openly eating it's way through Wellington's buildings, it was repelling the walkers in town, away from the searing heat. Initially the walkers were drawn to the noise, but right now the lumbering undead, were seeking safety as Robert's group were, so now Robert could see herds of flaming walkers, fleeing the fire and would soon come across unexpected snacks for them to eat.

Because of the mass herds of walkers converging on them, the nearest staircase to the top of the wall had been completely blocked off and the heat of the flames had dried the walker blood, previously caked over them all for a disguise. Trying to gain new walker guts, would prove very risky in a herd of that size approaching them, added to the fact that the walkers themselves were setting aflame as well. Walking through a herd and brushing against a burning corpse would not only injure you, but draw attention to where you were...

Right now however, walking through a herd of burning walkers seemed like the only option to get to the top of the wall and too safety, however Robert knew this would lead to mass causalities and he highly doubted (with every mouthful of grey smoke they inhaled, making them weaker) they would make it. In fact, as he rubbed the charred half of his own face, even if they did live through a burning herd, many of the group would be scarred far worse than he was at the current time.

"ROBERT!" Billy screamed over to his leader "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?"

"GIVE A MINUTE! LET- LET ME T-THINK OF SOMETHING!" Robert stuttered, looking around wildly, they can't have gone through the wall, it was 50 feet high, so they couldn't just jump over it and with foundations under the earth to hold it up, going under it wasn't an option either. Robert had to curse whoever designed this thing, couldn't there be more than simply a moat and a few staircases leading down from the wall on the opposite side of Wellington, to get them the hell out of here! They were boxed in! and right now Robert hadn't a clue as of what to do...

"WE HAVE TO MOVE!" A man bellowed, piling on the pressure.

"WE'LL DIE IF WE STAY HERE!" A woman shrieked, stating the obvious.

"LET ME THINK!" Robert bellowed back at them.

But while he did that, a cynical Jason sat down with his back against the wall.

"Well we lasted... what was it? A day or two? Great run guys" He snapped, as Miss King looked down at him in disgust.

"Just because we know what you are, you don't have to drag the rest of us down with you" she snarled at her fellow brit, annoyed with his negative attitude at this current time.

"I'm not dragging anyone down" Jason said "I'm just stating the..."

"...facts, yeah we get it" Miss King finished for him.

"That predictable?" Jason asked, sounding more miserable than he did beforehand.

"Pretty much" Miss King answered, slinking down next to him, as she planted her gaze across the fires destroying Wellington, after everything she had been through. It couldn't end like this, not with them all being burned alive inside this hell-hole they were all trying to escape.

But while Miss King pondered on trying to stay alive, Eddie simply gazed at the flames, with an emptiness in his eyes, he wondered if being burnt alive would be a painful death? Or if the walkers would get him first? After everything he had heard and after everything he had finally got of his chest, he felt as if all the emotion had been sucked out of him, the way helium would be sucked out of a punctured balloon. He simply didn't care what happened next, or for the time being he didn't care. Die here, or be dragged along to the next place, why did it matter? He was just meant to be dragged along, lied too and treated like an idiot, no one other than Violet had generally been honest with him and for once hadn't treated him like an idiot, but as an equal. Someone she could trust in order to help her take down the Wolf, but then again, he was the only one who would help her. So would she have chose someone different, if he wasn't the only option...?

As Eddie's thoughts grew darker, he felt a tiny hand slip into his own, he looked down to find AJ looking up at him. AJ didn't say a word but looked teary eyed, Eddie looked up to see Rebecca watching him from a distance, her eyes were wide just like her son's.

Without thinking, Eddie lifted AJ onto his shoulders.

"Kind of pretty, ain't it?" he mumbled without thinking, referring to the fire.

"It's hot" AJ whined "and I can't see much, because of the smoke"

"Yeah, fire does that" Eddie muttered.

"Eddie"

"Yeah"

"Did you mean all that stuff you said?"

"I err... I got mad kid, really mad"

"Yeah it really scared me. You were really mean"

"I'm... I'm sorry AJ" Eddie mumbled.

"But you meant it didn't you?" AJ asked of him "Don't lie, I'm tired of people lying to me, you were the one person I thought I could trust, but you lied to me as well..."

"I did that too protect you" Eddie told him.

"Then why did you get mad, when the others told lies to protect you?"

"Because...!" Eddie began to fume, but then he stopped. AJ really was an observant little boy and growing up in a world like this, must have made him clock onto these things a lot faster than he imagined. Eddie found himself stumped then for an answer, but AJ had pointed out his hypocrisy, yet he still had a right to be angry.

"Because I'm not a little kid AJ" Eddie finally answered "I'm a grown man, the others and your mother as well. Can't keep treating me like a damn baby and I'm sick of it. I'm not her son"

"You might as well be" AJ told him "She bosses you around like she does with me"

Eddie paused for a second, he quickly turned to where Rebecca was helping a woman to calm down from behind him, before he looked up at AJ, who was propped up on his shoulders. He found the toddler, with a mindset to old for this world, gazing directly down at him with Carver's green eyes. Yet unlike his father's hate fuelled silts, AJ's eyes reeked of compassion.

"Never thought of it like that" Eddie admitted "But the rest of the group still treat me like..."

"Maybe they just want to protect you" AJ suggested "Maybe more than they want to protect themselves. Maybe, you're the favourite"

Eddie smiled to himself.

"Favouritism" he mused to himself, remembering what he yelled at Luke, so long ago in Howe's back during the results to that ridiculous movie thing. He had no idea why he was thinking of this now, but he was and remembering the goods times he had shared with his group. Back before Wellington, back at Howe's, when he had Wyatt with him and life was a daily chorus of pranks and work that seemed to breeze by and put Eddie in a good mood.

"Eddie I'm sorry too" AJ muttered, "I killed someone. I really did, that's bad..."

"Don't apologise" Eddie told him "Don't you dare AJ, it's not your fault you've grown up a world as fucked as this. Wellington's messed you up kid, I'm going to get you and Rebecca and the others out of here. You're not going to die in this place AJ, I promise that. We're going to get out of this place, promise me that? Promise me, we're getting out of here?"

"Promise!" AJ boomed enthusiastically, shaking Eddie's outstretched hand, "Although knowing you Eddie, you'll probably do something clumsy and trip over and..."

"Ruining the moment here kid" Eddie told him, however Eddie was smiling, AJ having returned his lost motivation.

But he wouldn't let AJ down, as Nick and Stephanie, settled behind Eddie (with Nick still cradling, his new bandaged stump) Eddie was going to ensure that they all got out of here.

That was a promise.

* * *

"GET THE HELL...!" This shout was broken by a series of hacking coughs, before it resumed "...BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK!"

TT smiled and finally decided (as he was developing a slight stitch) to stop and let this death-match begin, he had to ensure that he wasn't exhausted for this. As he gripped the farmer's sickle in his sweaty hands (all of his clothes were drenched in sweat due to the heat) his eyes peered through the smoke to where Tom would emerge from. TT was ready for this! He was excited for this! He was currently in a small clearing in-between the rows of crops, it wasn't much but it was best place for this type of fight, because the flames were still slightly behind them and they had at least a few minutes lead on any nearby walkers.

All he needed was a few minutes.

Finally a panting Tom emerged, clutching his sides, with sweat shining all over his face and dampening his clothes, as he struggled for breath. TT smiled, remembering how he had exhausted that man in the last riot, before finishing him off.

Part one of that tactic was over, he had worn Tom out.

Tom no longer possessed that great of a physical advantage or much stamina over himself.

"Finally!" Tom spat, with a sick grin lighting his features "Time to finish this! To save the group once and for all, from you, you little fucking, lying shit!"

Both of them charged forward, both rather than fearful, running on adrenaline and excited for this...

* * *

"FUCK!"

Clementine could hardly breathe, she was so warm, sweat and blood were everywhere, the walkers kept on coming from out of the infero and they never gave her a break, as she used her hatchet to aim for their heads, but her arms felt heavier by the second. The blood was soaking into the ground and onto her clothes, mingling with the sweat, so in a nutshell she was absolutely drenched, she had too readjust her cap on the top of her head. As it kept on sliding off the top of her head, as her hairs lay flattened and damp on her scalp...

"7!" She bellowed, out to Luis.

There was another nearby THUNK of an axe, followed by a sharp hiss of pain.

"33!" He shouted.

"BULLSHIT!" Clementine panted "YOU WERE ON 8!"

"Was I?" Luis asked at some point behind Clementine "Oh, yeah. Relax, I was having you on"

Clementine really hoped he was, because he wasn't sounding all to healthy at the moment and she only hoped her one armed ally was in a more awake state than she was. Although judging by how many times he had hissed in pain (burnt himself) and owing to his large build, he was likely to be more drowsy and sluggish as her right now.

She couldn't look back to check on Luke, but she knew he was screaming to the high heavens, whatever Maria was doing was putting him through immense pain.

"YOU'RE HURTING HIM!" Molly finally bellowed, after a prolonged period of screaming "STOP IT! JUST STOP IT, YOU'LL KILL HIM!"

That shook Clementine a little, she'd never heard Molly sound so shrill before.

"CARRY ON HOLDING HIM DOWN!" Maria shouted back (still sounding calm, despite everything) "IF I STOP THIS NOW, HE WILL DEFIANTLY DIE DUE TO SHOCK! IF I CARRY ON THERE'S A CHANCE HE'LL LIVE!"

Gritting her teeth, Molly continued to pin Luke to the ground, as he thrashed wildly in her grip, but at the moment she was using every ounce of strength she had acquired, to keep him still. If anything went wrong, he died, if Molly let go now, the treatment would be halted and Luke would most likely die. She was holding onto him, knowing that if she let her arms (that were now searing with pain) win this battle. She'd lose the man she' d had grown to love and despite the agony she was in, she wasn't going to let go.

"Do you ever stop coming!?" Clementine demanded of one walker, barely hearing herself over Luke's screams, she lifted her now very hatchet to take this thing down. Not really sure, how much more she could take of this...

WHOOSH

THUNK!

An arrow had gone cleanly through the walker's skull, it fell back through the flames and Clementine allowed her aching arms to fall to her side, allowing herself to catch her breath for a minute, she turned to Luis, wondering where he got the arrows from.

But Luis was struggling with one flaming walker, his axe was stuck into it's head and he was trying to tug it out, unaware of about three more sneaking up behind him and if Clementine looked around, there were around 5 of the damn things, closing in on Luke, Molly and Maria! Groaning to herself, she ran forwards to help cover them.

WHOOSH

THUNK!

This time someone had thrown a dagger of some sorts, one of the walkers approaching Luis collapsed to the ground...

Then another, then the final one.

Luis, hearing them fall behind him, turned around as he finally tugged the axe from the walker's head he was dealing with. Perplexed he turned to Clementine, who merely shrugged back at him, as both of their eyes, turned to source of the arrows and the flying daggers.

WHOOSH!

Clementine nearly jumped, an arrow flew straight past her shoulder and into the head of a walker she didn't even know was creeping up behind her.

"Don't stop!" The figure carrying the bow and arrow yelled over to Clementine "You'll get killed if you do"

Although this figure had stated the obvious, Clementine and Luis were both stunned at who the voice belonged too.

The figure next to her, who had thrown the daggers, ran forwards and leaped over Luke, Maria and Molly as if he was effortlessly jumping over a small hurdle. He seemed to use his wrists, but it happened so fast Clementine couldn't be sure, but next thing she knew, five walkers were lying dead on the ground, sliced to pieces, from what Clementine could now see, were little switch-blades, protruding from the man's sleeves.

"Thanks for the weapon" the girl said, tossing Hilda at Molly's feet, at Molly looked up in bewilderment, at these two sudden arrivals.

A walker was coming up behind the girl, she didn't even hesitate rather than use her bow and arrow, she pulled out a familiar sword, Ana's sword and swiped it through the air as the walker fell to the ground in two pieces, blood pumping out of it's system. The girl merely turned back to the taller figure of the blonde man, both of them, were armed with these weapons, both were deadly people. But right now they had just saved the group and wore calm expressions on their faces, while a bulging bag of supplies on their backs, told Clementine these two were ready to go very far.

"H-how...?" Luis finally croaked.

"We heard the screams" Terri replied, pointing down at Luke (he was still screaming) while the Wellington Wolf stood next to her. He looked slightly skinnier than Clementine remembered him by, but still wore that poker-face as if nothing had changed.

"So?" Terri asked of them, with the Wolf standing next to her.

"How can we be of assistance?"


	29. Robots

**A/N: Just finished a ton of work and finally able to get back to this fic, sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long but life really did get on top of me. Anyway thank you to those that reviewed last chapter, I'll be sure to leave a mass author's note next chapter, before the big 3-0, hopefully you enjoy this chapter.**

**Shorter chapter than usual and will be mostly The Wolf/Terri centric and covering what they did before they found the group once again, also shout out to anyone who gets the Zootopia (or Zootroplis, depending from where you are from) reference in this chapter, as I absolutely loved the film and couldn't help but add a small reference in this chapter.**

**Also forgot to mention it last chapter, but RTR is now past a year old! Woot! Woot! Hopefully I'll get this fic finished one day in the distant future, but for now, enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

_Now, Terri had to wonder what was easier?_

_Walk through a herd of walkers? Or drive? She hadn't driven much before in Wellington, sometimes when she had to dispose of the bodies of her victims, she'd shove them in a car and drive off to a remote place to dump bodies. Back then, her hands covered in blood and dirt usually, she had to get used to the steering wheel, brakes among many other seemingly alien devices to her. But now here she was once again, covered in blood and dirt, with Molly's pickaxe twirling in her fingers, as she watched the lumbering corpses slowly move up and down the street she was on._

_"Pitiful" she uttered to herself, gazing at their forms._

_Their only real strength was that in numbers and their grotesque appearance, once you were able to overcome these two obstacles, defeating walkers was of second nature, as was driving. Terri remained stood there, before turning back to the distant form of the church._

_"I'm getting back to you Tom" she muttered, yet deep down in her mind she had to wander, what purpose was she going to have in this new group? Would Robert's group really all bite the dust as Tom had predicted? Would Tom be able to protect her from Robert's group? The hate in their voices was something Terri had become accustomed too, it reminded her of her father and uncle..._

_There weren't any Brandon's around anymore, no one spoke to her lovingly, like they actually gave a flying fuck about her well-being, or about her at all. She was a sex object to her uncle, a thorn to her father, a heartless murderer to the rest of the group and even she could admit that she was merely a tool for Tom to push forward his own agenda. Not that she had any problems with that, she was very aware of how she was being used now that she had been revealed as the cut-throat cub. _

_It was strange though, that's all she'd be known as now, the murderer or the cut throat cub. When she had walked out of the church (well, more like smashed the window and walked out) she had left that identity of the cub behind her. The headmaster was dead, killed in the exact way Terri wanted him dead, in agony, isolated and humiliated, but the pain of her lost brother still raged inside her, although standing here she felt a lot more at peace than she had done beforehand, feeling ever more numb gazing at the walker clogged road ahead of her. This was the road forwards and it was only going to get darker and more walker infested as it went on, not that it bothered Terri of course._

_She was just a mindless, psychopathic, serial killer after all. A robot of a person._

_So that's why she had saved him. Because he was the same. A robot. _

_That's where she was going, to save her fellow robot from his prison cell. Terri had remembered watching the group beat and tie up the Wellington Wolf and not seeing him react once. Terri knew if she was in Wellington Wolf's position she'd act in the exact same way, emotionless and unflinching. This had fascinated her of course, because she hadn't met a single person just like herself, she hadn't met another robot._

_Terri could say she saved him, from being mowed down with bullets during the second riot, for a number of reasons. The fact he would be needed later on, the fact saving any life was just the right thing to do. But if she was being completely honest with herself, the reason that propelled her through the fleeing masses and flying bullets, was her fear of being alone._

_If the Wolf died, her fascination would remain unanswered, she would be a lone robot in the world. Simply serving Tom until either he decided to turn on her, or some other people did, Terri could work like that, but deep down she didn't want to spend the rest of her life being used as some sort of weapon and simply "protecting" the group. In all honesty Terri found it boring and the tiny shred of humanity left inside of her, reeked of one emotion. Her overwhelming desire to have someone actually talk to her like they understood her, like they actually cared about her. Now that the vengeance had been given to those that had earned it, Terri very quickly felt pointless and empty once again, because there was no true goal in her life, just obey Tom until she died._

_That's why she was going to drive to prison, finding a working car parked outside a shabby looking house, Terri smashed the window with the pickaxe, opened the door and quickly started the engine, reversing, she clutched her hands on the wheel and with an almighty SCREECH, sped off down the roads as walker bodies smashed against the windscreen and made the teenager bounce up and down in her seat._

_She even saw the quick blur of the headmaster once again, William Cecil, was pale, naked with no organs left in his stomach and his empty white eyes turned to the car for a spilt second, before Terri ran him over. The tyres crushing his ribcage and his skull, destroying his brains and leaving him truly dead._

_Terri had to smile to herself, she may have been a robot._

_But she could still find pleasure, in the smallest of things._

* * *

_The Wellington Wolf had heard the distant screams of Wellington's population as the swarm of walkers overcame them, he watched the scene with lifeless eyes, hoping at least some of them could have been spared and that his efforts to give them all a cure had not been in vain. He didn't hesitate as he heard the hisses of the walkers behind him, or saw a few of the rotting things try to reach into his cell, they couldn't get in._

_But he couldn't get out._

_He was getting thirsty, no one was coming to get him. No one in this massacre was going to bother saving the dreaded Wellington Wolf. Maybe if he was still Ethan Hart, people would have cared. But he was a wolf, an animal to them, it was strange though people could call him and animal and a robot in the same sentence. The Wellington Wolf had no idea who he truly was and what he truly wanted. For as long as he could remember, his whole life had been shifting identities and being used as nothing more than a weapon by his organisation. _

_He was becoming so thirsty... no one was around to bring him food any-more and his last drink had been over 24 hours ago. His lips had become cracked and dry, his throat was sore, everyone of is limbs felt heavy and sluggish, his icy eyes were clamping shut more often without him realising it. He decided then (owing to the fact no one was coming for him) that he would have to find his own water source. But there was nothing in the cell that could provide him with water and it wasn't raining outside either, he looked out of the barred window and tried reaching out to swipe up some moisture on his fingers._

_Nothing._

_So, there was only one option left, looking at some pipes above him he used all his remaining strength to dangle off the thin pipes and slowly but surely they began to bend and break. Finally the one pipe snapped and water gushed out of it and spread across the floor to his cell, the wolf dived down and instantly began to slurp away. Before he knew it, his lips were no longer cracked, he felt stronger and more alert, as the walkers outside of his cell thrashed more wildly at the sound of the water splashing against the floor._

_Any normal man would have given up at this point, a few more hours without water and they wouldn't have been able to move and then slowly and painfully died of dehydration. But the Wolf wasn't that man, he was the man with a mission, the man that would carry on surviving despite all the odds being stacked against him. But outside of the mission, he had no personal reason to carry on, so as he sat there and gazed at the warped faces of the walkers, pressing themselves against the cell bars he had to ask himself, why? What was he waiting for? Why was he prolonging his life for as long as possible?_

_"Make sure at least one person dies happy" _

_Had that promise from so long ago, affected him so much? Did he really want to die in this cell? It felt like a very anti-climatic end for him, all the people he had worked with, his parents, his brothers and Jena..._

_He hadn't come this far to die now._

_By the time Terri found him, a normal man would have died from dehydration._

_But robots were more durable than that._

* * *

"Smart" was all Terri said, gazing at the soggy floor of the prison cell, causing the Wolf to crank his head up a fraction at the sound of another human voice.

He had been wondering why the all the walkers slowly but surely departed from outside of his cell, it was as if something was drawing them away and If the Wolf strained his ears over constant hisses of the walkers, he could just about make out a faint, banging noise coming from somewhere outside. He wondered if that was simply a struggling survivor, either way the Wolf remained silent as his cell block slowly emptied.

He had snapped the water pipe with pure strength but the sturdy black bars of his cell were no where near as thin, or as fragile as the water pipes running overhead were. There was no chance of a well built man like himself squeezing through the narrow bars, the population of Wellington had selected this inescapable cell for a reason and the Wolf could try and pry the bars apart with his bare hands for hours on end and he knew he wouldn't get anywhere. He may have had water, but his stomach was growling of it's own accord if he didn't eat soon, it wouldn't be long before starvation took hold.

He guessed his only hope was someone coming to save him.

Someone had.

The Wolf recognised her instantly, it was that "Terri" girl who had saved his life during the last riot, the blonde man liked to think of himself possessing an independent nature and not needing anyone to come to save him. But this girl had not only saved his life once, but now twice, as the prison keys she had dangling off her longest finger indicated, she was going to break him out.

"You disguised yourself from the walkers" the Wolf noted, observing the walker guts plastered all over the teenage girl "and you smashed that pickaxe against objects, luring walkers out of the building, rather than fight them off, it must mean you want space. It must mean you want to talk to me before you let me go" the wolf concluded.

Terri's gaze remained the same.

"Smart" she repeated "I do want to talk to you and ask you a few questions"

"Okay then" The wolf responded "But I want to ask one myself, why did you save me? You said you had your reasons"

"You're too interesting to die" Terri told him instantly.

"In what ways?"

"You're a serial killer, but you're the same as me" Terri informed him.

"I see" the wolf said "So you're the infamous cut-throat cub. You came to talk to me because you think we're alike. You're fascinated by me, that I can understand, as most people find my nature... intriguing..."

"I'm intrigued, but I don't want to make fun of you" Terri told him "Or scream bloody murder at you, I just want to know something, why?"

"Why?"

"Why are you, the way you are?"

"It's an easy answer" The Wolf replied "Ask yourself why you killed all those people and what turned you into an emotionless serial killer and the same applies to me"

"So you were a depressed, anxious, downtrodden and sexually abused teenager at some point, who kept silent about her abuse but slowly began to plot revenge. In doing so you became a heartless, emotionless person capable of murder?" Terri inquired of him.

"That sounds like someone who kills for vengeance" The Wolf said "Nothing like me"

"I'm the closest to you though"

"I know that"

"So why are you? I need to know. I'm not opening the cell until I get an answer"

The Wolf took a deep breath, plunging into his own none existent thoughts and feelings to generate an answer that would satisfy this girl, so she would open the door and resume his mission in protecting the remaining group.

"I made a promise" The wolf muttered "To a... colleague of mine. That at least one person would die happy. The mission I was sent on to find a cure, it was just a mission to me. But I don't really know the reasons myself why I'm fighting so hard to stay alive and why I fought so hard to get that cure, maybe it's because I don't have anything or anyone else".

"So that's why" Terri summarised "A man of your athleticism and willpower, doing all of this because there is nothing else. A man just focused on his mission, but you are right and it's good you stuck to the mission. When I let you out of here, you know who were going back too".

"Yes"

"You know they hate us"

"Yes"

"You know, they'll never trust us"

"Yes"

"You know they'll kill probably kill us"

"Yes"

"Now you have the cure, I imagine your next mission is too protect what remains of the cured population, funnily enough I have a very similar mission" Terri informed him "So, you know I'm asking for your help, us two animals need to save that useless group of misfits".

"Animals?" the wolf said "I was more akin to being called a robot"

"Strange isn't it?" Terri asked of him "Then again, I suppose we are strange individuals"

With that she used the keys to open the block to the prison cell, as it swung open, the wolf took slow and steady steps forward, but before he could leave the cell, Terri held out her palm.

"Stop" she instructed "I need to do something first, just to check..."

With that the Wolf watched her fling off her bloodied clothes, until Terri would stood there with nothing but her underwear on, the Wolf was confused by this, as Terri took steps forward and grabbed his hand. She placed his larger hand over one her exposed breasts.

There was a defining silence for a few, very long seconds, in which the Wolf and Terri calmly store each other down.

"Don't you want to squeeze it?" Terri inquired.

"No"

"Do you want me to take off my underwear here?"

"No"

Terri paused, before her free hand flew towards the wolf's crotch underneath his orange jumpsuit, she squeezed that area just to make sure...

"Do you want me to take off my clothes?" The wolf asked back of her.

Terri hesitated for a second, as she drew her hands away from him.

"No" she responded "and you do have a male genital, I thought they'd have cut it off to prevent you getting distracted during your mission. But your willpower must be immense"

"You were testing to see whether or not I'd get distracted" The wolf concluded.

Terri nodded, as she slipped back into her bloodied clothes.

"You can't jeopardize the mission you're on because of lust" Terri informed him "I've seen so many people falter and fail because of it, I wanted to know you weren't the same and thankfully you're not. Because if you really, really wanted to do something to me. You would have done it there and then, however if you do try anything with me in the future, I'll make sure you won't be able to do it again, if you get my drift".

"I do" The wolf confirmed "I too, have seen people fail because they've let their sexual desires control them, I will not fail in the same way".

"You better not" Terri warned him "Because I seem to be an expert in cutting people down who are like that" her thoughts lingered on the headmaster and the others she had murdered.

"Well then, we'd better get moving..." Terri told him, before she looked back at him once again.

"...Ethan" she finished with a small smile.

* * *

Quickly changing into clothes that would suit them better in the winter environment they would have to endure when they escaped Wellington, Ethan Hart and Terri Rogers left the prison with an arsenal of supplies (there was a lot of food and bottled water left lying around) and also plenty of sinister weapons apprehended from shady citizens. Including a bow and arrow Terri took a shine too, as she picked up the weapon.

"There aren't any guns here strangely enough" Ethan muttered.

"It's better that way" Terri said "Guns are loud, they draw walkers and they can run out of ammo leaving you as screwed as could possibly be, plus they spread distrust faster than you could believe, a friend of mine once said fighting in hand to hand combat with the walkers was the best way to go about it". Terri muttered thinking of Ana in those moments, as the wolf retrieved his switch-blades, but also picked up some deadly looking daggers.

"Throwing daggers" Ethan uttered "If you have your bow and arrow, I may as well have my own gun replacement".

"Considering we're already in hot water with all of the group" Terri informed him "I think it is best we stick with these weapons and not guns".

On that note the duo departed from the prison, flinging their heavy bags, loaded with supplies into the back seat of the car Terri had acquired the pair of them took the front seats.

"You can drive?" Ethan asked.

Terri nodded.

"Maybe I should..." Ethan began, but a stern look from Terri made his words die in his throat.

Terri soon clutched the steering wheel and the car engine revved into life.

"Where are we going to find the group?" Ethan asked.

"We'll get to that in a minute" Terri informed him "We need to get in group's good graces if we're planning on sticking around, so that requires bringing them... presents of sorts".

"Presents?"

"Yes and I know where to get them..."

* * *

Terri stopped at her group's house first, gesturing at the Wolf to follow her the pair picked up as many group supplies as they could carry, more food, drink, but also personal possessions. Terri was aware of where Maria kept her hidden photographs of herself and her late husband, for some reason she hadn't shown her own son these photographs, but Terri gathered there was a reason for that. Either way Terri had observed the Mexican mother pulling out the photographers from under her bedroom drawer when she thought no one else was watching.

Terri looked down at the photographs, for the first time she would be able to see what was on them.

Well if Maria was right about one thing, Luis really was the absolute spit of his father, Terri almost flinched back in surprise it was as if she was looking at a smiling Luis with all of his limbs intact. Maria was young, thin and truly a beauty, the pair of them were defiantly in their early 20's and located on a sunny beach somewhere.

They were four more to look at, Terri gazed at the second photograph.

A grainy photograph of Maria in a wedding dress, next to her husband.

The third (with something written in Spanish below it) showed the pair of them on a beach once again, probably on their honeymoon or something among those lines.

The fourth truly was strange, to see Maria out in a nightclub somewhere, with her husband pointing at her and smiling, if Terri hand't seen the photographic evidence of this occurring, she wouldn't have believed it was true. Maria seemed like the sensible one of their group, not the one who was clearly downing some sort of shot, while her husband was pointing at her, probably laughing. This had to have been taken before they were married, but she knew the first shot of them had to be the first photograph, they looked younger there than they did in the other photographs...

Turning to the final photo was a shot of a clearly pregnant Maria, with her husband stood behind her as he had placed his hands on her bump...

Terri pocketed these photographs, she could hear the wolf still rummaging around downstairs, as she slowly sat on Maria's bed. Reminiscing on the photographs she had just seen, Luis had a father that really did care about him and his mother, Terri could tell had he been alive today Luis' dad probably wouldn't have stood for his son's rude attitude, or he'd bite back with the same grumpy streak that his son had within his veins. Despite the father's absence Maria had carried on and raised her son, with as much love as she could muster... maybe that's why despite Luis acting like an asshole most of the time, he was never going to truly be a bad person.

Maybe family values were better in Mexico, maybe poverty brought them together, either way under Terri's roof in the rich, white world she had suffered more than Luis ever could have done. To actually seeing a loving father was a sight that made Terri very sad and also very jealous, why couldn't have she had that? The reality of those photographs, showed that was never was Terri's life and it was never going to be Terri's life. She actually felt like crying when she realised this sad truth and how much of a puppet she was really was for her group...

"Terri"

She looked up, dry eyed, at the Ethan.

"You know I killed the person who last possessed this sword" he said calmly, gazing down at Ana's sword in his grip.

"I know that" Terri muttered "I know you murdered Ana and Oscar".

"Weren't you fond of them?"

"I was"

"Then I would expect you to be angry" Ethan said "It is a human response I've been preparing for, from you".

"I'm not angry" Terri told him "Ana was dead to me when she ran off after Oscar. It was noble, but it was stupid".

"I see"

"However" Terri noted, as she picked up the sword from Ethan's grip "I have always liked this sword and I think I'll keep it on me, to remember an old friend".

Ana's sword was found next to her body and some brave volunteer had managed to retrieve it and bring it to remainder of her group, Terri took it and had kept the sword concealed under her bed, she was tempted to use it many times during her murder spree. But she found that she simply could not look at it and be reminded of Ana and her weakness in the end that had doomed her, Terri always felt angry at the deceased women in those moments, she had chosen to go ahead and die so she could be back with her loved one's, so she could leap back into the photographs of better times.

That wasn't Terri.

There was a reason Maria was still alive and Ana wasn't, Maria had those good memories, she had those photographs but she carried on regardless, in the way Terri would, so she had to admire that about Maria, even if Luis would not. Yet as she held the sword in her hands she was very quick not to linger on the photographs of herself with Brandon...

_"I... I do still care" _

Ana's voice as it cracked just before she went off to her death, it haunted Terri now as she gazed at herself, smiling, yes actually smiling next to her brother. Had she been that happy once? When it was just her and him, with the group in the background? They looked eerily similar to Maria and her husband, the same smiles, the same affectionate looks in both of their eyes, both were young and attractive and both...

Terri put down the photographs then, Terri strength had come with occupying herself with revenge now that was gone she had to function like Maria, in protecting the group. Terri now knew how hard it must have been to walk in Maria's shoes and she knew in those moments this path was going to be much more difficult than she could imagine, she wasn't going to forget about Brandon, she'd be reminded of him several times and it would hurt every time. But she wasn't going to give up, she'd carry on walking, she had the durability of a robot.

But inside, she also had the pain and strength of a human.

* * *

Ethan collected the last memorabilia from Terri's house (an old army badge that Tom had kept in his drawer, from his service days and a few photos of JJ and Wilbert together and one with JJ and his parents) before the pair of them found themselves back in the car once again.

"I know where some of the others in the group live" Terri told Ethan, breaking the silence between them "I don't know about Robert or any of his group. But I know where Luke's house is, can you carry more stuff?"

"Of course"

"Then let's get too it"

* * *

Screeching up to Luke's house, Terri and the Wolf were able to retrieve a dozen group photographs that must have meant a great deal to the group. At one point Ethan scooped over and plucked up a photo of Luke's group, but it seemed to be much larger than it was now.

Gazing down at it, The Wolf could see this picture was taken in a hardware store somewhere, that girl Molly wasn't with the group when this was taken. Maybe she was the one taking the photograph, either way everyone else that Ethan knew from Luke's group was there. Luke himself, looking pale, gaunt and much thinner, than he did in present day, his pain was hidden behind a thin smile, the pressure of leading a group that big must have taken it's toll on him back then.

Little Clementine, her face was more round in this photo, she was shorter in height and her hair was more frizzy and shorter than it was these days, yet that cap was still on her head, looking slightly more pristine than it did now. That Stephanie was holding a guitar, while Nick was near to Luke, Ethan found it strange these two weren't next to each other, weren't they a couple back then? Eddie was stood next to a fat blonde man pulling funny faces, while Rebecca had the infant AJ in her grip, holding a photograph of a bespectacled man who must have been AJ's absent father.

Other than the fat blonde man next to Eddie, the others who must have perished was a woman with short black hair, with an African american child (who looked slightly grumpy). A bearded man who had a bandage covering one of his eyes, stood next to an Indian woman was proudly displaying a lost arm, two other couples were also present, a smiling Asian couple and a strong looking African american man, who smiled down at a skinny ginger woman, there was also a plain looking woman located near to Luke and Nick, who must have perished at some point as well.

For as long as Ethan had know Luke, he hadn't discussed anything about past groups with him, maybe he had with Gertrude but Ethan didn't listen to such conversations, seeing this photograph made it very real to the Wolf about what group he had affected, they weren't just a group propped there in Wellington, they had a past before all of this. They had lives, there were other relationships and other people before he came into the picture, there were other places they had stayed at...

Everyone in Wellington, (or most of those remaining) had travelled far to come here, lost so many people and gained new one's... and he had destroyed it all. Him. The Wellington Wolf, the serial killer that helped destroy this community just to get a cure, Ethan knew this was a sacrifice that had to be made, he had followed through on the mission knowing the consequences, but seeing photographs like this... it made it that little bit harder for him., He generally just looked at people from the outside, generalising them all, but seeing this personal piece of the past, made these people seem more real to him.

"Then protect them" Ethan muttered to himself.

Maybe he did feel a bit guilty, maybe even worried if the group learned that there wasn't an airborne strain of virus what if bandits still roamed the woods? The group got attacked and they wonder how the bandits had survived and eventually he'd be forced to tell the truth. There wasn't an airborne strain of the virus, it was a cock and bull story to get people away from the wall and to pressure the president into making a cure faster. If the Wolf hadn't have pushed it, then the president would have done nothing about it, probably just laundered in his new success, fortune and popularity. Fear, was what was needed.

Fear always worked.

He wondered if Terri would fear him when she learnt the truth, she had already forgiven him for killing Ana and Oscar, but would she be so forgiving of him, if she discovered the truth? Why wasn't Ethan planning on telling anyone? He should have done, pre-prepared the group for anymore dangers lurking outside the wall other than walkers, but he wasn't going too, because the group would surely kill him then, even if Terri could understand it, the others most certainly would not. They would want vengeance, after all so many people were dead because of him.

Why didn't he just die then and do the right thing?

His mission? Big motivation of course, but Ethan sometimes wondered whether his mission was just an alibi, a cover for his own feelings of constantly wanting to survive and not wanting to just... die.

All those people in the photograph, they just... died.

Ethan shook his head, it was a mission. A mission. He had a few cracks in his armour, he was a human being after all, but he was still alive now because he had been a durable robot for so long and stuck to the mission. He wasn't going to die, until the group were safe, when they had found a new safe zone and the cure could be distributed and the re-population could begin without the threat of walkers, he would have helped the save what remained of the human race and completed his mission.

He had picked up around 10 of the spare cure vaccinations back at the prison, where the police distributing them on the day of the riot must have left them, he told Terri these would be needed in the future, for the next generation. He had already vaccinated himself after seeing the cures, knowing that one bite would be enough to finish him off if he didn't inject himself and he didn't fancy losing a limb.

Hopefully after a number of babies being vaccinated, someone will have managed to replicate the cure and distribute to all those who remained.

Ethan smiled when he thought of that.

That's what he'd fight for, his greatest dream would be himself, still alive being able to see that take place. Then, maybe then the emotional armour would be stripped off and he'd smile and he'd cry, the full weight of guilt and grief finally hitting him after everything he had done. But then, even if they killed him, even then his promise would be fulfilled.

_"Make sure at least one person dies happy"_

Yes. Himself.

But for now he pocketed the old photograph there was still a long road ahead of him and Ethan was going to fight through it.

* * *

They left Luke's house with even more supplies than beforehand, Ethan picking up an old dog collar with the name "SAM" on it, he had no idea why this was relevant to Luke's group but got a gut feeling to take it with him anyway. Before they could start the car and Ethan was about to ask where the group were, or if Terri had any idea of where she was actually going, she pointed across the town.

"There are the group" she muttered.

Ethan saw the first plumes of grey smoke rise from the fields.

* * *

The fire spread at an alarming rate, finding themselves soon surrounded by burning buildings and human embers that were walkers, Terri and Ethan had no choice but to hurriedly abandon the car they had gained, as all the roads were blocked and walkers clogged their way forwards.

"We need to go into the fields!" Terri shouted over the roar of the fire, "The group could still be in there"

"Are you sure!?" Ethan asked back, while he used his switch-blades to decapitate a walker near to him.

"Positive!" Terri shouted back.

So the robots fought on through the inferno, Ethan wasn't someone to tire easily but with the heat of the flames around him and with the never ending torrent of burning walkers coming his way. Even his limbs were starting to ache, as sweat coated his skin, he could hear Terri struggling for breath despite Ethan knowing she was trying to put on a strong front.

Then they heard it, Luke's screaming.

* * *

"... how can we be of assistance?"

Luis, Clementine and Maria gazed at the pair of them, still in awe after their sudden appearance, Molly whipped her head around, her fingers planting themselves around her lost pickaxe once again, while Luke simply moaned into the ground.

"H-help us carry him" Maria finally said, "We can't stay here, we need to find the rest of the group".

"I'll do it" The wolf muttered, as he flung the massive bag from his back at Luis.

"You seem physically strong" The Wolf observed "You can carry that, while I carry Luke"

"What the hell have you packed in here!?" Luis demanded as he struggled to lift the bag "A fucking elephant?"

"Just supplies" The wolf answered, as he hoisted Luke onto his back, the man was missing a leg and an eye and was in a bad way. The middle of a burning field certainly wasn't the place to treat him and maybe by helping to save Luke's life Terri and Ethan would earn their way back into the group's good books.

"What's a matter, big strong Luis, struggling with that?" Clementine teased.

"No" Luis snapped, (once again wanting to prove his masculinity, he kept the heavy bag on his back) "However I don't like taking orders from a pair of serial killers!" he snarled in Terri and Ethan's way.

"We're here to help you" Terri said, before Luis could continue "That's our job now, to protect the group and we swear to stick by it. We know everyone is still going to harbour feelings of distrust and hatred towards us. But we're here to stay and we're here too help".

"I'm okay with you Terri" Maria told her "But I want him gone!" she snarled, gazing directly at Ethan.

"He stays" Terri muttered flatly.

"He is the reason...!" Maria began to rage.

"Maria! We need him!" Clementine shouted over her "Like it or not we need him around, for now at least!" Clementine's defence of the wolf probably stemmed from the fact he was the only one who could carry Luke out of this mess and keep him alive. Maria gazed at Clementine, then back at Ethan then back at Clementine.

"I don't like it" she muttered "But if it's what's best..."

Walkers were beginning to converge behind her, Luis' axe met one as it leaped forward.

"Can we have this chat somewhere else!" Luis snapped, removing his axe from the walker's skull "Or are we going to stay here all day!?"

With this said and done, the group had no choice but to run on, with Terri and Ethan leading the way, for now (despite some expected hostility) they had been accepted back into the group. Leading the way as they used their weapons to cut through the walkers, while Clementine brought up the rear of the group, while holding onto Molly, to ensure the blind woman didn't get lost in this fiery maze.

"The rest of the group aren't going to like this" Ethan told Terri.

"They'll just have deal with it" Terri mused with a light smile, echoing something the passed out leader on Ethan's back had said, years ago.


	30. We All Fall Down

**A/N: Well this is it, the big 3-0 so brace yourselves people, for the conclusion of Wellington once and for all! This is going to be a mammoth chapter!**

**Paradoxilla- Thanks for your review and yep the characters are thrust into pretty crazy and unrealistic scenario's at times like these, as this chapter will prove the lack of realism regarding the situation will skyrocket, however hopefully the characters remain on point and help to progress the story forward, as this will wrap up Wellington once and for all and get back to GTR formula of survival. As for the lack of reviews, I imagine at this point the only people reviewing are those who've kept up with the massive chapters and kept following the whole series which is massive in itself, so I expected there to be less reviews, It can get disheartening but I do plough on and remind myself I'm lucky to have awesome reviewers like yourself at all and every single review you post means a lot, so thank you for sticking to this story and for reviewing at all!**

**chameishida- Nice to hear from you and last chapter really did help Terri and Ethan become more likeable indeed, your support for Maria is touching and I went with several routes for her this chapter on what should happen with her etc... you'll discover the end result when you read down (laughs evilly, as you are now anticipating the worst) moving on swiftly, glad you like the callbacks to the spoils of war photo and having Luke losing his leg I felt was an important route to develop him further because despite his mental state, he has always been physically active and has used that many times to escape scenario's. Rather than stick to this trend I wanted him to rely on his mind more and show the reader a smarter and more determined than ever before Luke to look forward too. In a similar way Molly developed with her blindness, with her ways of overcoming it, yet with her limitations, the same will apply to Luke. Anyway rambling on now, glad you are reading every chapter and don't worry about reviewing, as I understand life gets busy, but thanks for reviewing last chapter!**

**ffapathy- Liking that you picked up on the little things last chapter (when you said zombieland, I was reminded of the scene as well) Maria's character analysis and development last chapter just sort of came spontaneously as I found myself typing about Terri's thoughts and Maria and suddenly I couldn't stop. Also the small details of Terri refusing to acknowledge the comparison between herself and Luis' parents, maybe things to keep an eye on in future chapters.**

**shattering soul- Thanks for your review! Glad you enjoyed last chapter and here's a longer one I hope you enjoy! **

**Now without further ado, onto this chapter!**

* * *

"This is where it ends!" Tom bellowed, flinging himself towards TT, his bare, blood caked fists raised in a defensive stance, Tom watched as TT jumped to the left to avoid his attack, Tom could have predicted this simple dodging manoeuvre a mile off and turned sharply in his track and leapt through the air, catching TT by surprise as Tom crushed TT's skinny form under his own dense weight, TT tried lifting his arm to protect himself, Tom gave a sick grin and inserted some pressure... SNAP! TT screamed in pain as his left arm fell crumpled and broken at his side.

"Not so strong now, are you!" Tom exclaimed over the roar of the flames, leering down at a struggling TT.

"FUCK YOU!" TT spat, going for a predictable hit to Tom's private's using his thrashing foot, Tom grunted but didn't move from applying pressure on TT to squeeze the life out of this evil, little shit. This was his last mission to the group, obliterate TT, take this danger down with him, if Tom didn't do that then who the hell knew what TT would do next, he was a danger to the group, the real hidden danger to the group and Tom simply had to wipe him out, if it took every last ounce of his strength and sanity to do so, Tom would.

A sudden sharp stinging pain in Tom's torso made him gasp for air and clutch his side, TT tried to pull out the sickle he had embedded in Tom's torso's with his free hand, but Tom used one of his hands to keep the sickle in place, TT looked up at him and panicked.

"Nice try" Tom muttered "But this weapon's mine now"

TT kicked himself free of Tom's grip (which was easier now Tom had one hand somewhere else) and scurried through the smouldering undergrowth, gasping for none existent air as he felt his lungs fill with smoke.

"This is it, isn't it" a suffocating JJ thought to himself "We're going to break here and Tom's going to make it painful!"

"Don't be a fucking idiot!" TT snarled back at him "He's tougher than expected, but we'll take him down"

"ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!" Came Tom's warlike cry as he pulled the sickle from his own torso, he didn't care about the pain it caused, he didn't care about the torrent of blood now rolling down his leg, he was exhausted but he pressed forward, a running, towering form of a man through the smoke-storm, TT only saw him in the final couple of seconds, he attempted to roll out of the way as Tom swung the sickle down to impale TT's head. It missed the direct point of his head, but sliced down his face, barely avoiding his eye, slashing open his cheek and removing TT's left ear from his body. TT trembled in agony, but refused to scream as the sound of roaring fire, dulled considerably in those moments and was replaced by surreal white noise.

"This is bad!" JJ was now screaming "My ear! We can't hear him...!"

"SHUT UP!" TT roared back, but JJ had distracted him, as Tom had wasted no time at slicing at him again, TT ducked but Tom darted forward with the strength of a lion, knocking TT violently to the scorching ground, coughing out blood. TT looked up in time to see Tom aiming the sickle down at him again, once again he moved his head and the sickle met the hot ground, before Tom lifted the sickle once again, TT's repeated attempts to kick Tom off him were proving fruitless, even when his feet pummelled the weak point on his torso, Tom gritted his teeth and smashed his sickle down again.

This time TT was less lucky, he was more sluggish and his strength was slowly zapping away, the sickle missed his head but impaled halfway through his shoulder, he screamed as he realised with his shoulder impaled and his left arm broken, that arm was now practically just a useless dangling limb, his ear on that side had also been cut off, the left side of his body was becoming useless to him.

But he had his right side.

"FUCKING DIE ALREADY!" Tom bellowed, twisting the sickle deeper into TT's shoulder, as TT screamed aloud, the psychopath finally feeling this blinding agony and feeling the world lose it's focus... he had underestimated Tom. Maybe he should have listened to JJ, all now was truly lost he was going to break here and it was damn painful, all of his well-founded fears of death we're all coming true.

"No..." TT snarled to himself "Not like this..."

He felt a rage build inside of him, as he smashed his still working right arm across Tom's sweat drenched face, Tom grunted and watched a few teeth fall loose from his now bleeding mouth, enraged his pulled his pickaxe from TT's shoulder and punched TT's face even harder, all it took was for one punch for TT's head to snap to the side, his nose to break instantly a dozen teeth to fall from his now bloody mouth, his world was dazed... Tom was now starting to feel exhausted he couldn't breathe and was in so much pain...

"No..." Tom gasped "Just one more... swing..." he panted, raising his weak arms and seeing TT's still head.

"Now stay still and... and die..." Tom wearily stated, detecting a sign of weakness TT quickly caught Tom by his private's once again, weakening him for a moment but TT used that moment to pry himself free of Tom's loose grip and scramble to freedom. Cursing himself Tom chased after the fleeing boy, TT stopped at the wall of flames around him and pulled his hand up to his forehead.

"Got to get away!" TT thought to himself "Get some distance and think of something to..."

He got no further as the heaving form of Tom had caught up with him and Tom, as weary and as injured as could be, could only do one last thing. One, last fitting thing that he thought was the form of justice TT long deserved.

"You started this fire TT!" Tom bellowed.

"NOW FUCKING DIE IN IT!"

TT screamed as Tom threw his skinny body into the blazing inferno, TT yelped and soon his anguished cries were heard as the fires consumed him, Tom fell back and clutched his bleeding side as TT burnt to death a few feet away, the sounds of his dying cries were music to Tom's ears.

"Success..." Tom thought, collapsing onto the ground and gasped for none existent clean air, he was so tired and bleeding so heavily he simply gazed up at the blue sky beyond the black smoke that was now clogging his vision. It was... beautiful.

"Tim..." he called out to nothing "Did... Did I do the right thing?"

No response other than the roar of the flames, TT's screams seemed to have died out.

"I'm... sorry, I'm so sorry" Tom called out, addressing all of his group for those that were still alive and those that weren't, Tom felt the tears sliding down his face as he gazed at the disappearing blue sky.

"Tim, I... I had no right t-t-to kill you" he sobbed "W-we could have f-f-fought Wellington together or fled... I was a coward, I was such a fucking coward Tim! Please... forgive me!" he begged "Look at me! I'm in the same position as you were, c-crying... a-and beg-beg-begging! G-guess we weren't so d-d-different after all..."

Then he saw Tim, above him.

"T-tim!" Tom felt himself call out.

His vision was blurry, he could see the dark skinned figure all right, and savoured the sight of his brother, he needed his brother now he always had done, so him appearing now made Tom smile as Tim reached down a hand and brushed his cheek...

Wait, why was Tim's skin so rough?

Why did it burn? Why was his gaze scalding Tom?

"Aw..." the figure mumbled, before he bent down and Tom gave a horrified squeak as the full, burnt face of TT came into focus.

"...How sweet"

and that was the last thing Tom Akastu ever saw or heard.

TT's made quick and savage work of his opponent, he let out a primitive smile and used his diminished teeth to chew into Tom's face, as Tom screamed, before TT had mauled Tom's nose into nothing but a bloody mush... Tom was screaming in pain, as TT lifted the dropped sickle on the ground next to him and managing to avoid Tom's desperate kicks, he screamed and quickly smashed his sickle down and up again and down and up and down and up down...

Flecks of blood, a piece of flesh, sticky skin, pieces of Tom's sweaty face sliding off the metal blade of the sickle, tiny white chinks of bone, grey slimy contents, clear brain material, twitching legs...

TT only stopped when his left arm seared in agony, he had mainly been using his right arm for this task but in the fiery madness and his rage he had applied pressure to both, ignoring pain completely, now his body was at it's limit and he simply rolled and over and exhaled blood and carbon dioxide in his fast breaths, he couldn't move a muscle, smoke still lifted from his signed form, all of his clothes had been burnt away, his skin had become dark red, welted with burns and blisters and his goatee had been burnt off and half of the mad hair on his head, leaving him looking like a deformed, burnt madman, covered in blood, in fact TT found the blood... soothing.

He gazed over at Tom's form, the rest of his body was intact but he was missing a head completely, it was now just a scrambled mess of skull and brains, TT could only compare Tom's head now to a broken china dish with some sort of food inside.

"I can't believe we did that" JJ muttered.

"We're not, breaking here" TT panted back, before JJ felt a tear fall from his damaged eye.

"But we're ugly now" JJ wept "We're all burnt, we don't have an ear... I'm... I'm hurtin' real bad... I..."

"Get a fucking grip" TT snarled "It's not about looks now, it never was. Who cares what the hell we look like! We need to be alive, we need to get out of here..."

But JJ was no longer listening his body was so burnt and broken, the blood pouring from his body was stopped by the fire's that had covered his cuts with blisters, it hurt like hell, but he would live. If he moved now... if... if he wanted to move. But as the fire crept closer, JJ couldn't move a muscle.

"What sort of future do I have in that group?" he inquired of TT.

"You don't want to break, or burn!" TT snapped back "You saw us in that fire, we fought to survive, we had to roll over, to put ourselves out. We're survivors here JJ, the group will love you! They don't think... they don't know you've done bad things..."

"That kid might know..."

"Who cares? Stop pussying out of this and get up and live! Or you'll burn here, you know how painful it is now! It will be worse in a minute..."

JJ screamed and felt TT consume him as he picked up the sickle once again and sliced open Tom's body, ripping off scraps of clothes he wrapped it around his burnt skin (more or less, his stinging privates) and proceeded too douse himself in Tom's blood, as the liquid cooled his skin. Then, still holding the sickle the figure of TT slowly took his first steps through the vegetation away from the fire and towards the wall, he looked like a newborn, with blood coating his entire, wrinkly, exposed body as he could just about make out a staircase leading up the wall... he could escape this way...

"The fire will spread fast though!" JJ stressed.

"Then don't let it get us" TT reminded him "It's time to survive this".

He then took one last look back at Tom's mangled body, their former leader reduced to this, Wilbert had left JJ in Tom's care and a fat lot of good Tom had turned out to be in the end. But now JJ and TT had been reborn and the foetus like figure of TT walking away from Tom's body and the last trace of Wilbert's hold over him symbolised a new start, as everything Wellington had come to represent and the repressive nature and memory of the town, burnt around the angel of death who was none other than TT himself.

"I'm free Tom" TT called back to him "I'm free at last!"

With these merry thoughts in mind, TT who was aching, burnt but very much alive waded his way towards the wall, leaving the body of his former leader behind to be consumed by the merciless flames.

* * *

"Fire's getting closer"

"Thanks for the stating the obvious"

Miss King cast an angry glance in Jason's direction, before she sighed to herself and gazed at the ground. After everything it couldn't simply end like this, she had survived so much, against so many odds. It was her after all who had taken down the Wellington Wolf, it was her who managed to escape the cult and get to Wellington, it was her who had remained hidden and had managed to survive both riots and the walkers breaking into Wellington and here she was now, the last member of the cult alive. After seeing thousands of them at their peak, they had all been slowly wiped out, leaving the helpless, bumbling British teacher as the sole survivor of all of them. After surviving everything, Miss King couldn't help but gaze into the flames, with sheer disappointment in her eyes because looking back on everything she had done so well, only to burn to death here.

"I just can't believe it... after everything..." Miss King mumbled.

"Suppose it sucks" Jason half heartedly agreed, he had tuned out of a hushed conversation Nick and Stephanie were having and had drawn his attention directly towards his fellow brit.

"Hmm, so If we're going to die...?" Jason suggested, cocking his eyebrow up at Miss King.

"Get lost" Miss King snapped.

"But, it's natural to take off our clothes in this temperature" Jason pleaded, flashing Miss King a cocky grin.

"Yeah, I'll bend over right now then" Miss King snarled "Right with the kid and everyone else watching"

"We're about to die and you're worried about privacy?"

Jason had no idea how ironic that statement was for Miss King, yet she held herself in high regard, merely responding with;

"No, just dignity"

"Ugh, die with dignity and all that crap..." Jason snapped.

"When was the last time you had that sort of comfort?" Miss King inquired "Can't you go a minute without it?"

"I attracted my fair share of women here" Jason replied "It's the accent you see, my last comfort... about three weeks ago".

"Gross" Miss King groaned.

"Hey, lived while I could" Jason retorted.

"I guess..." Miss King muttered "But how did you attract them? How'd you end up with a daughter in the first place? What trick did you perform on that poor woman?"

"Poor woman?" Jason shrieked before bursting into fits of laughter "I thought we were cool, then she cheats on me. So I take my daughter and set to pastures anew, my ex was a bitch. A distant memory who was fucking another guy for months while I was looking after the kid. I haven't let any women play me for a fool after that..."

So Miss King guessed Jason's ex's actions had hardened him before the apocalypse, losing his daughter must have been the final nail in the coffin to turn him into this complete asshole, then again if he had confessed his past to her, then... with herself about to die she may as well have told him about her own past.

"So... you got any dark secrets to hide sweetheart?" Jason asked, as if he could read her mind.

"I saw a guy in secret" Miss King admitted "We had a deal too..." she paused before she could stop herself and she had no idea why, but to tell Jason this would be giving up once and for all and thinking back, no this wasn't the end. She still valued her life and her secret and wasn't prepared to throw it all away just because a nearby fire was approaching them.

"Had a deal too...?" Jason asked, awaiting her answer.

"Too stop me from getting into financial trouble" Miss King quickly covered up, as she stood up and coughed some of the foul smoke from her lungs and looked around, there had to be some way out and over this wall. The field was covered in flames so the stairwell leading up the wall from there was most likely out of access, as was the nearby moat.

"Maybe we can dig under?" Jason suggested, watching Miss King's gaze.

"I thought you'd given up" Miss King asked of him.

"I thought you'd given up" Jason repeated, looking directly back at her.

Miss King smiled.

"Well come on then asshole, help me look for a way out" She urged of him as he planted his gaze around, Jason really had no idea what he was soldiering on for, but he had been a long time since his daughter and keeping that trauma to himself and now having it out in the open. He couldn't explain it but he felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt lighter, it was a very strange feeling he really couldn't explain, but maybe he was thankful for Billy and Robert exposing him because now he could be free from the lie and free from Wellington and he was eager too explore new horizons. He had been survivor, simply tagging along for whatever the hell awaited him on the other side of the wall, he may not have had a point or real purpose in the group but he wanted to carry on breathing and too him that was his greatest purpose, to carry on living.

Miss King had a similar mindset to her fellow Brit, as she stumbled to the side and tried to swipe the smokescreen from her eyes and find anything they could have used to escape. Her eyes trailed past the house they were previously in and past the fields of burning green, houses, a distant crane, more houses, a barn, forest, church...

Wait.

She flicked her eyes once again as her heart leapt into her mouth.

Houses, distant crane, more houses...

"OH MY GOD, THAT'S IT!" She screamed, having her eureka moment, as Jason ran up to her.

"You've found a way out!?" he exclaimed.

"I can't believe we missed it!" she yelled "Jason, it's the crane! Up by the wall, it was put there to start repair on the walls and it's still standing! We can climb up it and..."

"Walk across it and jump off onto the wall!" Jason added beaming but then his eyes adjusted to the crane itself and it did seem to reach over the wall by quite a distance, from this distance he couldn't tell how far the drop would be to land on the top of the wall, but he gathered it was going to be quite high.

At the same time, it was either the crane and the risky jump. Or stay here and burn to death for good.

Jason knew which option he'd prefer.

* * *

"They're fine Nick, I know it..." Stephanie was telling her husband as he restlessly fidgeted on the spot, gazing at the orange field in his vision.

"I should have went with them!" Nick snarled to himself "I should have done something after everything Luke did for me..."

"Hey, that fucker blew off your fucking hand!" Stephanie exclaimed "You can't just run off after something like that, you're in enough of a state as it is..."

"Stef I'm fine..." Nick grunted and tried to stand up to prove his point, however he merely toppled to the ground once again as he felt his vision blur and vomit swirl in his throat, gulping it down he gazed down at his bandaged stump and sighed. It was still stinging and Nick couldn't describe how strange it felt not too have a hand there. He had taken moving his hand, his fingers, his knuckles all for granted and now he couldn't, it was his right hand as well, the hand he wrote with, held weapons with... how the hell was he going to last without this vital hand?

"Are you alright?" Stephanie asked, calming down somewhat, her voice calming down slightly from what it was beforehand.

"Fine" Nick stressed, as he rubbed his eyes with his remaining hands, he caught sight of Miss King and Jason running past, babbling about something in an excited tone.

"Wonder what they're so excited about?" Nick mused out loud.

"Who knows" Stephanie mumbled.

"Well, second day of marriage and I've already lost my right hand" Nick joked trying to lighten the situation "Guess you'd better fulfil my needs Stef, for as long as we last"

"In that case, start practising with your left hand" Stef remarked, before she shot Nick a sullen glare, Nick was rather taken aback by his wife's sudden hostility and decided to gently push, by asking the most obvious question; "Hey, are you alright"

"I'm okay I guess" Stephanie almost whispered "Nick it's just..." she paused there before finding her voice once again and managing to speak up about her current worry.

"Nick, if we'd have married a day later, or even a day earlier, none of this would have happened" Stephanie confessed "People wouldn't have been caught off guard and maybe all of this... fallout and burning shit might not have happened"

"Stef" Nick snapped "Don't play this blame game again, it's not our fucking fault for what happened, how the hell did we know the walls were going to fall down? You know as sad as it is, I'm glad people got to have fun, just one last time before everything went to shit again..."

"I heard some of the group talking" Stephanie cut in "Those around Robert, I heard some of them blame us for it. Remember who we were in Wellington, I slept with everyone and you were some hot-headed angry criminal? Even if we do get out of here, what else are they going to blame us for? We are easy targets".

"Stef, I won't let that happen" Nick snarled "Look how many times people have tried to do that for us, make us feel like outcasts and kill us off. Now you tell me, how many times we've survived shit like that? Hell, how many times have I been shot and survived...?"

Stephanie let out a small grin at this, before her eyes found Nick's stump.

"Our luck's wearing thin" she droned, Nick followed her eyes and saw she was looking at his stump, pulling it out of view (and knowing the shit he would get from Luis when or if the young man managed to get back to them) Nick was running out of motivational things to say at the time being, but after everything, his wedding and sudden new appreciation for life it couldn't just end now.

"Stef... I just don't want to give up" Nick told her, Stephanie didn't say a word.

"Just thought you should know" he muttered.

Stephanie gulped.

"Nick, I'm pregnant"

Nick bolted up in alarm, had... had Stephanie actually just said that? Or had he misheard it?

"What?" Nick asked, although he had clearly heard her.

"I'm pregnant Nick, I'm pretty sure of it" Stephanie spoke clearly now, her eyes seemingly watering as Nick looked around.

"Who else knows!?"

"No one, other than us" Stephanie mumbled.

"Stef, if you knew for all this time... why didn't you tell me!?" Nick demanded.

"I've only known since yesterday" Stephanie muttered "That night after the riot... well... we weren't careful were we? But we didn't care, remember? It's been a few weeks since then and my period hasn't come, it should have come by now. When I realised it wasn't coming yesterday, I knew, I just knew..."

"Stef, I... I..." Nick spluttered.

"I didn't want you to know, because... if we are going to die" Stephanie now seemed like on the verge of sobbing "I didn't want you to think that you'd lost more than just me"

"Stef, fucking hell!" Nick exclaimed, as she burst into tears and Nick wrapped her arms around her, finally understanding why she was being so pessimistic as she had the worry of a child on her shoulders, but now they were going to die anyway she could vent her fears to her husband. Nick simply held her as he thought about it, he could have an actual family, he was going to have a son or a daughter... he remembered holding Lilly for the first time and imagining doing the same to a child that was his own flesh and blood.

"We're going to have a baby" Nick mumbled into Stephanie's shoulder "I'm going to be a dad, I'm going to be a dad..." he repeated on monotone, remembering how little Lilly had called him "Dad" and now with this new child on the way it felt like his past life was truly returning to him and if Clem could drag his lousy ass outside of a jail cell for him to get his life back, then sure as hell he could drag his lousy ass out of Wellington to continue living the good life, for as long as he lived.

"Stef, you're not far along at all" Nick reassured her "This won't turn out like Sarita, we have months before you even start showing signs of this baby, we're going to make it somewhere safe by then. Or have meds to look after you, I promise you that".

"Nick, maybe it's better... maybe it's better that we wait" Stephanie nearly whispered as she looked down at her stomach.

"I did it once, I can do it again..."

"NO!" Nick roared, causing many heads to turn in their direction after a few tense seconds, people clearly decided there was nothing of interest to be heard or seen by the young couple and went back to their own business.

"Stef, I know you want this child, as much as I do" Nick now whispered urgently at Stephanie, the young couple not breaking eye contact from one another as Nick continued to speak on "So what if the group thinks you're a whore for getting pregnant? Or that I'm some angry criminal for trying to protect you? We're liabilities Stef, me with my hand, you with your pregnancy, we gotta accept that and if that fucking group has a problem with you, or if they try anything. I'll make them wish they hadn't"

He left a short, but impressive silence in his wake, panting slightly Nick hoped his honest words had some sort of effect on his wife.

"We're telling the others then?" Stephanie finally asked.

"We have too" Nick responded "Or we're going to end up like Sarita and Kenny"

"I suppose that's best" Stephanie mused, finally gaining a glimmer of confidence as she remembered that her and Nick had bonded by both being disliked outcasts, here their relationship was as strong as ever, as Stephanie promised herself she would get through this despite her doubts. She was a woman that was scared of other people judging her, so maybe that's why she wanted to run away from Howe's, maybe that's why she ran away from the group after the riot. She was still going to help them, but she couldn't face them. With Nick there however, she didn't feel so alone, she felt like she had someone to cling onto, someone to protect her and someone who understood her and if he was going to be the father of her child, then... even without a hand he was still there and Stephanie could see the motivation in his eyes, despite the worries that plagued her mind about going on with this pregnancy, she was going to do it. For Nick.

As for Nick himself, he found his motivation at an all time high, there was no way he was dying in this fire now they would be getting out of here as he now had so much to live for.

So when both of them were called over by Robert a few minutes later, both of them were ecstatic to hear the news that an escape route had been found.

* * *

"The crane? Really!?" Billy exclaimed to Robert, after he finished explaining what Miss King and Jason had told him "It's fucking too high up from the wall for us to jump from! No one left a damn trampoline for us there did they?"

Maybe the fire will burn itself out" Eddie suggested "We could climb up there until it does"

Almost as if the fire was a living being and had heard what Eddie had to say, a massive crash diverted all of their attention to a large building (that must have been Wellington High) that suddenly crashed into itself, with an almighty roar that sent the fire sprawling out in all directions at an even faster pace.

"You were saying?" Billy muttered.

"Okay dude, I get it" Eddie said "This fire ain't burning itself out any time soon"

"I don't even see why this is a debate" Jason snapped "There's no other way out, we either go up the crane and take our damn chances, or stay here and burn to death".

"Sadly Billy, I have to take Jason's side on this" Robert mumbled, he looked rather defeated by finally agreeing to something Jason was saying.

"Why!?" Billy screeched "Robert another option might present itself and that crane isn't stable? What if we fall? What if it falls due to the fire? Then what?"

"What's your plan then?" Jason snarled "We've got like half an hour at most, before that fire reaches us. Do you want us all to pull shovels out of our arses and dig under the wall. Like the great escape?"

Billy was silent, Jason's retort clearly silencing whatever comeback he had at the ready.

"You wouldn't happen to be scared of heights, would you?" Rebecca inquired.

"No! Of course not!" Billy snapped, far too quickly to come across as convincing, her point proven Rebecca folded her arms over her chest and smirked at him in silent victory.

"It's either heights or death Billy" Robert told him "I keep on repeating this, but the choice is pretty clear by this point stay and die or move and live. Yes there is a damn big fucking risk by going up that crane. But it's better than nothing".

Robert himself evaluated his own words as he said them, ever since he had become leader that's what his choices had boiled down too, always having to pick the hard, unpopular decisions to keep this large group alive. Getting rid of Tom once and for all was a massive risk, but Robert knew the former solider would be the downfall of the entire group if he had stayed. So he plotted and planned and took a gamble and it paid off, despite the loss of that married couple, JJ and possibly Luke and some of his group as well, it was a risk Robert had to take to ensure that everyone had the best chance of surviving.

He wasn't perfect, he knew that but he was leader here for a reason. He was once the editor of the Wellington Weekly, having the balls and cunning to obtain stories against opposition and personal threats. He had lost his son in the riot and had overcome his grief, so now with nothing to lose and no real personal attachment or favouritism towards certain members of the group he could lead them all fairly. He was the leader now.

And it was time for him to lead them out of Wellington once and for all.

He could have said all of this to Billy, to Rebecca, to anyone but instead he merely took one step towards the crane and then another and then another, brushing past the billowing grey smoke as he led his group towards their only saving grace at this minute. Eventually he could hear all of them following him, they could say what they liked, he could say what he liked as well.

But he knew actions spoke far louder than words.

* * *

"Hmm..."

TT calmly surveyed the furnace below him, the smoke was much thinner here at the top of the wall making it easier for him to breathe, but also made him much more aware of his injuries now. The colder wind harshly slapped at the burnt areas of his skin, he was stinging all over and it took every ounce of TT's self control not to howl out in pain and agony as he moved one foot in front of the other, an imprint of dried blood and melted soles from his shoes lay stuck on the top of the wall behind him as he looked for any sign of the group. They can't have all died in that blaze now, could they?

"We'd be lonely then" JJ felt like weeping, as he mumbled it.

"No. It would be boring" TT snapped "Dying like this, how fucking pathetic" he snarled "If they have, then they weren't worth our company anyway, we need to find a group that's more fun and more durable..."

TT's eyes locked on the distant horizon he wanted to go for good, but JJ was adamant he was staying here.

"I'm not leavin' till I'm sure, they're either dead or alive" He muttered.

"You might break..." TT almost sing sang to him.

Wiping his scarred skin, JJ gulped and gazed around the panorama of the blazing Wellington, they had to be here somewhere, they had to give some sight of sign on there whereabouts...

* * *

"Well..." was all Eddie could say.

There they were, the remaining group members all clustered around the rusty, yellow crane, as it's singular ladder stretched upwards past their line of vision.

"I regret everything bad I ever said about the stairs" Stephanie said.

"Amen to that" Another man responded to her.

"Okay everyone I want to do a headcount!" Robert yelled.

"This isn't a fucking a field trip!" Jason exploded "What do you want us to do!? Put our hands in the air and yell Yes Miss! I'm here!"

Ignoring him, Robert ploughed on regardless.

"Just a quick names and I'll be adding up the numbers!" Robert exclaimed, "Okay from the start...!"

"James!" A young man yelled, before an older man next to him yelled "Frank!" the pair of them wore the remains of policemen's uniforms and it was then Nick remembered these two officers were the one's who had came to their house on the day of the riot and given them the cures and had been the pair distracted by Luis' and Scott's fake argument.

"Howard!" a black haired man in his early 30's yelled, unknown to many of them, he was previously the boyfriend of Amelia Stool, the pregnant woman killed by Father Jordan's hit-man as he had gotten her pregnant and had tried to cover the evidence and the man had eventually learned the devastating truth from the Domesday Report.

"Melanie!" A young blonde women exclaimed, being the only remaining member of a family Oscar had spied on once, while he longed for an ordinary life. Her husband and baby son, were both recently deceased and now she was left here, alone and grieving yet she found the strength to continue as she followed Robert onwards.

"Aidan!" A man bellowed gruffly, an aggressive looking man who was usually found in Wellington's strip clubs and had been the one to harass Terri and get into a fight with Luis, right before Terri had murdered Crystal Evans.

"Jessica!" an skimpy dressed woman yelled, she was also well known at strip clubs as she was previously a stripper, a friend to Crystal and sometimes worked behind the counter, letting people into the club. Having giving Terri an odd look and winking at JJ and Luis as the entered the club that fateful day that her friend would be murdered.

"Jasper!" a quiet man squeaked, having been the Journalist to have stood up Trevor Moore when he came bounding into his office and had just murdered Violet Moore, his previous editor.

"Emma!" a stern looking, older woman shouted, having been one of the rioters to follow Nick after her family had been killed in the first riot. She was the one who had yelled at Molly earlier in the hospital about making noise.

"James, Frank, Howard, Melanie, Aidan, Jessica, Jasper and Emma" Robert muttered under his breath, at the 8 all of them having come from Wellington in some way and all of them being affected by what the other group's had done in some way.

Now he had those eight, he counted the rest.

"Nick!" Nick shouted.

"Stephanie!"

"Rebecca!"

"I'm AJ! I'm here!"

"Eddie speaking!"

"Cristina King!"

"Yes Miss, I'm here..." Robert glared at Jason at this point, "Oh, okay then... Jason!"

"Billy!"

"and me" Robert muttered, that was... another 8. So there were 16 of them here.

"What about the others!?" Eddie asked.

"Don't worry about them, I'll get them here!" Robert shouted back at him, as he counted who had gone off "Clem, Luis, Maria, Molly, Luke... possibly and Terri... possibly. JJ, I haven't got much hope for and disregarding Tom that leaves..." he counted again (his maths not his strongest point) a possible 7.

"That leaves a potential 23 of us folks!" Robert informed them all.

He had got one number wrong however.

The Wolf made them, a pack of 24.

* * *

"LOOK!"

Clementine had exclaimed it, as the group had tried desperately to avoid the fires and make their way towards the wall, a sudden POP resounded above the crackling flames and had diverted the 15 year old's eyes to a point above her, where the sight of an exploding red flare met her gaze.

"Must be the rest of the group!" Maria shouted, as she peered closer "Ah! That's it, there by the crane, that's how we're going to get out of here!"

"Main entrance must be blocked then" Luis scowled.

"Regardless, we have our destination in sight now" Terri muttered and without another word she lumbered towards where the still visible red smoke simmered in the heated air, cutting through the fires the group made an instant beeline towards the crane itself.

"It's time to see how accepting the group will be" Ethan muttered more to himself than anyone else, however Terri overheard him.

"They're accepting you" she stated firmly "Whether you like it or not"

"I'm not worried about it" Ethan felt complied to say.

"Then why did you say it?" Terri inquired.

"Just curiosity really" The wolf mumbled vaguely.

WHACK!

Ethan had let his guard down a walker had snuck up behind him and if it wasn't for Luis swinging the heavy bag he had in his single hand at the thing, it would have bitten Ethan, possibly fatally or done enough damage to finally finish of Luke, who was propped on Ethan's back. The walker itself toppled back into a cobweb of blazing corn crops and as it struggled to move up again, Luis approached Ethan.

"Develop emotions later, asshole!" he snapped "I ain't going to be around to save you all the time!"

"Right, I apologise" Ethan told him, as he continued to run forward with Luke on his back, trying hard not to let these developing emotions distract him from his true mission, to get these people out of here and to keep them safe.

* * *

JJ's eyes were instantly drawn to the flare, from where he sat on top of the wall, with his legs dangling off the edge.

"Thank God!" JJ muttered in sound relief, wasting no time in getting himself up and (with a large smile on his face) run across the wooden walkways on top of the wall, in order to get to where the crane was and return to his friends. For now TT wasn't anywhere to be seen, all JJ knew is that he was injured, he was the victim and he was hurting, he wanted to get back to his friends and he was going to help them in any way possible.

* * *

"That should have gotten their attention" Robert announced, lowering the flare gun from his fingers, (he had attained it at the hospital, before he pulled the stunt with Luke and Tom).

"They'll get here right?" Nick asked.

"They'll be fine" Robert reassured him.

"Well even if they are, I'm not waiting around" Jason harshly said and before anyone could stop him, he jumped onto the ladder and began to climb.

"Hey!" Miss King snapped "Where are you going!?"

"UP AND OUT!" Jason shouted back down to her.

"You could stay down here and help us fight off walkers!" Robert snarled.

"WHAT WALKERS!? I DON'T SEE ANY!" Jason retorted, gazing around at the approaching fire.

"THE WALKERS YOU'LL BOTH ATTRACT IF YOU KEEP SHOUTING LIKE BLITHERING IDIOTS!" Miss King shouted herself.

"NOW YOU'RE SHOUTING!" Jason replied.

"TO STOP YOU!"

"PLEASE, SHUT UP!" Rebecca screeched over them all, as Robert, Miss King and Jason fell silent.

"Maybe I'll go with you" Miss King eventually said "The two of us could scope out the crane, make sure it's stable and all that"

"Hmm... sounds like a plan" Jason muttered, as his eyes found Robert's.

"Fine!" Robert eventually stressed, as if he'd given into the demands of two toddlers begging for a certain sweet or game, he had the look of a worn out father plastered all over his half scarred face.

"If anything does go wrong up there, you let us know" Robert instructed of the pair "and make sure he doesn't try anything funny" Robert now ordered of Miss King.

"In case you're forgetting" Miss King said smugly "I was the one who took down the Wellington Wolf, I can handle him easily".

However as she said that, she nearly stumbled over trying to get to the crane, quickly straightening herself up and ignoring Jason's open guffaw's at her blunder, she wrapped her hands around the ladder of the crane.

"This is it, I'm leaving this place" Miss King thought to herself and she hoped her past would be burnt away with this town as well.

"Bet you like the view" Jason grinned "You gotta admit, I got a sexy arse"

"Don't flatter yourself" Miss King scoffed "Just keep climbing that ladder, so when we get high enough I can jump off because of the traumatic sight in front of me..."

The bickering pair proceeded up the ladder, one step at a time.

"Well...we're doomed" Eddie stated, muttering the obvious.

They waited like that as the flames drew nearer, a minute passed and then another and then another... the sweat was beginning to build on the brows of many of the group members now, due to increasing heat of the approaching fire and the increased number of walkers they had to take down. Eventually one of the group members Howard, the former boyfriend of Amelia Stool, approached Robert with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Yes" Robert said before the exhausted man could utter another word "Anyone who wants to get up that crane, you can go on up. Don't feel bad about it, just go and save yourselves otherwise this mission to get out of here, is utterly pointless"

"Thank you" Howard panted, before he proceeded to wrap his sweaty fingers around the crane ladder and began to wearily climb the tall structure.

"Anyone else!?" Billy inquired on Robert's behalf.

The aggressive Aidan and the former stripper Jessica soon followed Howard to freedom, however James and Frank the two officers remained in place, holding two axe's to defend themselves, the former mother Melanie, was clutching a large kitchen knife that was stained in dried blood, the quiet Journalist Jasper was clutching onto a blunt baseball bat, while the older woman Emma was holding onto a hatchet. Billy was also carrying a baseball bat of some sorts, while Robert had an axe and the group's only remaining gun lain in one of the bags on his back. He wasn't wasting the ammunition however unless he absolutely had too.

"Rebecca you should go to" Eddie told her, as the mother looked at her friend who had just taken down an approaching walker, he was carrying a blunt crowbar and was wrenching the thing from the smouldering skull of the now truly deceased walker. He wiped his brow and looked up at the stern face of Rebecca once again, she wasn't moving.

"Becca" Eddie pleaded "It's dangerous here! You need to go!"

"Hell no" Rebecca responded with as much as sass as she could muster "Eddie, I'm staying here until Luke and the group come back, I ain't moving".

"What about AJ!?" Eddie inquired "He is not safe here..."

"I'm fine!" AJ protested from where he clutched his mother's legs "It's a bit hot here Eddie, but I'm not leaving until we're all safe!"

"AJ, I promised you I'd get you out of here!" Eddie exclaimed.

"We will get out here!" Rebecca retorted "Just with Luke, Clem and Molly with us! We've already lost Lilly and Sarah here, no one else from our group is dying today. We've lost way too many people already!"

Eddie looked at her and then back to AJ once again, he knew this battle was lost from the minute Rebecca and AJ had risen against his challenge.

"You're stubborn as fuck..." Eddie muttered.

"Language!" Rebecca snapped, gesturing at AJ.

"Oh, right sorry..."

"Fuck!"

"Alvin Junior!"

"Sorry mum, just wanted to say it..."

"I'll make sure you don't repeat it..."

Nick couldn't help but smile, as he approached what remained of his group, even now with this fire in front of them they retained their high spirits.

"Hey Nick" Rebecca said turning to face him.

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier..."

"Forget it" Nick mused "Honestly it's fine Rebecca, I'd be mad too, if that was my kid..."

"Well then when you have your's Nick, you better hope they don't go around killing presidents"

Nick digested this information, before his eyes widened and he gasped before looking back at Rebecca.

"How did...?"

"You two are really bad whisperers"

"You're not... surprised or angry?"

"Why would I be angry for?" Rebecca asked "It's like you said, Stef's not even a month into her pregnancy, she is going to be fine Nick and AJ will have a friend to play with again"

"That's... that's great Rebecca" Nick muttered uncertain of what to say, as he looked up at the crane and then back towards the fire, he could have waited for Luke, or he could have made sure himself and his new family could have been safe by climbing that crane right now. Stephanie wouldn't leave unless he did and there was no way he was going to convince her to go off by herself... yet he remained torn as the fire crept ever-closer. What if Luke was already dead? What was he waiting for?

Then what if Luke showed up, only to find out Nick had fled up the crane and had chosen to protect his family over his loyalty to his best friend? As each second passed Nick felt his hopes dying.

"Come on Luke" he muttered under his breath, as Stephanie decided to talk to Rebecca, having overheard all of her and Nick's conversation.

"So you heard" Rebecca said, as Eddie took down another approaching walker and Billy earned a roar of applause from the rest of the group, for managing to quickly tackle three walkers at once.

"Yeah" Stephanie said "I just want you to know, I didn't plan for this..."

"It's fine, you're not as alone as you think you are" Rebecca reassured her "This is coming from another women who got pregnant at an awfully inconvenient time"

"But AJ's fine, you did brilliant with him, Becca" Stephanie mumbled "I just... I can just see this turning out like Sarita..."

"We've learned from then" Rebecca reminded her "Look, you maybe pregnant..."

"YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Eddie exploded from a point from behind Stephanie making her jump into the air and clutch her heart because of how fast it was beating, while Eddie's statement had carried off to the rest of the group, causing them all to snap their necks in Stephanie's direction.

"Tell me that's not true!" Robert snapped, Stephanie turned around to see all eyes were planted on her.

"Calm down! I'm only weeks along!" Stephanie shouted back, as her meek sounding defence.

"Really?" Billy inquired "So you're not just going to break your waters and give birth here, because with the fire and everything it's just something dramatic I can picture happening..."

"NO!" Stephanie roared back.

"How long have you known?!" Robert snarled.

"Only since yesterday!"

"What, since yesterday? How!? Did you pick a pregnancy test while we weren't looking..."

"No monthly visit, dumbass!"

"Yeah, a really likely story...!"

"Hey! I only learnt about a few minutes ago!" Nick snarled "and I'm the father here, so back off!"

"Really?" Billy inquired "Because from what I heard, Stef there likes to sleep around..."

"Make one more remark wise guy..." Nick snarled, leaving his threat hanging as silence engulfed the remaining group, that was until a dry cough emitted from some point behind Rebecca and a voice spoke out.

"Oh hi, by the way" Molly said, strolling onto the scene.

* * *

It had been easy, far too easy for the couple of seconds the group were bickering at one another over Stephanie's pregnancy, for Clementine, Luke, Molly, Maria, Luis, Terri and Ethan to walk out of the smoke and approach the crane, when they saw the group they expected instant hugs and roars of relief, instead they got exclamations of an argument and backs turned to them, so Molly prickling her ears, strolled on up to them to surprise them before Clementine could roar in relief at her friends still being there, right now everyone turned to Molly, for a few seconds there was absolute silence and then Clementine broke it with a small "Hi".

"You're pregnant?" Luis asked (ever the tactless) to a still shocked Stephanie.

"CLEMENTINE!" Rebecca exploded finally breaking the ice and running forward to crush the girl in a motherly hug.

"Luke!" Nick roared in relief running over to his best friend, but it was only then he became aware of the Luke's current state on Ethan's back, as his eyes widened in horrified disbelief.

"Oh My God, what... what happened to him!?" Stephanie screamed at anyone who would listen, before Nick himself could.

"We found him like this, being attacked by walkers" Maria explained "I managed to take care of the wounds, but..."

"BUT!?" Nick imploded "He's fucking missing a leg and eye! How the hell do you take care of that!? He could be dying!?"

"Then all the more reason to get out of here then!" Luis argued "So we can treat him somewhere...!"

"HEY!" Robert shouted all of a sudden, his shaking finger was planted upon Ethan Hart himself.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" He spat.

It was as if the group had all been electrocuted, each one of them jumping or gasping slightly when they realised the infamous Wellington Wolf was within their midst, the other members of the group looked stunned. Rebecca pulled AJ behind her, while AJ screamed about another "Badman!" Eddie raised his fists, remembering all the damage the wolf had caused and how it had been his late girlfriend's wish to see this guy dead. He'd fulfil that wish for her, if need be, Stephanie toppled onto the ground while Nick made an angry yelp of some sorts.

"He is with us now" Terri replied, unfazed by hostility.

"No, fucking way he is!" Billy roared before Robert could.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" The older woman, Emma screeched.

"ARE YOU INSANE CLEM!" Nick roared over at her (for some reason) "GETTING ME OUT OF PRISON WAS INSANE IN ITSELF... BUT GETTING HIM!?"

"I got him out" Terri corrected him "Not Clem"

"Nick! He can help us get Luke out of here!" Clementine yelped in Ethan's defence "No one else here is strong enough to carry Luke up that crane!"

"Move aside Clem" Eddie growled "I can carry Luke, anyone here could if they set their mind to it. We don't need this fucker with us".

"HE'LL MANIPULATE US AND BRING US DOWN!" Emma screeched, something in her tone suggested she had a serious problem with the Wolf and sure enough a few seconds later she explained herself "HE IS THE REASON FOR THOSE RIOTS! FOR EVERYTHING... MY FAMILY...!" She choked back a sob there before murmuring "After all went through... after everything we survived... just to die here... because of him..."

"I don't think he's to blame for everything..." Maria interjected meekly.

"But, the trouble he caused...!" The young mother, Melanie protested.

"Without a shred of remorse" the older cop, Frank added.

"Violet would have wanted him dead and that's what we do!" Eddie exclaimed "Or we leave his ass here to burn!"

"Now you're all being stupid..." Terri snapped.

"No, you're being stupid!" Robert counter argued "Look, I'm accepting you back into the group, even though you were working with Tom. But I know you don't mean to harm the group, but protect us. Plus, you'll be valuable out there..."

"You've just listed the exact reasons why Ethan here, should be in the group..." Terri reasoned.

"I don't think he ever was a bad person" Clementine told them all, (trying to go for a more emotive angle) "I think he is just a guy that follows orders, if we have him on our side. Think of how beneficial it will be for us out there..."

She left her point hanging, Nick seemed to be particularly effected as he looked at Stef and then at the bump he imagined to be near her stomach, he let out a long sigh and then looked back at Clementine.

"If it's what has to happen" he eventually muttered.

"WHAT?!" Billy snapped.

"If he can save Luke! Then I don't have a problem!" Nick shouted back.

"YOU'RE JUST THINKING ABOUT HIM PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR WHORE AND YOUR UNWANTED BABY!" Billy roared "YOU DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT LUKE, OR WHAT THE HELL THIS GUY HAS ACTUALLY DONE! REGARDLESS OF WHATEVER HE IS GOING TO DO! HE IS THE REASON WE'RE IN THIS SHIT IN THE FIRST PLACE...!"

"EXACTLY!" Emma roared in support of Billy.

"I'm with these guys" Eddie said.

"I'm... I'm not s-sure a-about this..." Rebecca murmured looking around nervously.

"Then let's settle this" Robert muttered, what happened next happened so fast, that Clementine simply blinked and it seemed as if it was all over. Robert swooped into his bag, pulled out his gun and ran directly towards a burning walker, he then threw his gun to the ground and allowed the walker to fall on top of him, there was a scream from Emma, as a knife soared past her head and landed directly in the skull of the walker.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"What just happened?" a confused Molly enquired.

Robert shoved the walker off him and brushed himself down, as the shocked group store at him, as with a squelching noise he pulled the throwing knife from the skull of the deceased walker.

"Take that walker out over there" Robert muttered at the wolf, pointing at an approaching walker. Within 5 seconds flat it was on the floor, brains mangled as the Wolf plucked his switchblades from it's prone form.

"That doesn't prove anything" Emma snarled, "He saved you once, it doesn't make up for what he's done".

"Oh no, it tells me a lot" Robert muttered.

"What!?" Eddie snapped "That he is fucking fast! That he is strong, that he can kill walkers! Believe me I faced him before and..."

"I know he is fast and strong" Robert cut across Eddie, "That isn't why I did that"

"DOES IT MATTER!" Emma exploded, now near going mad "HE ISN'T GOING TO STAY LOYAL, HE IS GOING TO FUCK US UP...!"

"That's what I was testing, his loyalty" Robert said simply "I knew he could save me, I knew he'd take out that walker. I was testing whether or not he'd pick up the gun".

All eyes found the gun on the ground at this point, it lay there almost completely forgotten.

"He doesn't need a...!" Eddie began.

"I know that" Robert snapped, sounding impatient now "He doesn't, but he didn't pick it up. When any of you could have picked that gun and shot him dead. He didn't think about his own safety, he was too focused on protecting the group, saving me and then dealing with the other threats. He did all this while carrying Luke on his back. What I just did happened in a spilt second, I would have died if the Wolf wasn't that fast and I noticed none of you guys came forward fast enough to save me..."

Robert's little test, had attained the results he had wanted.

"If the Wolf failed, you'd be dead right now" Billy observed.

"So I would" Robert noted.

"You put your life on the line, just to test that!?" Billy added, rather exasperated.

"Let's put it like this" Robert muttered "If the Wolf was against us, we'd be truly fucked and dead anyway"

Without another word he pointed towards the ladder and then said "I think that settles it people, the wolf here is coming with us. Whether you like it or not, he may have got us into this mess, but he is getting us out of this mess. I know he has done bad things, or been responsible for them but if we let what he did in the past cloud our judgement and try and kill him in vengeance. Then our chances of surviving out there just decreased by a billion..."

"Then I'd take that chance"

Everyone turned towards the woman, Emma, who had planted her hands around the gun on the ground and aimed at the Wolf.

He didn't move a muscle, he could have done but he knew he'd lose the faith from the group if he dared attack one of them. Even if it meant saving his own life.

"YOU TALK ABOUT VENGEANCE ROBERT!" Emma roared "BUT YOU LET A GIRL WHO KILLED IN VENGEANCE IN THIS GROUP, WITHOUT A SINGLE COMPLAINT! I'M JUST DOING WHAT SHE DID, I JUST... I JUST CAN'T ACCEPT THE FUCKING WELLINGTON WOLF IN...!"

SPLAT!

Emma fell to the ground, as dead as could be as Molly pulled Hilda from her skull, as bits of her sloppy brain and skull leaked off Hilda and onto the heated ground.

"Molly!" came a dozen surprised yells, at the blatant murder Molly had just committed. Emma's shouts and screams had alerted Molly to her whereabouts and allowed the blind woman to sneak up behind her and finish her off, before any harm could befall the wolf.

"If the Wolf can get Luke out of here, I'm not wasting that because of someone losing their temper" Molly snarled "Believe me, I made that mistake once, cost me my eyes and I don't want the group to suffer because of that same mistake".

There was a short silence, as Molly stood there, everyone remained still as the fire crept ever closer.

"Y-you murdered that woman!" The young officer, James stuttered.

"Had to be done, son" The older officer, Frank replied to him "I don't like this as much as you do, but Robert's a damn good leader and I trust his judgement here. If the Wolf has to come with us, than so be it".

"I suppose" James uttered shyly.

"Molly..." Stephanie muttered as she approached the blonde woman and pulled her back towards their own group, "Why the hell did you do something like that!? If she turned around..."

"We can't lose the Wolf Stef" Molly told her "Not now, he has to save Luke..."

"If we're done here!" Robert yelled when everyone had gone quiet "I think it's best we started hightailing it outta here!"

"NO!"

Robert now had the gun back in his fingers, yet someone was now trying to tug it from his grip. Robert fell to the ground and struggled with his attacker who was now trying with all of his strength to pull the gun away from the former Journalist.

"HOW CAN YOU LET THEM DO THIS!" Billy screamed "A F-FUCKING WOLF! A-A-AND THE CUT THROAT CUB! AND NOW THAT MOLLY WOMAN! SHE JUST KILLED EMMA AND BASICALLY SIGNED VIOLET'S DEATH CERTIFICATE! I'VE STOOD BY YOU MAN! I REALLY HAVE, BUT I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS! I CAN'T LEAVE WELLINGTON WITH THESE PEOPLE...!"

"BILLY CALM THE FUCK DOWN, AND GET OFF!" Robert roared, the scene was so fast and violent, no one else dared run forward, in risk of the gun going off and hitting someone in fatal area.

"GODDAMMIT I LOVED YOU!" Billy roared.

"What?" Stephanie stated aloud, voicing all of the group's collective thoughts at that moment.

"Well, this just got interesting" Molly muttered.

"I SEE NOW, YOU AND ME! IT WAS A FUCKING MISTAKE!" Billy screamed "WHY DON'T YOU TELL EVERYONE ROBERT ALLEN!? THAT'S WHAT YOU DO! SLEEP WITH PEOPLE TO GET TO THE TOP! TO GAIN THEIR TRUST! IT'S HOW YOU BECAME EDITOR OF THE WELLINGTON WEEKLY, IT'S WHY I TRUSTED YOU...!"

"YOU WERE MY FRIEND!" Robert spat "AND NOW YOU DO MEAN MORE TO ME THAN THAT, BILLY PLEASE, DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS...!"

"IT'S CLEAR AS DAY ROBERT! YOU EITHER KILL ME, OR KILL THAT DIRTY, DISGUSTING WOLF!

"I... i made to many risks" Robert murmured he sounded defeated, as the gun slipped through his fingers and Billy was about to tug it off him for good.

"Sleeping with everyone... all those elaborate plans... it was so much fun Billy" Robert explained "Living like this, but I'm way to reckless aren't I? I'm a monster, I look like one, I'm starting to act like one, I filling my group with them" he paused there, before his voice took on a more determined tone.

"But monsters, survive out there Billy" Robert muttered "Now I have to make a choice and I don't have much time to do it. So, I'm really sorry about this".

With a burst of strength, he tugged the gun from Billy and aimed it upwards, there was a sickening bang, as Billy had his stomach blown away, he twitched in pain as Robert chucked his twitching best friend off him for good, wiping off sticky intestines and funny looking organs from his own stomach. Billy twitched feebly for a few seconds before he went still, a puddle of blood started expanding around his form as Robert (after what seemed like a very long time) finally tore his eyes away from his friend's corpse.

"Anyone else, got any issues with the Wolf being here!?" he growled.

Suffice to say, everyone else shook their heads.

"Then let's just get the hell out of here" Robert snapped, he was done with Wellington and quite frankly...

So was everyone else.

* * *

Robert was the last one to get on the ladder, making sure the rest of the group were within his sights, The wolf was directly above him so Robert could keep an eye on him and hopefully save Luke if he somehow slipped from the Wolf's back and above The Wolf was Terri, while Luis was above her, panting away as he still had that massive bag to carry, which was weighing him down, as his face shined with a layer of sweat.

"You okay?" Terri asked, they were about 20 feet up at this point.

"Fine, fucking fine..." Luis panted, curling his stump of an arm around the ladder, while using the other one to keep him uptight, Terri could see it shaking as Luis drew to a stop and panted "Okay... time out I need a minute..."

"Pass it up to me" Nick shouted to Clementine, who wedged the gap between Nick and Luis.

"You really think you can handle this, one hand wonder!?" Luis inquired.

"You're one to speak"

"Fine, best of luck, arr my harty, carry it to the top of the crane, ya scurvy dog, you...!"

"No" Nick muttered flatly "Just no"

"Hmm... Hook?"

"No"

Luis down at Luke.

"Eye-patch?"

"No"

"Mouth gag for Luis!" Clementine suggested.

"Ahoy!" Nick agreed with a smile.

"You'd walk the plank if I had any say in anything" Luis growled, however at this point he managed to lift the bag, Clementine took it and handed it too Nick, who suppressed a surprised grunt at how heavy it was.

"Are you sure you're alright with that?" Stephanie asked, from where she climbing from above Nick.

"Fine" Nick responded, placing the strap of the bag over his chest "We just gotta get moving now..."

Above Stephanie resided Maria, who was telling Rebecca above her "Oh God, whatever you do Rebecca don't look down..."

"Just looking up is making me dizzy" Rebecca murmured.

"WE'RE REALLY HIGH!" AJ shouted unhelpfully, from where he tied onto Rebecca's back, although the toddler was rather heavy now, Rebecca would rather have the 4 year old on her back, than climbing by himself on a ladder that was this high up. 50 feet and slightly beyond was not laughing matter and one slip here... well okay they had the protective railings around the ladder, but it could cause a domino effect and send them all spiralling.

"Are you two ladies okay, AJ!?" Eddie inquired for the fourth time, gazing down at AJ and Maria.

"We're awesome!" AJ replied brightly.

"Never knew I was this unfit" Rebecca replied.

"I should have gone on a diet" Maria moaned as she placed one foot and one hand in front of the other and tried hard not to think about the searing pains that had developed in her arms and legs. She just wanted to breathe, she wanted a damn break! But her mind flashed back to when her younger son was demanding a break as she dragged through the chaos in Mexico City, he couldn't breathe he was exhausted, but if she had given into his demands he'd be dead. She wasn't going to give into her own demands and she reminded herself that she was surrounded by her friends, as exhausted as she was becoming she would plough onwards for them as she reminded herself that they had to reach the top soon... they simply had too.

"Does it ever end!?" Eddie inquired of Melanie who was in front of him.

"Hopefully soon" She replied timidly "Never thought I'd... I'd end up climbing a crane... ever. Funny huh?"

"Yeah" Eddie agreed "But you'll be fine up there. Got me and about 10 others down here to catch you if you do fall"

"Oh... thanks" Melanie muttered brightly, flashing Eddie a sweet smile, Eddie looked down again to see Rebecca rolling her eyes at him.

"What?"

"You know" she chastised.

"Just trying to help" he added innocently.

"Sure" Rebecca replied "Anyway, are you okay? You seem to be... happier"

"Well, we're finally leaving this shit-hole, what's not to be happy about?"

"The fact the Wolf is coming with us"

Eddie eyes darkened a fraction.

"Oh yeah. That".

"I don't like it much either Eddie" Rebecca lectured of him "But we need him, so... don't do anything stupid".

"I won't, alright?"

"I mean it Eddie, I know when you're lying to me"

"I'm not going to do anything..." Eddie protested, while Melanie above him couldn't help but laugh into her hand it was like he was being told off by his mother. Above her James and Frank climbed as well.

"I can't believe that..."

"As you keep saying boy" Frank snarled "Just drop it, Robert is not fucking around don't oppose him for your own good"

"But... this is starting to sound like a dictatorship!" James exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down!" Frank snapped "Boy, I don't want to see you die as well"

"But it's like... we can't even say anything anymore, without... without being shot..."

"James, I know how you feel, but just no...!" Frank begged.

"Hey, what about you!?" James enquired of Jasper, who was climbing in front of him "What do you think about all of this?"

The silent Jasper didn't say a word for a short time, eventually he simply muttered "I don't really have an opinion, things just happen. Go with the flow dude, just go the flow..."

The group continued to climb, as they did Molly was the first one to hear it, from where she positioned in front of Jasper (she had clambered ahead of the group in her blind state) but was also at the front so in case she fell there were plenty of people to catch her. Molly could faintly hear the rest of the group chatting below her, but soon the roar of the flames and their voices became somewhat muffled by the growing winds as she approached the top of the wall. She was clutching onto the ladder, uncertain if there were safety rails around, in those moments before she heard it, her mind was racing as she thought about her lone form, clinging onto dear life on this ladder, her friends so close, but yet so far...

Then it happened, the ominous creaking, followed by a thunderous roar although Molly couldn't see it, she could envision it perfectly, as the others suddenly started to scream.

Another part of the wall had fallen.

From where they were spectating the group looked on horrified as the fires by the fields must have damaged the walls even further and lead to their collapse, the section of the wall that had collapsed was much wider than the previous crack in the wall, everyone seemed to pause as the wall collapsed near to their left, rubble from the ruined wall rained down onto the burning fields below and the sudden dust cloud that arose from the wreck came at the crane, far too fast and too viscous for any of them to prepare for. Within seconds embers and dust blinded them, several people screamed, AJ was crying... Molly was gripping onto the crane for dear life... and at her height and without sight... she had focused on something else...

The crane was swaying.

"Oh God... no..." she gulped, the dust cloud having made this thing sway, it could collapse at any moment and if the wall in front of them crashed inwards, they would all be crushed by the rubble, unless they reached the top...

With that thought in mind she raced up the ladder.

"EVERYONE KEEP MOVING!" Robert roared from the rear of the group "WE NEED TO SPEED UP, IF WALL FALLS INWARDS HERE WE'RE GOING TO END UP CRUSHED!"

"THE CRANE WILL COLLAPSE ANYWAY IF THE WALLS FALL INWARDS!" Rebecca screamed.

"WE COULD CLUTCH ON AT THE TOP, IT WOULD BE A NASTY FALL BUT WE MIGHT LIVE...!" Maria shouted, offering blind hope to anyone who would listen.

"THAT'S INSANE! WE WON'T SURVIVE!" Nick bellowed.

"Oh God, we're going to die... we're going to die... we're going to die..." Stephanie sobbed from under her breath, regardless her and the others climbed upwards through the blinding dust cloud, as another loud roar from the wall made them all scream, through his impaired vision Robert saw (through the dust cloud) a large section of the wall at the other side of Wellington collapse inwards, they had minutes now as the sections of the wall that had collapsed were dragging the still standing sections down with them. The walls were truly falling, Wellington was being destroyed inside out.

"Goddammit" Robert snarled to himself "If the president wasn't so obsessed with image, we'd have built more stable walls than this and they would have been smaller. Fuck these 50 foot weedy pieces of shit, what did the president expect? 50 foot walkers..." he felt his hands going numb on the cold metal of the crane as he continued to climb, cold sweat was coating his body, he couldn't actually die here, had President Schulz's last standing structure (the wall) be the thing that doomed him? He had to escape... he had to escape...

"Oh, you're okay, thank God!" came a voice Molly welcomed greatly as Cristina King pulled her to the platform on top of the crane, as Jasper followed her and slowly but surely the tiny platform began to fill with more people, eventually on the crowded platform the Wolf, followed by Robert were pulled up.

"Erm... excuse me... what are...!?" Miss King began (rather alarmed) to the towering form of the Wolf.

"His with us now, he ain't gonna hurt us, long story" Robert babbled, as another section of the wall collapsed from behind them, the dust coated members of the group huddled together, on the tiny platform, beneath the dotted metal stood a fifty foot drop, or everyone liked to think it was fifty feet, in reality Robert knew it was actually fifty meters. He guessed people didn't really give a crap about metric units now, but fifty feet, certainly sounded less high than 50 meters and it was a small comfort to anyone currently stuck up here.

All anyone knew, is that it was damn high, enough for a direct fall to kill.

"Where are the others!?" Robert asked of Miss King.

"There erm... helping... I was asked to stay here and wait for you guys...!"

"Helping who!?" Robert demanded.

It didn't take them long to figure out on the long section of the crane, Howard was lowering a rope onto the wall below him, the distance between the wall and highest section of the crane had to be about ten feet, so Robert know how to take in fact, they were 60 meters from the ground. Trying to shake off this thought, he saw Howard, Jason, Aiden and Jessica helping to pull the rope upwards.

"Finally decided to show yourself then?" Jason asked, as more of the group came into view, travelling mostly in a single file and taking very careful steps, along this triangular walkway, with a narrow metal plate being the only walkway they could stay on. Molly prayed that she was just imagining it, when she could feel the plates below them start to buckle near the middle.

"What's going on?" Robert asked "Who are you pulling...?"

He received his answer a second later, as with a last tug the burnt form of JJ clutched onto the crane and breathed in great sighs and sobs of relief, as Aiden and Jessica tugged him to safety, while Howard was already pulling up the rest of his rope.

"JJ!" Maria roared in relief, however her relief was short lived when she saw the injuries he had suffered and recoiled in shock.

"Whoa, what the fuck!?" Luis bellowed "JJ, what the fuck happened to you!? What the fuck did that fucker Tom do!?"

JJ panted for a few minutes, trying to regain his breath before he finally looked at his old group members and acknowledging the fact he was no longer on a crumbing wall, he was... back. He was safe... for now at least.

"Tom... he tried to burn me alive..." JJ whimpered, lying through his remaining teeth "The field around him caught fire though, I kicked him off and I... I saw him burn to death in the flames... I just ran...and ran..." JJ recalled on the none existent memory. Clementine herself doubted that JJ was telling the full truth and suspected JJ had a bigger role to play in Tom's death. She had seen him kill those men maliciously in the riot just over a year ago, however Tom had tried to kill him, so Clementine wasn't going to judge JJ for that, he had been injured horribly and Tom deserved whatever death JJ gave him and Clementine thought Tom was nice...

Why did her faith in people always get crushed...

She was starting to feel lightheaded...

"So how'd you get up to the wall, man" Luis asked, clearly still reeling from JJ's current state.

"I... I saw the stairs leading up to the wall and I just climbed... I saw the flare go off when I reached the top of the wall and I ran over here, hoping to find you guys, then I see Howard up on the crane and he calls down to me..."

"I didn't think you were going to hold on that long kid" Howard remarked "Seeing the state of you, I thought that was it for you, good thing I packed this rope with me at the hospital..."

"If we'd have got up here earlier, we might have just had enough time, to use that rope to get down on the wall before it's collapse" Robert muttered "But now it looks like we're best off up here..."

"HEY!" Jason suddenly snarled, spotting the Wolf "How the fuck did he get here!?"

"He is staying with us Jason, you don't like it jump off the crane I don't have any time for your bullshit" Robert told him harshly, as Jason was once again reduced to mere silence by the scarred faced leader.

"Erm Robert... where are Billy and Emma?" Howard asked nervously.

"They disagreed with having the wolf with us" Robert said grimly "That's the truth here ladies and gentlemen if you have a problem then let me know now. Because I have other shit to deal with at the moment".

"I don't like it at all" Aidan snarled, letting his thoughts be known "So you killed Billy and Emma because they didn't agree to having a serial killer with us and you're threatening all of us to just go with it, under this new dictatorship of your's..."

"He is staying, end of story" Terri snapped at him.

"Oh hey doll" Aidan mused, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Terri "Fancy you being a serial killer hey? But you know, I'd still fancy repopulating with you".

"I'd still fancy serial killing you" Terri replied with a smile of her own, causing Aidan's own smile to shrink, he looked at the wolf and then back at Terri and then at Robert. The aggressive man eventually sighed and seemed to give up whatever grudge he had placed on his shoulders against the wolf and muttered "Fine, if the Wolf is with us, I expect him to protect us".

"That he will, trust me" Robert reassured him.

The second he finished speaking the wall in front of them gave an almighty roar, as panicked faces found Robert, the walls were crumbling, dust clouds were sprouting up everywhere making it near impossible to see. Now truly was the time to come with a quick plan to ensure their survival.

"ROBERT WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!"

"GRAB HOLD OF SOMETHING!" Robert screamed "WE'RE GONNA HAVE RIDE THIS OUT! AND PRAY FOR THE BEST!"

"PRAY FOR THE BEST!?" Came an angry tone, it was getting harder to hear in the madness, but Robert was pretty sure it was Rebecca who was addressing him.

"YOU WANT ME TO PULL A HELICOPTER OUT OF MY ASS!?" Robert demanded.

"That would be great, thanks" Luis muttered from next to him, causing Robert to roll his eyes.

The crane gave a sudden lurch, screams echoed in every direction as Clementine now found herself blinded and lightheaded, where the hell were the group? What was the plan? So much dust... she couldn't see a thing... the roaring was getting so loud... in her numb haze she was aware of her arms wrapping around part of the crane as she clung on tight, the crane was collapsing with the wall, whether or not they survived the fall was blind luck, but it was their only plan right now...

"CLEM! WHERE'S CLEM!?" Someone screamed in the distance, it sounded like Nick.

The crane gave another lurch, someone screamed as the crane tilted backwards someone from beside Clementine stumbled or something, but the next thing Clementine knew is that a body had fallen past her own and into the dusty abyss, the figure who fell looked like a man and surely enough JJ's scream of "HOWARD'S FALLEN!" Confirmed that the man Howard, who had saved his life with his rope had now fallen to his death. Clementine felt sick as JJ stumbled past her trying to find something to cling onto himself.

JJ was numb, hurting, blinded and terrified from next to him people were struggling to maintain their grips as the crane tilted at a further angle, another sudden lurch made several people scream, JJ barely clung onto whatever he was holding as someone fell past him, screaming...

"Don't break... don't break... don't break... don't break..." JJ muttered, panicking to himself, remembering when he had seen that old man just die right in front of him, that was a lifetime ago, back when he first knew he had an appreciation for life and when death was his worst fear. It still was and he clung onto life now, like... like...

"HELP US! HEEEELLLLPPPP!"

"MUM, I'M SCARED!"

"HOLD ON AJ DEAR, WE'RE GOING TO BE OKAY BABY BEAR!

"HANG ON YOU GUYS, I'M COMING OVER THERE!" Came Eddie's voice from a distance, JJ was faintly aware of it all, Eddie, AJ, Rebecca...

He peered his head in the direction of their voices and there she was, dangling off the crane her two hands planted on the edge with the toddler on her back, she maintained all of her effort to hold on and when she saw JJ above her face spilt into a large, relieved smile.

"OH THANK GOD!" She howled "HELP US UP!"

"YEAH, HELP US, PLEASE!" AJ screamed.

"I got ya bud, I got ya" JJ reassured them as he grabbed onto Rebecca's hands and began to help her up.

"Thank you for helping us" AJ said "Like you tried to help me when we played Hide and seek, you're a good person".

JJ continued helping them up, but in was then those words hit him like a brick, AJ knew about hide and seek, AJ was the last link he had to eliminate, in those few mad moments TT took the helm completely, this was his golden opportunity and he wasn't going to let little sympathetic chickenshit JJ ruin this moment all because he couldn't murder a child.

"I changed my mind" TT snarled, as Rebecca had time to mutter a simple "What?".

_"Say bye bye"_ TT mused.

With that he pushed Rebecca from the crane.

Their faces were frozen in pure terror as they fell and JJ felt himself fall backwards into the smoke, just as Eddie lurched forwards, right where they had been screaming seconds beforehand, his gut sank to the lowest depths when he saw Rebecca and AJ plummet downwards, Rebecca was screaming her heart out in terror, while AJ was sobbing and crying in terror, as AJ screamed "MUM... EDDIE...!"

They fell out of few, the smoke obscured them, then a second later there screaming stopped with a distant thump.

Eddie couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he was holding onto something but he didn't seem to care, his eyes were locked on the smoke below him, he was simply waiting, waiting for Rebecca and AJ to appear somehow, because they couldn't be dead. They couldn't have fallen, he... he promised them he was going to get them out of here. It didn't end like this, not after everything, after absolutely everything they had been through and how long they had survived together... this wasn't it.

"No..." Eddie heard himself utter, as his vision became blurry... "Becca... AJ... dude..."

While Eddie simply sat at the edge of the crane and remained in a state of firm disbelief and grief, Clementine felt awful herself, what was happening... a loud crashing was ringing in her ears... screams were everywhere...

"THE WALL'S FALLING!"

"SO IS THE CRANE!"

"HOLD ON!"

"ARRRGGGGHHHH!" Someone screamed, Clementine felt someone fall past her, before the someone stopped.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU FALL MUM!" Luis yelled, as he clung onto his mum for dear life with his remaining arm, his stump was wrapped around the crane the noise was now too loud. Clementine made brief eye contact with Luis, she thought she heard him call her name before his image was obscured by the smoke. Clementine couldn't stay conscious much longer, she was exhausted and was faintly aware of a massive crashing deafening her... where was everyone? Luke, Nick, Stephanie, Rebecca, AJ, Luis, Maria, Terri the wolf? Had the all hung on? What was...

With a horrible lurch and a dreaded screeching sound, the crane fell inwards, as the wall below them collapsed and sent debris and ash sprawling all over the fire below it, extinguishing many of the flames, but leaving a plateau of crushed rubble in it's wake. It already flattened the already mangled bodies of Rebecca and AJ, Rebecca with her neck snapped to the side and her wide, lifeless eyes gazing upwards at a crane she could no longer see and AJ on her back, still barely alive having been shielded by the fall by his mother. Yet when the wall fell on top of him he had no chance...

Now Clementine was falling towards them towards death, her stomach felt like jelly, as she felt herself fall through the air on the crane, as she clung on for dear life...

CRASH!

Clementine hit something violently, as she felt herself get thrown through the dust cloud and hit a surface hard, before everything went black...

* * *

_"AH!" _

_Clementine awoke, the burning red and black hell of Wellington was gone and replaced by gleaming walls that stood higher than 50 meters, she was on a mat in a field somewhere, flowers and poppies blossomed around her and she became aware that she was lying on a picnic blanket of some sorts as the birds chirped in the nearby tree's, she gazed over at some sort of gleaming city..._

_"W-Wellington!?" Clementine asked aloud, rather confused by this heaven-like scene which contrasted to the hell she found herself within merely seconds ago._

_"Clem, are you okay?"_

_Clementine looked up, to find a woman who looked... it was strange as Clementine did a double-take, this woman it looked like a female Luke, right down to the bones. Same eyes, same coloured hair, same smile even... Clementine had to blink rapidly, who was this woman? Why did she look like Luke? What was this place? _

_"You're drifting again, aren't you?" The woman asked of Clementine._

_"I..." Clementine muttered, before her eyes widened, she looked down at herself and discovered she no longer had the body of a child or even a teenager, she was a fully grown woman, she felt weird, exposed and were her breasts actually going to get bigger? Why was her hair at this ridiculous length? Had she applied make-up to her face? But most importantly, where the hell was her hat?_

_"Where's my hat?" she asked instantly of the strange woman sat opposite her._

_"You threw that thing away ages ago, silly!" the woman reminded her in a playful tone "Remember when we arrived here at Wellington? We chucked it off the top of the wall to symbolise our new start"_

_What._

_This didn't sound like something Clementine would ever do at all, she gazed at the woman, appalled._

_"What is this?" she asked, with no politeness in her voice._

_"Clem, what's wrong. You're acting weird" The woman said "This is a picnic, in Wellington silly. We're taking a break from our useless husbands and our kids..."_

_"WHAT!?" Clementine exploded, sitting up now. She had a husband? and... and kids!? _

_"Erm... I'm, I'm sorry. I'm confused" Clementine muttered honestly sitting down once again. This had to be another dream, she can't have been dead, she can't have been sent to a heaven she didn't understand, so what was this? One of her visions, just several years into the future, how had she lasted in a world this long? But... she was clean, she was married, she had kids and if that gleaming city in the distance indicated anything she lived comfortably. This was a vision of what Wellington could have been, without the wolf, without Schulz, without the riots, without the cult itself... _

_Had, she done this? Was this the paradise she had created?_

_"Where are the others?" she inquired instantly "Where's Luke, Nick, Stef, Rebecca, AJ, Eddie, Maria, Terri, Luis...!"_

_"Whoa, quit muttering nonsense girl" the woman told her "First few names, I haven't got a clue, but how can you forget your husband and mother in law..._

_Oh dear God. She wasn't..._

_"O-one arm..." she mumbled in horror._

_"and one eye, yes that's your husband. Really cheery and handsome guy Clem, like I keep telling you, you're lucky to have him..."_

_Luis-cheery? The general state of herself? It was official, she was some sort of parallel universe._

_"Anyway, Brandon's doesn't like me staying out too late. He gets worried bless him and Terri wanted to come round yesterday, I swear she still doesn't like me but she's very close to her brother. So I'll have to excuse her... again. You know I wish that girl would just get along with me already, I mean how nice do I have to be too her..."_

_Well, Terri was still the same. Maybe not a serial killer, but if Luis' group had reached Wellington, then what had changed? They reached Wellington regardless of Clem's group's actions, other than the cult..._

_Wait. If Wellington's had succeeded and Luis' group had reached Wellington unscratched than... the cult never existed in this world._

_Someone had fixed her mistake by keeping the stranger alive and this was the result._

_She came to this realisation as distant voices, echoed above her, she was going back... but she had to know one thing, one last thing, as the edges of her vision grew white and she prepared herself to be pulled from this paradise._

_"Wait!" she called out "Who... who are you again?"_

_"Jesus Clem, you are acting strange today" the woman said, before she sighed and muttered..._

_"I'm Jamie, remember?"_

* * *

"...got her..."

"Drag her over there..."

"...she's just passed out. No serious injuries"

"...help me carry Melanie someone!"

"...Eddie come on..."

"Has someone got Clem?"

"...hey...hey...hey...hey...hey...hey...HEY, HELLO! SLEEPY HEAD...!"

WHACK.

"You don't have to keep slapping me" Luis snapped, as Clementine opened her eyes to met with a dusty sky and the face of her husband... No. Not her husband. Never her husband and she was fine with it that way, the world she went too, seemed too perfect to be true and there was something sinister about it that she couldn't put her finger on.

"You don't have to keep annoying me" Clementine replied, as she stood up and felt her head spin instantly, regaining herself she scanned her body and too her relief the fall didn't seem to have injured her that much at all, her ankle was searing in pain and she had a bruise on her head, but other than that she must have been lucky, other than the fact of her earlier injures and the fact she was completely coated in dust, that was once lined on the wall.

"Where are we?" Clementine asked.

"Just past the wall, or where it once stood" Luis muttered, as Clementine looked ahead of her, Wellington was now unrecognisable, buried in debris with fire still raging in the distance, but other than that it was nothing but a minefield or wreckage, flattened walker limbs and her injured group around her. The sky was still blocked by dust and smoke, Clementine made out the distant form of the mostly, still intact crane, however it seemed to have twisted on it's descent.

"Is everyone okay?" Clementine asked, looking around and then at Luis. He didn't seem too injured either.

"We were some of the lucky one's Clem" Luis told her grimly "Robert bashed his head pretty bad, but his still up and limping somehow... anyway his face is going to get even more ugly. That girl Melanie's flat out cold, and judging by the way that Aidan keeps moaning in pain every-time he breathes in or out, means he's either broken some of his ribs or is a major pussy. Eddie's arm is broken and we're pretty sure Stephanie's broken her leg, but other than that everyone else got out okay. Well those of us alive at least".

This was the news Clementine was dreading, she could see it on Luis' face that he had bad news for her.

"Who died?" she dared to ask.

"Rebecca and AJ, they fell" was all Luis said.

Clementine felt as if all the wind had been sucked out of her, it was like Sarah's death all over again but she was too numb to cry, maybe it didn't register with her instantly, but Rebecca had survived for so long and overcome so many odds and now for her and AJ to die like this... who was going to be the group's mum now!? There would never be a replacement and as Clementine sat there, numb, she knew it would take a few days for the news to actually process that the last infant in the group and the always present maternal figure of Rebecca were gone. It hadn't sunk in... then Clementine started thinking about the hard time she had given Rebecca in Wellington...

She gulped down the tears she could now feel forming, as Rebecca's face floated in her mind, she stood up and told Luis she was going to check on Luke. Luis let her go with a short nod of his head, as Clementine approached where Luke was lying, it was easy to find him by some means, as he was just lying there, gazing at the wall with one eye and one leg, Molly was sat next to him, while Maria was buzzing around tending to the injured. Robert (his face a bloody mess) muttered "When we're finished with the injured, we'll get moving again".

"Where too?" Maria asked.

"That we'll discuss later" Robert said "The walls collapsing buried the walkers for the time being, but more will come eventually, best we get moving soon".

"Agreed" Maria said, as she turned away and wiped herself down from the dust on her clothes, that's when she was aware of her son approaching her with a somewhat vacant look on his face, as Maria opened her mouth.

"You saved my life"

"I owe you, I guess" Luis mumbled, trying to play it off, but that didn't stop his mother from hugging him tightly and for Luis (after years of neglecting his mother's hugs) to finally give her one in return, which made Maria elated beyond belief, as she clutched onto him tighter and sobbed onto his shoulder.

"Oh Luis... your father would be so proud..."

"Okay getting too mushy" Luis replied, drawing away from her, however that didn't stop him from smiling, now grateful for his mother's presence like he had never been before. After seeing Rebecca die, Luis realised how spoilt and ungrateful he had been for so long towards his own mother and how rare good mothers were in a world like this and now was the time to grow up and really love his mother for as long as they still had each other.

Maria was still grieving for Rebecca, as were most of her group, Nick and Stephanie sat in numb disbelief, Eddie hadn't said a word, hadn't looked up at anybody, he just cried too himself silently, AJ's face floating in his mind as he pictured the broken look he imagined on the 4 year old's face, at the promise Eddie had made him, being broken and with Rebecca gone too, Eddie had once again lost an old friend of his...

How much longer was this damn hell going to carry on for!?

Elsewhere TT sat there silently and smugly, he may have been deformed and ugly but he was free! He was innocent, even though JJ had let guilt consume him at what he had done, JJ was going to kill himself if need be. But TT wouldn't allow it, TT wasn't going to break, no matter what, even if he had to repress JJ completely, he would do that.

and survive.

Terri and Ethan stood watching the group, Ethan aware of how two people had chosen to die rather than travel than him and maybe the rest of the group had their doubts as well, as difficult as it was becoming he would carry on with his mission. Terri meanwhile watched over the remaining survivors Jason, Miss King, Aiden, Jessica, Jasper, James, Frank and Melanie... she was tasked with protecting them all and like the Wolf that was a mission she would uphold.

Clementine sat down next to Luke, as the pair of them watched the redder than usual sunset, descend over the remains of Wellington.

"I missed everything didn't I?"

"Yeah" Clementine replied.

There was a silence between them, as a breeze rustled by, Clementine would tell him about the visions she had later on, as would Molly, as she remembered her fight with this Jane woman and she had a lot to catch up with Luke on anyway... regardless for now she simply sat there, wondering where the wind would take them all next and blinded or not, she had Hilda at the ready for every step of the way.

"But we escaped, despite you know... Becca..." Luke's voice seemed to crack, as he said Rebecca's name "and AJ too..." he muttered.

"But we made it here Luke" Clementine told him "We made this" she pointed at the remaining members of the group "If you weren't so brave and so stupid, Robert's plan for exposing Tom would have never worked".

Luke stifled a sob.

"Sunset's beautiful though" he said.

"Yeah" Clementine muttered, as she leaned her face against his arm.

"Yeah it is".


	31. Utopia

**A/N: So that's Wellington over and done with and now the first chapter of Episode 4 and nearing the end of the series itself, as this chapter is short, but half of it will introduce the new, final villains of the series and hopefully tie up all loose ends left and how they connect with the main group will become apparent later on. The newest villain is yet another leader/president (I feel like this is becoming a cliche) however I hope her motivations and ways of doing things differ slightly from the other leaders encountered so far. I'm nervous for feedback on her and I hope she goes down well (not as in liked, just a good character as she receive further development later on). The second half of the chapter, will catch up with the main group after Wellington. **

**Anyway I won't answer individual reviews but will answer all of your collective comments, regarding the characters.**

**A lot of you are obviously, upset and emotional over AJ and Rebecca's death, I personally resented killing off Rebecca for a long time, but I knew this is where she had to die with AJ, as she represented the maternal hold over the group and now without her... dark and challenging times are upcoming. Originally I planned for a long time for Eddie to die at this point and for AJ to be the only one to see TT push Eddie to his death from the crane, hence AJ would develop and become darker and more twisted like his father in bribing JJ/TT on his secret. However I realised this stretched the line of AJ's character, considering he is still only a toddler and basically repeated his story-line with Tom. So I decided to give Eddie more of the limelight, as Eddie for NGB and GTR (despite the loss of Wyatt) remained largely in the background, but now he has experienced these losses like Nick, Luke and Clementine have done he will become a more leading figure.**

**Also I have just realised, Luke, Nick, Eddie, Stephanie and Clementine are the only 5 people left who have been with us since NGB, I am cruel to them, aren't I?**

**Also universal hate for JJ/TT as per expected, but his character will get interesting soon and hopefully become a more unique villain, as he isn't the usual leader with power or influence, but must rely on himself and with his injuries... I agree with the one reviewer who noted JJ has been broken for a long time, but hasn't realised it yet. Also the Tom/TT fight does seemed rushed when I read it back (it was a long chapter) I might try and expand it slightly and add extra details or inner thoughts if I edit it in the future. Also a lot of divided opinion on Robert (which I'm loving) as people respect and like his smart side, but are wary he can easily become a dictator. Robert was originally going to be killed off at the explosion after the wedding, but I decided to keep him to fill in a temporary leader role. I then planned to kill him last chapter despite his development, but his death just didn't fit there... so here he is. A character who I didn't even plan to get this far or have this much influence, but he is very interesting (I know I use that word a lot) character. **

**Finally Miss King and Jason banter is approved, yes! Wolf and Terri are becoming likeable, hell yes! and there can only be one mother figure, so Maria wins this battle! (i jest, I jest...) now I've been babbling on for too long once again, so here we go, the first, short chapter of Episode 4! Enjoy!**

* * *

"...so how many are left?"

"Madam, at this time we can't be sure..."

"HOW MANY!?" The older woman screeched, momentarily losing her temper, as strands of her salt and pepper black fringe fell onto her face. Wiping away her greying hairs and breathing deeply to retain her temper, she fixated the man in front of her with an ice cold glare.

"129 of our agents are now confirmed KIA" he responded glumly "We found Cesil's remains two weeks ago, in what remained of the city of Chicago"

"Fantastic!" she snapped "So that's all of them!? They're all dead!?"

"Not all of them Olivia"

It was a new voice, rugged, deep and resounding as the large man stepped out of the shadows, his heavy brows descended over his black eyes in apparent annoyance of the woman seated in the chair in front of him. The more timid man (who had been shouted at by Olivia) proceeded back into the shadows of the gleaming office.

"Commander Igrkov" Olivia snapped.

"Olivia" he replied, with a tint of a Russian accent in his voice.

"This equates to all of your men being dead" Olivia said "You and your people have been allowed to reside here for far too long, without following through with our procedure..."

"Now, now, they'll be no need for any procedure" the commander said lightly, carefully walking around the room.

"I could just break my deal with you" Olivia said "We outnumber you... 100 to 1".

"But you won't" the commander muttered.

"I could"

"No, you couldn't" the commander said "My remaining people and myself would be long dead before you could even think about committing that... oh what to do you call it? Procedure? I would prefer the term... operation".

Olivia sighed.

"Well until that happy day" she snarled "I believe you may still have one agent out there. Who is KIA and probably dead just like the other 129..."

"He is MIA, but alive" The commander said "Zeljko was the highest ranked agent in only one field Olivia, endurance. The other agents may have been faster than him and stronger. But Zeljko is alive, I have to believe that, otherwise everyone here working on Operation C.U.R.E, dies with him".

"The Russian Government wasn't wise in it's final operation" Olivia commented "Operation Cure, to send out the best agents employed from eastern Europe and send them worldwide in order to find a cure to the infection. You sent 130 agents to the United States, 129 are certainly dead with their remains brought back to us to validate their real identity. The rest of your agents worldwide are probably dead too, but you have no way of telling, do you? Seems like a failure indeed..."

"Our operation is still ongoing" the commander snapped, getting annoyed himself "Until all 130 men stationed here are confirmed KIA, then we will gladly cease operations and stuff bullets into our mouths. Rather than live under what the american Government thought would be best for us".

"Operation R.E.B.I.R.T.H, is a complete success" Olivia mused, a smile lined her face as she pulled back the blinds in her office to reveal a blazing sun, shining brightly in the blue sky and the skyline of a vibrant completely white city spread out in front of her. Just in the distance, the faint backdrop of a desert could be seen.

"Operation R.E.B.I.R.T.H" Olivia said with a wide smile, "Built by over a thousand construction workers and military employees. We are the last faction of the Government to exist in the United States. Our goal, to build a highly quarantined city where humanity can begin once again, our soldiers have wiped out all walkers in a 100 mile radius. Our total population is now just above 333,000 people, owing to the many survivors we have provided shelter for over the years..."

"Pah!" the commander snapped "You're just another dictatorship. Like so many other communities".

"Yet here you are" Olivia said coldly.

"Our operation was foolhardy, there's no denying that" The commander said "But we gave people the chance to fight, the chance of having free will! You don't need this city, you just need a cure and yes, the walkers may still be a threat. But they can be dispatched more easily if one bite doesn't finish you off! We can't live with walkers, we have to wipe them out! Cleanse the land of them! and what if the infection starts spreading through the air? Or if it mutates? Your city won't save you then"

"It's doing a good job thus far" Olivia replied "and our researches have assured me that the virus in question, is unlikely to mutate"

"We know there are immune survivors!" The commander snapped "We had 3 asylums set up by our agents, two of which were destroyed. But the last report from the third one we received. Told us they had about 7 confirmed immune survivors within it's walls and they were working on a cure! However by the time we got flown out there, we found the place burnt to the ground and no agents, nor survivors in sight. We searched, we found the remains of our agents and most likely all the immune survivors in the rubble and nothing else. Despite what you say, I know there are immune survivors out there..."

"I feel these are just lies, to boost your cause" Olivia said calmly "Now Commander with this news just coming in, that your latest agent has been found dead. I am ordering you to go out and find your final agent and I'm giving you a two week deadline to accomplish this".

"Two weeks!" the commander roared.

"Two weeks" Olivia repeated "You have outstayed your welcome here commander you and your remaining men and women. You displayed signs of rebellious behaviour and quite frankly myself and many others feel inclined to agree you'll either face the procedure or die"

"But..." The commander stuttered.

"But nothing, my patience has worn thin" Olivia snarled "As I've been left to lead this operation. I have to ensure it's a success, when you made that deal so many years ago and back then you had much greater numbers. You were much more co-operative and the deal, America with the fortress to start again and Russia's promise to find a cure, so the walker threat would be annihilated. We, were going to repopulate the human race!" Olivia now shouted "But you failed your side of the deal and I can't have trouble in this city. One spark and it all goes up in flames..."

"You rule through fear" The commander accused Olivia, who merely smiled.

"You're wrong" Olivia said "Ruling through fear, will eventually get every dictator killed. People realise they don't have freedom and they rebel and it all leads to the same sticky mess... over and over again. I'm sure you've come across many ruined communities that fell like that. All in the same way, am I right?" she inquired of the commander. He maintained a stony look and didn't say a word.

"Anyway" Olivia continued "The Government and our late president God rest his soul. Realised all of this, we planned ahead and our community is foolproof, we have given the residents everything they wish for. Food, Water, a place to call home..."

"...and never leave" the commander snapped.

"They must be kept track of, at all times" Olivia said "and many of our population are happy and under our careful control. As long as they co-operate we promise to keep them alive and too keep them living comfortably, but you have to understand, we must control them! We must! It's absolutely essential, someone starts the seeds to a rebellion, we have to know. We have to act and unlike you or more primitive communities we don't kill, it only starts more rebellions. It makes a martyr of the dead person, no, we keep them alive"

She then put on a sinister smile.

"But we erase it all commander" she mused happily "Hope, fear, doubt, love, any rebellious thoughts... the people who don't comply, they have to stop thinking and become our breeding machines, we need to repopulate after all. 333,000 may seem like a great deal of people to you. But it's not even 1 per cent of what the population was beforehand, these 333,000 people may be all that remains of humanity itself!"

"So enslave them, while they are still young" the commander snarled rebelliously.

"Hmm... you know, I've changed my mind" Olivia said "There's too much mouth coming from you, I could have given you two weeks to actually leave this place and find your little agent. But you know he's dead and you'll probably flee. Hope, always kept you coming back and the shelter we provided for you here. But that's all over now, you're too free Commander".

The commander made a sudden jolting movement and reached for something in his holster, however at that point the door behind them flew open and a dozen men had tackled the commander straight to the ground, the nervous man behind the commander was also held by the soldiers.

"K-kill me then" The commander snarled, looking up to where Olivia was leering from above him.

"Weren't you listening to a word I said?" Olivia snapped "We don't kill people here, commander".

She turned to her men.

"Lobotomise them all"

"NO!" The commander howled "KILL ME! I WON'T LIVE AS ONE YOUR MINDLESS SLAVES!"

"Aww..." Olivia cooed "The wittle baby can't get his wittle gun, to his mouth, like he said he w-would..."

"YOUR AN ANIMAL!" The commander screamed "AN INHUMANE ANIMAL...!"

"Your speaking to the first woman president of the reformed united states" Olivia informed him, with pride flushed on her face "When I next see you, you won't have this attitude. You won't be calling me Olivia, I am the president of the united states! I haven't survived this long and come this far, to have this community ruined by a bunch of incompetent Russians!"

With that out of her system, she flicked her hand and at this command, the commander himself and his nervous companion were dragged away from the office, screaming all the way. When their voices eventually faded out, Olivia once again took her seat.

"Robinson!" she snapped.

A well built mixed raced man, with a cruel face replied to her call.

"Yes Mrs President" he said.

"Get the rest of your men to clear the living spaces of those Russians. Confiscate everything they have, when you've done that tell your pilots to get ready. This time next week I want our remaining search and rescue planes up the air, we need a batch of fresh survivors".

"Yes my lady" Robinson said.

"Also bring the commander to my quarters after the procedure, he was around my age and rather easy on the eye. Suffice to say I'll prefer him when he is a vegetable, rather than a raging idiot".

"Yes my lady" Robinson repeated.

"If the operation goes well, hopefully" Olivia said, she had lobotomised many rebellious members of her society. New survivors who managed to find the place, were almost instantly put under the knife. They had been out there for too long and seen too much, they would not adjust to this normal life and had been free for too long. They were animals, that needed to but sedated and put under control. Many survivors here, including her own men, construction workers and many early survivors to reach this city had not undergone the operation and maintained free will (well, some people needed too, to keep this city running) however any rebellious thought had to be crushed. Those still walking and working knew what was best, live a normal life in this city, play your part and obey the Government and no trouble would befall you.

Lobotomy was an old practice, but with advances in medicine in these modern times, even during a zombie apocalypse the operation succeeded turning many into the vegetables, in the same fate that befell Jack Nicholson at the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Although the operation was different for every person, some people died of brain damage, some came out the operation better than others, it didn't matter. Olivia had control of this city through this practice, she couldn't spread an atmosphere of fear, to rule this place.

She had to erase it completely.

Those lobotomised however required carer's to look after them and now with so many people walking around like walkers themselves, a lot of people needed to keep a watchful eye over those who had undergone the procedure. However on some occasions the elderly, or the neglected would die anyway and become walkers themselves. Although these incidents were contained instantly, it was a rising trend and that's why Olivia needed a fresh batch of survivors. Maybe she had been too cautious in her plan to ensure everyone was under her control, but she needed more carer's to look after those punished, she needed more people to build, she needed more men to fight, more shops to open, she needed to ensure the economy existed once again, she needed more people!

Although some of her men could take care of multiple people, more specifically, young, attractive women who could not refuse...

As for her? Yes, she had her collection of men, she may not have been able to repopulate at her age, but she could enjoy the small pleasures.

As for the other young women, they could repopulate. Maybe some of them died in childbirth and couldn't look after their children. But five to six years into this apocalypse and the children born into this city were already learning how things worked. One day they would grow up and lobotomy wouldn't be needed, they would continue this legacy and not know anything differently, hence she, the first president of the reformed united states would have started the creation of a new world. Where the ways of the old world died, in gleaming white cities like this there would be no crime, no hate and no disorder. Everyone would be happy, everyone would love each other and their world.

However, until that day, until the next generation would have to wait.

Right now, Olivia needed fresh blood and she would scour the skies and ruined communities in order to find any scraps left of humanity that were left there. They were going to be wild and uncontrolled, whoever these new people were. Olivia couldn't risk lobotomising anymore people, but with the men she had, she could have gone back on her word. Ruled them through fear if she had too, maybe she needed too just to ensure she had enough people to make her community work. Until the younger generation stepped in and turned the community into what she dreamed it to be.

She could have just killed those she considered useless, they were dying due to neglect anyway, as there simply wasn't enough people too look after them, or care for them. While they had other jobs around the city.

Turning them into vegetables, that was indirectly killing them.

But it maintained the image, she was a merciful woman she didn't kill anyone. She didn't kill anyone, she didn't directly order her men too shoot anybody she felt was rebellious, she didn't have those who were already vegetables shot, just for being a waste of space.

No. Her community was a happy place. A place where no one was killed.

No one was killed.

That was the constant thought that ran through Olivia's mind, the one deluded saying that made her truly believe she was a good person and doing justice for humanity, yes she may have to installed fear in a few of them. But that was a vital action to take...

In fact, maybe she should have spared some of those Russians, give them the threat of the operation and then made them promise to work in her city. If they tried to escape or rebel, she'd go ahead with the op regardless of the excuses they made. Yes! They could have been her test subjects!

Although the commander could still go through the operation, he had been too much trouble for years.

Did he truly believe that one agent of his, was still out there? Their headquarters somewhere across the pond had collapsed, cutting off contact with their agents completely, other than a few (such as those at the asylums) they fled here in their planes and sought shelter in exchange for a promised cure to be delivered. Years had passed, they searched for their agents as they were the only one's allowed to exit the city. They came back with remains and bad news, every time. Because they left the city so often it began to grate on Olivia, they could have led an attack force back to the city... eventually she limited their trips outside in their planes, too once a month and forbid them from approaching any large communities, in the fear it would bring the residents of these wild communities back onto their doorstep. She dealt with small influxes of survivors at a time, not gigantic groups of possibly invasive communities on her doorstep.

Hence she heard, that communities on the eastern side of america hadn't been approached by plane, but had been noted of. Olivia remembered a few, The Alexandria Safe Zone, The Hilltop and The Kingdom, were three communities somewhere by Washington apparently, they were still going strong according to the data retrieved from the last brief observations from the Russians, but these observations were made years ago, the same applied to communities such as Waterbridge, Riverside, Wellington and Newport... the Russians argued their agents might have been in those communities. But Olivia knew that was nonsense, those communities by now would have collapsed, the russian agents were all surely dead. She managed to get the Russians to abide to her regulations by keeping the threat of the operation over their heads, should they have failed...

Oh. She had ruled them through fear and it had worked well, after all.

So rather than wait for them, to find the last, already dead agent. She took her move first and was going to force most of them to contribute to her society, rather than contribute towards a lost cause, why work on finding agents in distant states and communities, when they could have helped expand the current one? Well, that's what was happening now.

Olivia Allis, she was the president. It was emblazoned on a plaque on her desk and as Robinson and his men marched out of her office to obey her orders, she turned her chair towards the open window and gazed down at the city they had built in the middle of Nevada Desert, where their would be plenty of place to expand and where the sun shone brightly most days. They had everything here, shelter, food, water, homes and most importantly no walkers in sight.

The Russians were wrong, the walkers were lumbering, hunks of weak flesh. Badly decomposed by this point, there was simply no point what-so-ever worrying about those meek body bags when they faced with the might of her gleaming city.

This city, the city of Utopia was it's name and that's exactly what it was to all, a utopia and soon she would venture where she had forbidden the Russians too, if those communities had fallen by now. There was nothing to fear, other than small groups of savage survivors, she would find them and bring them back here, back to this Utopia.

That's what existed, just a Utopia, There was no cure, no immune survivors and certainly no agent left at all.

Yet everything the president refused to believe, existed in a group that had just recently started limping away from the ruined community of Wellington.

* * *

Moving forward wasn't easy.

With the recent loss of Rebecca and AJ weighing on their minds, along with their physical injuries hampering their progress. No one had the energy, nor the joy what-so-ever to be grateful of their narrow escape from Wellington.

Everyone was still recovering as they hobbled away from the once great community, The Wolf... well Ethan as he was known now, carried Melanie on his back until the young woman regained conscious, and even now she was acting slightly too cheery and out of it which convinced the others she had banged her head too hard upon hitting the ground.

It wasn't just Melanie either, as the group finally hobbled away from what was once Wellington, which was now merely a smouldering wreck of ruin and tangled bodies. Luke had to hop forward while Terri and Luis took it in turns to support him, not having a leg caused him to trip up several times. His usual line of "I'm fine, I'm fine" wore down so quickly it wasn't even worth saying any more. Eventually Luke gave up saying it as well, but without a leg his pace slowed the rest of the group down and even with Terri and Luis' support it was apparent he was struggling.

"Maybe, we can like get you a stump, or an artificial leg or something" Molly suggested, as she heard Luke fall to the ground for the utmost time. If she wasn't blind herself she would have helped him no matter what. But she had to focus on being led forward herself, or else risk losing track of the group.

"Yeah, where are we going to find that!?" Robert snapped, in response to Molly "A hospital? Oh yeah, it fucking burnt down. Just like the rest of fucking Wellington..." he trailed off there, still angrily muttering under his breath. Robert (alongside his own injuries and the increased facial scarring) had been put in a extremely bad mood. So much so, he marched the group away from Wellington even though they were in no clear state to keep on moving, the former editor kept on marching forward through the night, they eventually reached a forest where it seemed like Robert would drag them through all night.

However, they simply could not go on.

Luke was beginning to wheeze, the hole around where his eye had once been was starting to bleed again, to the point it was beginning to soak through the bandages. Maria inspected it nervously and eyed Robert with a similar look on her face. As well as Luke there was Nick with his missing hand, Stephanie being helped along by him because her left leg had clearly been broken in the fall, while Melanie was starting to mutter things under her breath, with unfocused eyes that remained locked on the sky. Aidan's ribs it had seemed (despite Luis thinking otherwise) had been broken, as he began to clutch his stomach and torso, eventually he lent against a tree and began to yelp in agony, causing the group to turn to face him.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked instantly rushing over to him.

"I'm... I'm... I'm... fuuuuccckkkk..." Aidan groaned, slumping down the side of the tree, he had been maintaining a "tough guy" image since they had hobbled away from Wellington. In such, he made the occasional rude comment to either Nick, Jason or Luis, or more suggestive comments to the women of the group. However his comments had grown much quieter over the last hour and now everyone was looking down at him as he withered in agony as tears of pain welled in his eyes.

"For God's sake, woman!" he snapped at Maria "Just... Just fix me!" he pleaded.

"Where does it hurt?" Maria asked.

"EVERYWHERE!" Aidan exploded.

"Will you shut up back there, you'll draw walkers!" Robert shouted, as he turned back to see what the commotion was "We need to get moving" was all he said, when he saw the group was stood there watching Aidan.

No one said a word for a few seconds.

"Well!?" Robert growled like a lion, turning around like a lion when he realised that no one was following him, people always followed him. Back in Wellington and now they should have done here, he was going to lead them out of this mess, dammit!

"Robert..." Maria began softly.

"We're moving" Robert said flatly.

"Robert, he's suffering from internal bleeding" Maria said "If we don't stop, the damage could end up killing him".

Robert face sank slightly.

"Well I..." he began.

"We're stopping now Robert" James spoke up, before his friend Frank could stop him. The former cop looked Robert in the eye and didn't flinch in the slightest.

"Boy!" Frank hissed as a warning.

James ignored him.

"Don't tell me what to do, _boy"_ Robert snapped, mocking Frank's nickname for the younger man.

"We can't go on like this Robert!" James argued back "Aidan's going to die if we don't stop! Stef's broke her leg and has a baby on the way! Melanie's still out of it, JJ's still burnt crisp and hurting, Molly's still blind and in case you haven't realised Luke's missing a leg and an eye. Nick's without a hand and the rest of us are pretty bruised up as well, including yourself! If we keep on marching on, it's only going to get worse. Let's face it, we're in no fit shape to move as a group. We need a few days to recover and plan ahead!"

James impressive speech, certainly earned him brownie points from the silent members of the group.

"Fine!" Robert seethed at long last, drawing to a halt.

Clementine sighed as the group stopped and prepared to set up camp, she inspected the tree's around her, her injured comrades, no one had brought a tent as it took up too much space to carry and would take too long to set up and pack away. Walkers could have cornered them at any moment, therefore everyone prepared sleeping bags and as Clementine unrolled her's, a large THUMP! from nearby made her jump.

"Sorry" Nick said "Just that bag was so damn heavy"

"It's fine" Clementine mumbled, as she saw Nick and Stephanie set up their sleeping bag near to her own, Clementine looked next to her, to see Luke was already (amidst great difficulty) trying to place his own sleeping bag next to her's. However he lost his balance on his single leg and painfully landed on his ass, with an "Oomph".

"Everything's different now, isn't it" Clementine droned to him.

"Yeah, yeah I guess it is Clem" Luke muttered, as he tried to get to his feet once again, to flatten his sleeping bag on the ground.

"How's your eye?" she asked in concern.

"Better, Maria took a good look at it and it stopped bleeding".

"Well that's spectacular" Molly said, entering the conversation as she managed to follow Luke's voice and place her bag directly next to his "But you got it easy Luke, you lost one eye, I lost both".

"Hey, I lost a leg too" Luke muttered lightly.

"Oooh... it cripple war now is it?" Molly challenged.

"Let me tell you a thing or two about cripple war" Luis muttered, barging into the conversation.

"Go on" Molly urged.

"I win all of them, because I lost an eye and arm..."

"I lost a hand!" Nick shouted over to them.

"Big deal! You still have both eyes!" Luis exclaimed back, while Clementine couldn't help but giggle under her breath at her group's antics and just for a few brief seconds, she forgot all the grief and death and everything she had left behind... that was until Stephanie softly muttered "You know Molly and Luke, with your injuries, you kind of remind of Sarita and Kenny..."

She realised her mistake, as the group's humour died out, remembering what fate had befallen that couple.

"Yeah... yeah guess we do..." Luke mumbled.

"But... they were fine, they coped with their injuries" Clementine reminded them.

"Yeah. If Kenny could put with missing an eye every day, so can I" Luke motivated himself, remembering how Kenny had saved his life all those years ago in the woods. Although Kenny had been the one to beat him to a bloody pulp in the first place, his change of mind and heart had a profound impact on Luke and too this day he used Kenny as an example, of no matter how bad people seemed, there had to be good in them, somewhere.

Maybe's that why he also couldn't hate the Wolf, the Wolf had done bad things, but had also saved him and protected the group.

As Luke thought that, Luis snarled "Are you serious!?" towards where the Wolf was sitting up his own sleeping bag.

"Pardon" Ethan Hart muttered.

"You made me carry that bag, through a fucking fire, to save a bloody dog collar!" Luis snapped, flinging the old thing at Ethan's feet.

"Hang on" Clementine said, rising to her feet and running over to where Ethan was lain, she picked up the collar and instantly recognised Sam's old collar.

"You got this from our house?" Clementine asked of Ethan.

He nodded.

"It was Terri's idea" he said.

"We thought you could use the objects, for motivation, as we know they mean a lot to you" Terri said "Especially during these tough times..." she trailed off there, as members of the group began to swarm around the bag.

"But we only got objects from my house and Luke's group!" Terri shouted "I'm sorry to the rest of you, but we didn't know where you lived, so..."

"Oh no, that's fine" James murmured, however that did not hide the disappointed look on his face.

"Photographs... photographs..." Luke muttered as he waded his way through the collection of photographs in the bag, while Clementine quickly saw Eddie (who had been silent and sullen since Rebecca and AJ's death) quickly pluck a photograph from the pile, before he slunk back off towards his somewhat secluded sleeping bag by the tree's. Clementine could hazard a guess at what photograph he had taken, but now she couldn't look down at these photographs without flinching at the smiling face of Rebecca or AJ, their loss was too soon. The pain far too recent for her to look at them... just hours ago they had been here, alive and healthy and now...

"Words can't express how grateful me and everyone here is for..." Luke began to Terri and Ethan.

"Save it, it's fine" Terri replied, the ghost of a smile forming on her lips.

"Hey Luis, I didn't know you had a girlfriend in Wellington" Nick said, holding up a photo, which Clementine quickly glanced at. It was indeed Luis, on a beach somewhere, with a beautiful young woman wrapped around his arm.

"Since when has there been a beach in Wellington though" Stephanie pointed out.

It was then Maria quickly shot her arm through the spectators and tugged the photo of herself and her late husband in their younger years from their stares.

"It's...a photo of me and my husband" Maria muttered going very red indeed.

"Mum, please tell me this isn't you" Luis muttered in horror, holding up the photo of herself downing some sort of shot, with his father in the background "and is this dad?" he inquired, glancing (at the first time) at his father. Who was (as his mother had previously told him) a spitting image of himself.

"Why haven't I seen this before?" Luis asked of her.

"I didn't think you wanted to see him, honey" Maria replied.

Luis looked thoughtful for a second, before he lifted the photograph into the air.

"But hey, mum you knew how to knock back a drink..."

"Give that back mister!"

"How about no" Luis teased with a smile.

"I'm warning you young man!"

"Oh...Ven a por ella a continuación!" Luis shouted in Spanish, himself and his mother usually bickered within their native language for some reason, which seemed spontaneous for the pair of them. Maria herself always thought she sounded more commanding in Spanish than she did in English.

"Por qué no hacer que yo vaya allá joven!" Maria exclaimed.

"Oooh Tengo mucho miedo de que haya venido aquí, oh nooooooooo! Luis muttered sarcastically.

As Maria got up to retrieve her photograph and Clementine laughed at the scene of Maria pinning Luis to the ground in order to get her photograph back, she still ached with grief for Rebecca and AJ, they would have loved to have been here and experienced all of this...

"But this is what they would have wanted" Clementine told herself, as her eyes found the smiling face of Rebecca, right at her feet. That's what she was doing now, smiling down on them, Eddie was still curled up in his sleeping bag, but Clementine was going to get him back as she had gotten Nick back from jail, like she had helped Luke. Her second chance meant something, she had learnt that from Sarah and the pain of losing Rebecca and AJ was going to hurt for a while, but she was going to carry on it was moments like these, where she found herself laughing merely hours after clinging onto a crane for dear life, that motivated her to continue.

But with all her dreams (she had yet to tell Luke about) was this all coming to end? What was going on?

More objects were being pulled out of the bag, those questions could wait for now, as Clementine was going to enjoy being free from Wellington at long last.

It was going to be a long night.


	32. Campfire

**A/N: Hello again! First things first loved the positive reception to Olivia as the new villain we'll see more of them soon, now most of this next chapter won't move the plot forward at all. As it's merely chit chatter chapter, between the old group and new survivors reflecting on events etc... etc... anyway it should pick up by next chapter. I just wanted a chapter where (after the madness of Wellington and the new villains introduced last chapter) a sort of cooldown chapter for the group to simply chill before the next big storm. **

**Anyway leaving the A/N short again, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try to get back to you soon with the next one**

**Also... Season 3 trailer hype anyone? Javier seems like he could be an interesting character but we'll have to wait and see and Clem still has her hat but lacks part of her finger. Anyway looking forward to Season 3 and I hope it gets back to the standard set in Season 1, or at least be better than Season 2. **

* * *

"...so that's how Ana and Oscar saved us" Maria said "We survived in the woods for a long time after that, but we grew impatient and reckless, we started rebelling against Tom and that only increased the pressure on him to find Wellington. When his brother finally threatened him, saying if he didn't find Wellington soon, he'd take over as leader and get us there. Funnily enough we came across Wellington the very next day".

Finishing her tale, Maria gazed around the members of the group, whose faces were illuminated by the glow of the flames.

"Sounds to me, like he knew where it was all along" Frank concluded.

"I had that suspicion for a long time" Terri said "But I never brought to him, because I'm sure he wished now he'd led us away from Wellington rather than towards it. Damn whatever happened to his leadership".

"If only we could turn back time and have a second chance" Melanie wishfully remarked "Then we'd all know what was best"

The remaining members of Luke's group all went still and gazed at each other and Melanie's poor choice of words, while Clementine could see Luis gazing at her out of the corner of her eye. She expected him to say something about it, yet he remained as silent and still as the members of Luke's group themselves.

"Well I'm glad you're got here" Aidan said "Otherwise we wouldn't have the cure".

"Yet, most of Wellington hated us anyway" Terri droned.

"Only because you kept that freak from us!" Aidan snarled, beginning to lose his temper.

"Oscar, wasn't a freak!" Luis yelled defending his late friend "He was damn person and he deserved better than what he got, hunted down and murdered like an animal..."

"He went bravely" Ethan added, cutting Luis short "He didn't resist, Ana tried too but..." he paused there as he gazed at the remaining members of Tom's group, which at this point were only four of them.

"Erm... Mr... Mr... Wolf..." JJ muttered nervously, as all eyes turned his charred form, he had been as silent as Eddie since they're escape from Wellington and was noticeably quite a few feet back from the flames of the campfire itself. But now, unexpectedly, he had decided to speak up, as he looked the Wellington Wolf straight in the eyes.

"Yes" Ethan said.

"I... I think we'd all like to know..." he stuttered "H-how did Ana and O-oscar actually die? We have a right to know, exactly what happened to them..."

There was short silence between them, the flames continued to cackle and snap.

"I don't think..." Terri began.

"I found them on top of the wall" Ethan began, cutting Terri off "I was wearing a face mask to protect myself from the airborne strain and Ana and Oscar, I overheard them talking, they were going to run away together. I don't know how Ana would have survived out there, but she was going anyway, with Oscar. So I had to step in, I engaged Ana in a short duel of sorts, in which she used her sword and used my switchblades. I managed to decapitate her and Oscar remained still. I think he was terrified but accepting of what was about to happen to him, his death was quick and I completed my mission". Ethan finished, recalling the memories of Ana and Oscar's final moments.

"Well... damn" JJ muttered, before lifting his legs up to his chest and seemingly retreating back into himself.

"I suppose it was best though" Terri quickly added "Ana would have died anyway and Oscar got the least painful death he could have asked for..."

"It still so strange though" Maria said, looking at Ethan once again "You being with us, as an ally. So much has happened and so much has changed. I don't know who the good and bad people are anymore. There was one point, I absolutely trusted Tom, maybe even found myself attracted to him at the height of his leadership..."

"Not this again..." Luis moaned.

"You know nothing happened young man!" Maria snapped "But the point remained, I adored Tom at one point, he was capable, knew what he was doing and even at the wedding, I thought this man was born to be our leader. He is going to outlive us all, now I'm sat here hating him even in death, only a week later and the person I despised for so long is our ally, it's just impossible to hold belief in anyone, anymore" Maria summarised.

"I don't think Tom was truly a bad guy" Terri reminded her "He just made one mistake and that it got worse from there..."

"Small comfort to me" Nick added in a surly tone, looking down at his lost hand.

"Me too" JJ muttered "I just... I just don't understand why he went for me at the end..."

"Did you... do something to provoke him?" Luis asked "He never seemed to have much of a problem with you. Your granddad trusted him enough to leave you in his care and I never saw you arguing with him once..."

"He just flipped out" JJ lied, beginning to feel the sweat build on his skin "Terri was gone and he knew he couldn't get either you Luis, or Maria. So he probably just took me as the weak target as the last of the group that he felt, betrayed him". JJ shuddered, as Clementine felt complied to ask another question of him.

"So you managed to kick him into the flames?" she inquired "All by yourself, in your state".

JJ felt his heart rate accelerate, he couldn't look Clementine in the eye.

_"She knows you're lying, they're going to rat you out and burn you on a roast! For good this time!"_ TT taunted from inside of his head.

"Erm..." JJ muttered "I erm... he tossed me into the flames, with his bare hands after beating me. He started screaming but I couldn't hear what he said, I rolled myself out and ran on, but he followed. Then he stopped, I turned around to see he'd must have fallen over into a load of crops. He was stuck and trying to claw himself out. He probably would have done, If I didn't go up and shove him backwards into the flames and I heard he screaming and screaming. I just had to get out of there...!" JJ finished, his whole tale told in a quiet, shifty tone up until the ending exclamation which held some truthful conviction.

"Rest In peace, to the Old Tom" Luis announced "and too Brandon, Ana, Oscar, Tim, hell even that old bastard Wilbert. We were a dysfunctional mess of a group. But my God, we did alright"

"Amen to that" Maria said softly, her hands joined in some silent prayer for her lost group.

"We'd probably still be a group of 10" JJ said bitterly "If we never went to Wellington, why'd we have to pressure Tom into going? We were more than okay out in wild. It wasn't perfect sure, but we did fine for so long...why is it only now we can see that?"

"You don't know how good you got it, until it's gone" James said.

"True, very true" Terri agreed "If there was one thing I could go back and change, it would be that..."

Once again, Luke's group was silent with all these talks of second chances coming up.

"If you didn't come though, you'd have never have known us lovely people" Jason mused, with a cocky smile.

"I think we'd live with that" Terri muttered in reply.

"Killjoy" Jason said.

"Creep" Terri replied.

"Anyway, without your group or not. We'd still be fine" Jason piped up "Because we have our Wolf slayer here with us...!"

"I've told you, it was an accident!" Miss King snapped, not liking all the attention placed on her shoulders "I didn't know what I was doing, I just saw the door open and Eddie and Violet struggling and..."

She was suddenly silent, casting a nervous glance back towards Eddie. The bearded man was curled up in his bright blue sleeping bag, a few feet behind where Miss King was sitting, he didn't stir or make a single noise.

"Is he asleep?" Miss King asked nervously.

"I checked a few minutes ago" Luke said "Yeah, he is flat out"

"Poor guy" Miss King sympathised "I heard he lost his best friend a while ago, then his girlfriend and now someone who was like his mother and younger brother... it's horrible..."

"I'm too blame" Luke muttered instantly "It was my fault his best friend died. I made a mistake a long time ago, he blamed me for it like he should have done and I should have made more effort to make him feel included. I mean, I have Nick, my best pal is still here but now Eddie's lost everyone..."

"But he'll bounce back right?" Miss King asked nervously "I heard he always did before..."

"I think this might be the last straw" Luke mumbled sadly "I could try, but..."

"You got me back Luke, remember?" Nick reminded him "You tried for a year, constantly coming to the prison to try and give me hope and it worked Luke".

"But it was Clem, who actually saved you" Luke groaned miserably.

"I wouldn't have come with her, if there wasn't someone outside who truly cared for me" Nick said "I knew by your visits, it was you I had to save Luke. I owe you that much man".

"Awww..." Stephanie muttered under her breath, as Molly lent in closer to her.

"You're still shipping this aren't you?" Molly whispered into the younger woman's ear.

"Always" she replied with a giddy smile.

"We'll make Eddie feel involved then" Clementine decided "His done so much to keep our spirits up, so we have to repay the favour".

"Yeah we do" Molly said "I remember when I first met up with you guys and I started that whole joke with Luke being my husband. Eddie, ever the comedic genius was the first one to follow through with it..." she smiled there at the memory.

"If it wasn't for Eddie" Stephanie added "and his pranks back at Howe's me and Nick probably wouldn't have ended up talking in the first place and..." she smiled at Nick there and clutched his hand tighter "Well I always promised I'd pay him back for that some day..."

"But you did" Nick reminded her "Stef remember? You stopped those hit-man going after Violet, from what you told me. So Eddie and Violet could hook up..."

"But she's gone now" Stephanie said "It wasn't just that Nick, he's done so much for the group and for me. Accepted me back when I wanted to leave without judging me at all... I owe a lot to him".

"I suppose I owe him too, for all those reasons" Nick agreed "There's only six of us now, we gotta look out for each other".

He then sighed, as the unavoidable topic of AJ and Rebecca's recent demise came up.

"Hey, I know I've said this before" Frank said "But I'm sorry for your group's loss, Rebecca seemed like a damn fine lady and her son... his was too young to be taken like that..."

JJ insides tightened. Did he know? What did he mean? Like that? Had he seen...?

"Fell all that distance" Luke reminisced sadly, as he shook his head.

JJ felt himself relax, he was getting paranoid far too easily.

"It wasn't me" he convinced himself "It was TT"

"I just... I know this is said far too much" Maria muttered "I thought she'd be one of the last of us to fall, she was a good friend to me and she seemed to have so much life and strength and had overcome the odds so many times. It really is an unexpected tragedy".

The group was silent, acknowledging the loss of yet another friend and Clementine couldn't help but wish Rebecca was here now, she'd been fuelling the humour here with her strict maternal attitude towards everyone else and with Rebecca came Eddie, who could just about make anymore smile. Yet now Eddie was grieving intensely and Rebecca was gone, Clementine's second chance... she could only hope that if she saw Rebecca and AJ once again. They'd be grateful to her, that they would thank her for the life she had helped them live. However long or short it was, Clementine was glad to have known Rebecca better and that Rebecca had reached her 40th birthday, she was glad AJ (despite his very short lifespan) had grown up in her group surrounded by good people, the pain was still raw but Clementine had to keep on pushing forward and keep on living.

But she also had to wonder, where was the final destination? It certainly wasn't these woods. At first it seemed like Howe's, she knew that would eventually fall and set her sights for the future on Wellington. That's where she had been originally trying to get too in both of her lives, so it seemed like the end goal for everything, she had defeated the cult once and for all and had arrived in Wellington in a blaze of glory and that's how her story should have ended. But no, life dragged her on and now the dream destination at the end of rainbow, that was Wellington. Was lying in rubble behind her and with her last link to her previous life and her previous goals erased completely, she was truly at a loss on what to do next.

Surely, there couldn't be any community bigger than Wellington left now.

and where they truly the last remnants of humanity.

These 19 people?

Clementine remembered 19 had been the number of people who had survived at Howe's for almost a year, before the Russians and the cult had arrived. 19 of them had survived in the aftermath of the rebellion against Carver.

19 of them had survived the fall of Wellington.

An idea suddenly popped up in Clementine's head.

If her earlier, crazy theory was true, with all these dreams and feeling that she was stuck in some sort of time loop...

Why not go back to where it all began?

It all seemed to click quite suddenly, Clementine seemed rather excited at the prospect of going back to Howe's, despite the state it was in, they could have restored it, they had no where else to go at the time being and Howe's was a shelter down south they knew well. Maybe it would be hard to find, maybe it was already in ruin...

But Clementine was now determined to head on back there.

However she knew they'd be resting here for a few more days, so she'd pitch the idea to Luke and try not to get her hopes too high unless he said no, or if the group disagreed with him. Either way she'd do that (while telling him about her dreams) whenever she could.

Clementine tuned back into the conversation, as Luke offered his condolences...

"...sorry about Howard, Billy and Emma" he said.

"Howard was good dude" James said "Emma was one gutsy girl, Billy was a bit strange... but I hope in rests in peace too. They didn't deserve what happened to them..." as he said this, he cast a glare over at Robert's sleeping form in a sleeping bag quite a distance from the group. Even though they could hear his snores, the group certainly dropped their voices during the conversation that followed.

"Robert had no right to do that..." James began angrily.

"He did it too keep Ethan here in the group" Terri argued.

"Not all of us wanted that, though" James protested.

"I see you still have an issue with me" Ethan said tonelessly.

"Well I'm still a bit uneasy around you to be honest" James said truthfully "Regardless of what Robert had to do to keep you in the group, I can't believe had to kill Emma and Billy to get that point across. He is like a dictator..."

"What did you want him to do then?" Terri questioned of the young man.

"Anything other than killing them!" James protested "I would have just left them to burn, if they didn't want to come along then that was their own fault. But regardless of whether or not Robert did was right, by keeping Ethan here in the group. There had to be another way to go around it and his basic mindset is... I'll kill anyone who disagrees with me. He-actually-said-that..."

"I think you're being unfair to him" Terri said "He was under a lot of pressure and didn't have a lot of time to make those decisions. He might not be the most amazing leader under pressure. But I wouldn't advise planning a coup on his leadership, otherwise he might end up feeling bitterly angry at the group and resorting in another Schulz or Tom...

"I wasn't planning on..." James began.

"So your speech to Robert to slow down, wasn't you blatant attempt at trying to prove you'd be a better leader?"

"What? No!?" James exclaimed "I was just trying to speak some sense into him, besides it was only one time. It's not like I'm going to do that all the time".

"Then try and see it from Robert's point of view" Terri argued back "I'm sure it was only one time that he did what he had too".

James was reduced to silence as he gazed at the campfire and began to rub a spot on his forehead.

"Don't get too reckless boy" Frank reminded him.

"Alright!" James snapped "I'm not a damn child Frank, I can take care of myself..."

While Frank and James began to bicker amongst each other, Melanie coughed loudly to try and get the conversation back to a different topic, that wouldn't result in endless bickering.

"Anyway, you're group sounds like it's been through a lot" she said addressing Luis, Terri, Maria and JJ "and I'm sorry to hear about it, Greg always used too say..." she went silent there and most of the group knew why.

"I'm sorry for your loss too dear" Maria uttered softly her, Melanie was silent for a few minutes, as everyone took to staring at her to see what she would do next, eventually she shook her head and looked up at the campfire once again.

"All the little kids and good men... they're all going" she mumbled in misery "Still" she added with a lighter smile "at least I knew where they stood in the end. Greg and my little Kyle... when those walkers broke in at the wedding. Me and Greg fled home, some of them broke into the house while Greg was still holding our little boy, I heard them scream and..." she shuddered there, recalling the memory "I screamed and I just remember running and running until I found the church and, the rest is history".

"We're you from Wellington originally?" Clementine inquired, always eager to learn about new people.

Melanie turned to her with a small smile.

"Oh yeah, we were" Melanie responded "Me and Greg had just brought a house in the town after our honeymoon in Thailand, before everything went to shit. Thankfully Schulz quickly built the community around us. So we sat pretty for a long time, managed to barricade our house during the first riot. Couldn't miss the second, but Greg made sure we stayed at the back. It was a good call, looking back on it..."

"Back when Schulz was actually a damn good leader" Frank interjected "You newer folk probably don't know it, but when Schulz was at his best, he was like the Messiah to us".

"Knew how to handle resources and keep control but not through fear, through diplomacy" James added "But then, then his wife died".

"Did his wife dying, really make him into the man he was?" Terri asked.

"Oh yeah" Frank replied "Man fell to pieces, you see some of his political rivals, thought Schulz was getting too comfortable in his chair in his office. Didn't think he was hands on enough with the people. Schulz and his wife decided to join and lead the scouting team outside Wellington to prove them wrong. Well, it went okay for a while then there was an accident. His wife died and when he tried to save her he lost use of his legs..."

There was a heavy silence around the campfire following Frank's grim words.

"Is that what losing people, does to you?" Melanie inquired "It's only been a few days since my family died and... well I just feel numb to it all. I should be weeping, crying and all that, but I can't. I just assumed I'd die when we were walking through that herd outside the church, or when Tom started shooting, or even back there with the crane... and now I'm somehow here. I don't know how to feel".

"You haven't had much experience facing walkers, have you?" Molly asked.

"No" Melanie admitted.

"Then welcome to real world, baby" Molly announced "It sucks and you're probably in shock right now, I was too after I lost my sister. The pain never goes away but it gets easier to handle with time"

Melanie nodded to showed that she acknowledged this.

"Well, you're not going to become Schulz, so don't worry about that love" Miss King added.

"How... how was he?" JJ nervously asked again and once again he was looking at Ethan. "When... when you worked with him?"

"Seemed to know what he was doing" Ethan replied in a deadpan tone "Seeing how he manipulated the cult I assumed he was intelligent. After the first riot however and just before he sent me off. He boasted a lot, spoke over me and didn't seem to like to listen to others from what I heard..."

"That was pretty much him, when I was with him" Stephanie mumbled.

There was another silence around the campfire as the group reflected on the former president and the former state of Wellington.

"I just don't understand" Jessica said at last, speaking up at last as she turned to face Ethan "If you were looking for a cure and only needed blood samples to identify those immune. Why didn't you just work with the President to set up an immunity test for everyone in Wellington and avoid all those random killings that made us all shit in our pants".

"It would have been that simple" Ethan said "But remember the cult, the President was working with them before I arrived. So it was hard enough to convince him I was looking for a cure in the first place. Let alone work with the cult, when I eventually managed to do that. I had to murder the loners or the one's the cult wanted to dispose of, those were my limited samples I could have used. Otherwise the cult would have thought I was threat to them by disobeying orders and disobeying the president. They wanted me under their control completely, but that didn't stop me from managing to take occasional blood samples. From fights, skirmishes and accidents... finally by luck. I gained an immune sample, at first I thought it was from Ryan, but then I realised the other man present for Ryan's accident and someone who had also lost blood was..."

"Oscar" Luis finished with frown "Then you set the walkers on Ryan and then Oscar"

Ethan nodded.

"Oscar saved my life from getting bit" JJ mumbled to the ground "I gather it was luck it managed to bite the one person in the group who you needed it too".

Ethan nodded.

"Would have the walker attacks continued on our group, until you had solid evidence that Oscar was the immune survivor?" Maria asked.

"Most likely" Ethan said "But the plan was already in motion at that point, the president leaked the Domesday Report to doom the cult, while providing me the distraction to gain the cure from Oscar. Your group's poor cover story and the confession Stacy Moore was able to gain from Tim was all the evidence needed. I used that snitch Father Jordan to frame Trevor Moore, hence the police force would be in shambles and unable to contain the riot..."

"I suppose that's why It got as bad as it did" Melanie whispered to herself.

"Jesus Christ!" Jessica snapped "This is so, like... fucking long winded? Anything could have gone wrong, how the hell did it all just somehow work!? How did you plan that far ahead!? I don't even know what to have for breakfast in the morning, let alone plan that far ahead..."

"It makes me more uneasy about you" James admitted to Ethan "In a weird way, it's a brilliant plan, genius almost. But evil. Plain evil."

"How do we know, you haven't got some complex plan in mind for us now!" Aidan piped up, still clutching his damaged ribs "I mean, how do we know you haven't got a secret pact with Robert to make sure one of us gets framed for a murder? Then he comes in and sorts it and then he looks good, but then manipulates one of us to get him a cure 2.0 while leading us back to your shared headquarters, where we will all be mushed up like peas and served up for some secret society, who breed with walkers to create a new society!?"

Aidan's rant left a short silence, before Luke felt himself laugh and he couldn't stop, soon enough almost everybody else had joined in, their laughter echoing around the empty forest tree's, as Aidan's face continued to fall.

"It's not funny!" he snapped "It could actually be happening!"

"You are raving, son!" Frank guffawed.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Molly howled.

"Hey Aidan, I've got a plan" Jason quipped up "I'm going to manipulate Cristina here to dance like a chicken, while your all laughing I'm going to sneak off and meet my secret cult. Because I sabotaged the walls from the start, to get us out of here so I could serve you as soup to my real group..."

"Oh No!" Molly mock screamed, "It's all over now!"

The group was able to laugh for a few carefree minutes at the joke, regarding complex plans once again the laughter died down.

"Still, speaking of scandalous news coming in" Stephanie said "What about Robert and Billy huh? Didn't see that one coming".

"Maybe it explains Robert's behaviour better" Frank added "For instance, murdering someone he loved just to keep the group together. You can say what you want son..." Frank said glancing over at James "But that must have been a difficult choice for him".

"I still think there could have been something else he could have done" James insisted.

"But who knew, it's crazy what goes on behind closed doors" Jessica muttered.

"Indeed you would now, seeing as you befriended seedy people and worked at a seedy place..." Terri began.

"Oh, real rich coming from you!" Jessica began to screech "You murdered my friend you friggin bitch! and you've seduced seedy men to do what? To kill them? You're about as seedy as it gets and just to let you know, I'm not happy with the Wellington Wolf being here, but the cut throat cub being here is even worse".

"The feelings mutual" Terri snapped.

"Ladies please" Maria began "We were actually laughing a minute ago, don't turn this into another argument"

Terri and Jessica sighed in unison, both of them managing to hold their tongues.

"I don't know why you're so surprised by Robert" came a sudden, soft voice as everyone turned to see Jasper had spoken for one of the first times that night "At the Wellington weekly, it happened all the time. Considering we had a lot of influence over the population, people would fuck anyone to get where they wanted to be. It was kind of second nature for us Journalists. Also helped us get info out of people too".

"Did you ever... well you know...?" James began awkwardly.

"Only with Stacy" Jasper admitted, as he readjusted his somewhat cracked glasses and ruffled his mousy brown hair "She offered me promotions if I... well performed well. I managed to climb pretty high... well before the Domesday report and everything after that..." his voice trailed off there.

"Don't take this in the wrong way" Luke began "But I'm getting the vibe you were some sort of low life paparazzi before this all started".

"Then you'd be right" Jasper responded with a small smile "I was the worst of the worst, used to live in LA and would stalk celebs all day to get a good shot. Earned a fuck ton, it was sleazy and an easy life, everyone was fake as shit though, then again when your Morales in the toilet anyway you don't really expect to make many friends".

"I always wanted to go LA" Maria dreamily wished, going slightly off topic.

"So you managed to get here from LA?" Luke asked.

"Drove up here, LA went to shit almost instantly. So I'm sorry to say folks, you're favourite celebs are probably walking body bags by now".

"Damn, there goes my chance to meet Bill Murray" Luke joked.

"You know, I used to justify my actions by stating that I knew that I was taking those photos telling those stories, to tell the public the truth. To be honest I hated the celebrities and the rich life, fake as shit entitled assholes. Ruining their lives was kind of amusing and then watching them try and sue the shit outta me was even better, despite the costs. But then when I was here I saw the Domesday report destroy the lives of people I knew, actual nice people I really saw myself for the asshole I was. I've been scarcely gaining stories since then..."

"Well damn..." was all Luke could say at Jasper's story.

"Well, it is getting late now" Nick said staring at the sky "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow folks, so I don't know about you. But I'm gonna sleep..."

"Same" Stephanie replied with a yawn.

"Life stories can continue tomorrow night" Molly added "Hell let's hope we don't run out of things to talk about. Or else I'll probably die of boredom".

"I don't think that will be a problem" Melanie said "After all that crazy shit we just escaped and who knows..." she took a wary glance around at this point "...What's going to happen out here as well".

"Hopefully no more death" Maria dreamily wished once again.

"I'll take guard!" Clementine called out before anyone else could.

"Erm, you sure kid?" James asked.

"Believe me" Luke said to him with a smile "You don't know Clem at all, she's looked after all of us, better than anyone else could".

"If you insist" was all James had to say, casting a doubtful glance at Clementine never the less.

* * *

Luke had barely put his head down, when someone hissed over to him "Luke!"

He looked up, Clementine was looking down at him.

"So you wanted to stay on guard to talk to me, while everyone else was asleep?" Luke concluded instantly, looking around he could see the dying embers of the campfire, as the slumbering group around him.

Clementine nodded.

"It's about a dream I had Luke" Clementine said "It was unlike the others".

Luke sat up, curiosity plastered over his face now.

"Tell me about it, Clem" he ordered.

"Make that double" Molly added, also sitting up rather suddenly from where she feigning sleep from next to Luke, causing both Luke and Clementine to almost jump up in alarm.

"I witnessed my death in Clem's first failed timeline" Molly announced "and let me tell you. I am pretty badass in it."

"and you Clem?" Luke inquired.

"I don't know" Clementine said, it's better that I just explain it..."

* * *

It took just under 20 minutes for both Clementine and Molly to detail their visions to Luke, while Molly's made some sense, no one could figure out the meaning behind Clementine's dream. Other than the fact that she was married to Luis, a girl called Jamie was married to Terri's brother Brandon and they were supposedly in a Wellington that had been fully developed.

"That might have just been a dream Clem..." Luke began.

"No. I know it was a vision" Clementine insisted "That future was horrible Luke, I mean being married to Luis and having kids with him..."

"Other than that horrific event, I think you had pretty good" Molly added "In mine, I see you dead, that damn stranger dead and me and this Jane woman end up killing each other".

"Why was the stranger there though?" Luke asked "He mentioned he came back right after he saw Clementine dead... but he must have died then without realising it! But Jane in that timeline shot him from behind. So he died and came back and maybe the same happened to him after he killed me and Clem" Luke began.

"Look this Jane woman" Molly began "I hear her muttering something before she dies and suddenly her sister appears in Clem's future vision. Something about her is defiantly pulling this puzzle all together".

"But she died back in Howe's" Clementine muttered.

"Maybe she isn't dead!" Luke piped up hopefully, his eyes brightening "Maybe she got a second chance too! She killed the stranger the first time round and then did it again the second time, after he killed me and Clem and maybe Clem the future you saw was the future Jane's world!".

"You just mentioned the problem in that theory" Molly said "Clem's dead in that timeline, so how can she see that future with Jamie, if she's dead?"

Luke's face fell.

"You mentioned she looked a little like me..." Luke said.

"Yeah" Clementine said "Maybe in some other timeline you and Jane hooked up and had a kid Luke. It was a girl and you called her Jamie after Jane's late sister..."

"It makes sense" Molly added.

"But every timeline we know. Clem dies" Luke said "She can't have possibly have been there to see Jamie, so... how does that work?"

Neither Molly nor Clementine could offer an answer.

"Luke, the only person we know whose still alive in your original timeline was Stephanie" Clementine said "Maybe if she has a vision about what happened, it might help shred more light on the mystery..."

"She could have seen Jane" Luke theorised "Maybe Jane is like that stranger Clem, she keeps on coming back. She returned in my original timeline and maybe she's come back again..."

"That would mean the stranger is back too" Clementine shuddered remembering her earlier paranoia.

"But Jane would be back too..." Luke mused.

"You seem awfully happy about that" Molly snapped.

"Well of course I am Molly!" Luke announced merrily "I mean, I love... I mean loved her!"

"Well I thought the deal was, you had those feelings towards me know. But y'know..." Molly said bitterly.

"Oh no, I didn't mean..." Luke began.

"What, wait!?" Clementine exclaimed gazing at Luke to Molly what she had just heard was still washing over her.

"You didn't hear anything Clem!" Luke told her crossly, however that didn't stop his reddening face as he finally let out a sigh and said "Look, it's been a long day you two. We'll call the group together in the morning and discuss this further..."

"Doubt they'll have any answers though" Molly added.

"Oh don't know, it'll be a topic of conversation though to keep you from dying of boredom" came a new voice.

Clementine and Luke groaned in unison as Luis appeared from behind a tree, followed shortly by Maria.

"How much...?" Luke began.

"All of it" Luis replied "See Mum, I told you it was all true"

"I thought you were joking Luis" Maria muttered "But these visions you mentioned earlier, it really is about time travel? and future visions? Luke, is this all true?"

Luke sighed.

"It's complicated" Luke said.

"Like the status of you and Molly's relationship right now, I gather" Luis said, with a devilish smile lighting his face.

"These next few days, are going to be blast" Luis mused, before his single eye found Clementine.

"These next few days, are going to be hell" she moaned.

"Oh I don't know, just because I now have enough ammunition for weeks..." he smiled there and let his mind wander, as Clementine was already preparing for how she was going to counteract Luis and his marriage jokes.

Suffice to say, the next few days were going to be far from quiet.


	33. The Beginning Of The End

**A/N: Thanks for your thoughts and opinions guys, sorry get lazy once again and will be writing a short author's note and a short chapter. Anyway I hope you enjoy and will try and get my arse in gear for the next chapter, I'm suffering some writer's block at the moment which I'm trying to overcome by focusing on a new fic. If any of you play the Game Overwatch, you may like my new fic which focuses on the characters within it, hopefully I'll be able to get through this fic without cancelling it, as writing it helps with my writer's block when writing this story, as it gets me back into the feel of writing.**

**Anyway, rambling aside, here's another short, but hopefully good chapter, which nudges the plot along just a little but sets the course for Episode 4 of this fic, enjoy!**

* * *

The next two weeks, were certainly quite eventful for the worn down survivors from Wellington.

On the morning after Clementine and Molly had explained to Luke about the dreams they had, Luke gathered the rest of the group (Luis and Maria included, as they were now in on this big secret) and disguised this meeting as a trip to try and hunt for food (which was partially true) while everyone else back at camp, got to work on the defences of the place.

"Why do we need defences though!?" Aidan snapped "With the airborne strain about, I don't think we have to worry about bandits anymore!"

Ethan felt his mouth go dry in those moments, as a heavy silence lingered over the group.

"Because of the wildlife, idiot" Robert snapped, speaking for the first time that morning as he rubbed his heavy eyes and poked a stick at the smouldering campfire, gazing as the ashes that reminded him so vividly of the community they had just left, he continued to speak.

"Wolves and bears and fuck knows what else will be in these woods around now" he said "So we need to make sure nothing comes creeping up on us. Especially since their so attracted to scent of blood..."

Aidan learnt to be quiet after that.

A grumbling Robert set Luke's group off with a wave of his hand, when they were at enough of a distance from the camp, Luke began to explain everything in which (as Molly predicted) no one had an answer for. Many of them (Clementine noticed) we're looking at her, as if she had the answer to all of this. Eventually she had to snap at Nick (who was practically gawking at her by this point) "What? What is it?"

"Well, are you sure you don't know anything about this?" Nick asked "I mean... don't get me wrong. But you repressed your memory of killing that cult leader".

Clementine groaned and rolled her eyes.

"If I knew something, I would have said something by now!" Clementine protested "I'm just as confused as all you guys"

"But we know this... vision happens in Wellington, right?" Stephanie asked.

"I'm pretty sure of it" Clementine muttered "I mean Jamie said we're in Wellington, but..."

"You said they had skyscrapers and all that?"

"Yeah, like a great big city"

"That doesn't add up" Molly said "We scouted for miles and miles outside of Wellington and remember discussing with Gertrude a while back, that we had no where near enough supplies to rebuild a city. Especially with the materials those skyscrapers seemed to be made of in your vision. You said they looked steel like and had glass in the windows and were several stories high..."

"It has to be Wellington" Clementine persisted "Jamie called it Wellington! Jane would have wanted to get to Wellington, it all makes sense!"

"But there's no way a city could have..." Stephanie began.

"It's in the future! Maybe 20 or so years!" Clementine argued back, "We must have grown without the cult being there! Expanded our reach, developed technology to rebuild cities. After all, we built a fifty meter wall and developed a cure for the virus in Wellington!".

"Yeah and how useful was all that in end?" Eddie piped up, the first words he had spoken ever since Rebecca and AJ had died, he was still clutching the photograph of them in his palm and had been lingering at the back of the group, remaining sullen for the large majority of the morning. Only now he had chosen to spoke up and everyone in the clearing listening to Clementine's argument went quiet. Not really sure how to handle Eddie or what to say to him after the massive losses he had to endure.

After some throat gulping, Clementine found her voice once again.

"But twenty years on Eddie!" she nagged of him "Twenty years! By then stuff must have..."

"We don't know for sure if it was exactly twenty years" Eddie snarled.

"Well, near enough then" Clementine protested feebly.

"Near enough, doesn't give us any answers, or fucking anything" Eddie snapped, before he turned to Luke and muttered "I'm gonna go hunt shit down, pass me a knife".

"I'm not sure..." Luke began.

"Now, dude!" Eddie exclaimed, his eyes seemingly bulging out of his head as Luke reluctantly passed over a hunting knife to Eddie. The bearded, once comedic relief of the group clenched the thing in his fingers.

"Eddie" Luke began "If you need a moment to talk..."

"I don't need to talk" Eddie growled "I'll only feel better when I start killing things"

With that grim statement out of his system, the now edgier Eddie proceeded on out of the clearing, prepared to hunt whatever animal he could find with a knife in his fingers. Luke knew Eddie wasn't a fantastic hunter and probably wouldn't catch a thing, but he respected the fact that the guy needed some space and allowed him to have his solitude if it helped him in any way.

"Do you think he'll start silting his wrists with that knife" Luis eventually said.

"Luis!" his mother snapped harshly "That is not a laughing matter!"

"Man, that isn't something to joke about" Nick added. "Coming from someone who used to do that himself".

"What, really?" Luis asked, before he realised how insensitive his "joke" had been "Look, sorry. Really I am. But I just trying to lighten things up" he explained.

"I suppose we could use some good news" Molly added.

There was another sombre silence from the group at this point, but it was Maria who broke it.

"Maybe" she theorised "Maybe these second chances are God's way of showing us to path to eternal life..."

"Oh boy here we go..." Luis muttered under his breath, as his mother continued to preach away.

"Maybe we all died when the walkers first attacked" she mused "Maybe we all have our own alternative, second chance universe where we have too overcome our obstacles and trials and by showing ourselves as good people. These visions are the Lord himself making us aware, that there is something higher going on and we'll soon all come into his kingdom..."

"Well the last part I can agree with" Molly cut across her.

"I also want to point out something else" Luis said "If our group somehow gets tangled up in your group's time travelling shit. Then Brandon has to be about mid to late 30's maybe 40's, in this vision and he is married to Jamie. Who you theorised was born when Brandon was 18... so there would be quite the age gap between them."

"What, has that got to do with anything?" Clementine finally asked.

"Just... pointing it out. That's all" Luis said.

"Well like our many discussions concerning this topic, this is going nowhere and leading us to nothing good" Molly concluded.

"Agreed" Nick wearily agreed.

"Keep me informed anyway" Luke announced "I know this is important you guys, I feel like it needs discussing".

* * *

The group returned with a few squirrels, which were being prepared for cooking on the campfire, when Eddie returned.

"Eddie, thank God" Luke called out "We were getting worried that..."

He got no further, because it took one good look at Eddie for the words to die in his throat and for the stench of rotting flesh to hit him square in the nostrils, despite the young man being long adjusted the rancid stench of rotting things, it still made his eyes water and bile rise in this throat.

"Jesus..." Melanie moaned, covering her nose as she too, gazed at Eddie.

He was holding what appeared to be a torn up squirrel by it's innards up, while the blood drenched, yet gleaming knife lay in his shaking hand, his eyes were wide and vacant and every inch of his clothes and hair were covered in a shocking splash of red, crimson blood and chunks of flesh lay ingrained in the creases of his clothes and strands of his wild black hairs. Despite his usually slobby state, Luke had never seen his hair this out of control, or stood up on end.

"I think I got food" was all Eddie could say.

"Have you been killing walkers, boy?" Robert snapped.

"I might have come across a few" Eddie muttered, not looking at Robert but at a point in the sky.

"Whatever you did" Robert thought to himself "I hope it helped, cause I sure feel like doing the same sometimes".

* * *

That night consisted of less discussion around the campfire as finding food, scrubbing down Eddie and recent losses still lingered over the remaining group like a stale odour that would not leave, in short, they were tired, depressed and worried for their future. Whatever Eddie had managed to scrap from the squirrel's and the walkers was an uneatable mess and what Luke's group had tried to catch was a meagre few Squirrel's and one small robin, in which Stephanie had crafted a bow and arrow and (with a hell of a lot of luck on her part) managed to shoot down the small bird with a make-shift arrow. Of course Luke and Clementine helped her along the way, as they pair of them had hunted in the woods previously, back in Wellington's early days when the community was still developing.

"I think I'm getting pretty good at this!" Stephanie beamed, holding up the small robin, by it's limp leg.

Luke smiled back at her, he was now a lot less steady with his hand on a bow and arrow, owing to his lack of a leg. He felt like he was constantly hopping and wanted to stop already, knowing his injury was permanent however was something he had to adjust too. Despite his previous injuries he hadn't ever lost a limb and now that he had, he had to wonder what other hells the world could throw at him. Molly and Nick also looked on sadly at Stephanie's success, Nick couldn't do much with just his left hand and got easily frustrated when he tried and failed and Molly relying on her hearing only, didn't make her a brilliant hunter all of a sudden.

Clementine realised then, it was only her, Stephanie and Eddie from the original group who had yet to experience a loss of limb or permanent injury, despite the torrent of physical pain and mental torture this world chucked at them, it struck Clementine then and there how worn down everyone looked and how brutal this world really was. She had to ask herself for the utmost time, was it worth it? Was it really worth dragging these people through this hell couldn't she have left them to die like they originally would have done? Their deaths weren't pleasant the first time around, but it would have been over faster and maybe Clementine would have been with Lee again...

No. She couldn't think like that. Sarah had let her know her second chance had meant something and she wasn't going to give up now. She had lived, her friends had lived and they were going to keep on living.

Clementine held onto that thought through that depressing dinner that night, as there was so little food it had to spread out thinly.

"I'm starving" Aidan snapped, after he finished his rations.

"Don't start" Robert snarled back at him "We're only staying here because of you and a few others to heal up".

"Then where are we going?" Aidan counter-argued.

There was a pause, the chat they had all been waiting for was now surfacing.

"I say we go south" Robert said at last, "The airborne strain is everywhere. There won't be any bandits down south and maybe if we head on further down south we can get to the coast. Find a boat and hole up on a walker free island somewhere".

"That sounds good" Luke agreed.

"But we don't know what obstacles are in the way!" Jessica protested "Are we forgetting? We're in Michigan! Wellington isn't far from the lakes and there are islands there, I say we head that way and..."

"It's winter and it's freezing" Robert counter argued "You think this is bad sweetheart, this isn't even the worst of it. We're in what? December? January...?"

"It's actually January 1st today" Melanie said, as everyone turned to her "I kept in touch with the dates, well... happy new year guys!"

"It's 2010 now" Jason said "Brilliant, got into the first decade of the 21st century then, that's going to look slightly more impressive on my gravestone".

"January 1st 2010" Miss King muttered, "This outbreak started in July 2003, it's been 6 and a half years now. Coming up to 7. 7 years down the line and we could be all that's left..."

Clementine found this rather alarming as well, how had it been 6 and a half years since she first met Lee? Was he really that far into the past now? She remembered the 8 year old she was and the first group she was ever with, back then she had Lee, Duck, Carley, Ben, Lilly, Larry, Kenny, Katjaa, Mark... she felt a dull ache in her stomach as she missed that very old group of her's more than ever. Then there was Christa, Omid, Chuck, those cancer survivors, Molly... Clementine looked over at the blonde woman, the last living link she had too such an important yet vital part of her life. After Savannah and after Christa and Omid, there was this new group in the cabin, Howe's, the ski lodge, all of it was flying by like ancient history. Then the journey to Wellington, Marisol's group, the cult, Wellington... now that was all in the past too. Sarah, Rebecca, AJ, Gertrude, Edward, Scott, Brandon, Wilbert, Tom, Tim, Ana, Oscar, Bonnie, Kenny, Mike, Christa, Kelly, (even Vince), Gill, Patricia, Randy... so many names had come and gone and now here she was. She didn't know why but she was really was in awe of how far she had come now.

"...when it gets to February..." Robert was saying, as Clementine pulled herself back to present day "...hell will freeze over. We don't want to be here for that. We need to move south before we really do start freezing".

"There might be supplies down south, for the baby" Nick added.

"Yeah, your liability" Aidan commented nastily.

"Those supplies could help all of us!" Maria interjected to avoid an argument.

"Can I just add?" Molly asked, as everyone went silent and listened to what she had to say "That I scavenged in Savannah for just over a year and there was bat shit there, including boats. Everyone took a boat when this shit started, I doubt they'll be any left for us and even if their are, how are going to squeeze 20 odd people onto it?"

Molly had made a fairly valid point here.

"Cruise ship?" Jason suggested.

"We need like a whole crew for that" Robert snapped "and I don't suppose any of you know how to operate a boat of that size".

"Well... I was a Marine..." James began nervously "But that was a while ago and well... it explains how I got onto the police force at Wellington..."

"We're not interested in your life story, thank you very much" Robert huffed "Now if anyone has a suggestion..."

"I could pilot a plane though" James piped up.

"I flew a few in my time too" Frank added "Me and James befriended each other through our love of planes, we always said it was a shame President Schulz never got round to making planes again or setting up a..."

"So, we could fly to an island!" Miss King shouted with enthusiasm.

"If something happens to you two though, we're fucked" was all Jason said.

"and if they're aren't any boats. Who the fuck would leave a plane lying around?" Molly inquired "Most of them must have hightailed it out, as soon as possible".

"Can you co-pilot the big planes, or the smaller one's?" Robert asked.

"Mostly the smaller one's" Frank said "But we can squeeze..." he did a headcount there "19 people on board easily".

"Then we'd need a landing strip on some random island out in the Florida Keys somewhere" Aidan reminded them.

"You'd be surprised how many runaway's will still be intact and are on islands like that in the first place" Frank reassured him.

"If the airborne strain is only a few meters in radius" Terri added, joining the brewing conversation "Then for all we know the islands could be full, of uninfected hostile people. They could be tribe-like by now".

"That's something to take into consideration" Robert said "Look here people, we've got nowhere to go and our island plan seems like the best bet, now Wellington's gone".

"I want to suggest somewhere else!" Clementine spoke up, as many surprised eyes found her form.

"Hollywood!" Luis shouted on her behalf, as Clementine rolled her eyes, he merely smiled and said "You know Clem, it's where I always wanted my honeymoon..."

Clementine was currently thinking about where to hit him and when, as she sat there silently gnashing at her teeth.

"Hollywood's fucked dude" Jasper reminded him.

"It always has been" Luke joked.

"Anyway, where do you want to go then?" Jessica asked of Clementine.

"Well, me and my group. We... we have... well had a base in Tennessee we had to abandon..."

"Howe's! Nick screeched.

"Clem" Luke muttered "Howe's... Howe's will be a ruin by now..."

"We don't know if the cult trashed it Luke" Clementine said defiantly "We know the way back there, we know the place. We know it's defences, we don't have to stay there forever."

"Wish I could see it" Molly remarked "Oh well, I'm sure it will smell nice".

"I don't know Clem" Stephanie mumbled "That place, the road back there itself. It's just full of bad memories..."

"But it was our _home!"_ Clementine emphasised "We fought Carver to gain that place, we lived there, if the cult hadn't had shown up we could have stayed there longer! Wellington's gone you guys! The island plan sounds promising, but we still have our reservations about it, so we should head down south. But to a place we know we can defend before we make our next move".

Luke was staring at her now, she returned his gaze.

"You really want to go back, don't you Clem?" he asked.

"I think we both do, don't you?" Clementine responded.

He let out a sigh and then he smiled.

"You got me there Clem" he muttered "Why the hell not, let's head back there before we decide our next move".

"I suppose we'll be sheltered from the wildlife there" came an unexpected grumble from Eddie, this positive remark from him from was shocking as it was a relief for Luke and the other members of his group. Clementine guessed he was happy to Wellington behind him and head back to a place where he once and had friends surrounding him, it may have been a ghost of a memory for Eddie but if it was any small comfort to be away from Wellington once and for all then Clementine was happy to give that too him.

"I guess, if it seems like what's best" Nick mumbled rather uncertainly.

"We could rebuild..." Stephanie muttered to herself.

"I want to check your old dive out" Luis cut in "See how you scurvy dogs lived before I came onto the scene".

"When will this pirate thing end?" Nick practically begged of Luis.

"When you meet the end of the plank" Luis replied.

"Does anybody else, have anywhere else they used to call home or have as a shelter?" Maria inquired of the group at large.

There was a resounding silence.

"Wellington was our home" Melanie said "I don't speak for everyone but..."

"No. No. You're right there" Aidan said "All of us come from Wellington and it would be seem simply great, to tag along with Luke's group. Like we always seem to do..."

"What are you getting at now?" Robert snapped.

"Oh nothing" Aidan said "Just that you know... Luke's group over there and Tom's old group. They get all the personal possessions delivered to them. Hey, they get to keep not one, but two serial killers! Because they want too! and now they want to go too their old place!"

"You think I'm favouring them!?" Robert demanded.

"Of course you are!" Aidan now practically roared.

"It's true Robert" Jessica added.

"Well... I..." Melanie was unable to say another word, as she looked down at her shoes.

Jasper was silent.

"Guess we just don't like being told what to do" Frank mumbled "It's not a bad thing Robert, it's just... we just don't feel like we get a say in anything".

"None of you have suggested any logical plan!" Robert snarled at them "You know, I am favouring them at the moment, because they have shelter! They have a plan! The bloody Wellington Wolf has done more for me than you people have! I lead your ass out of Wellington and this is the thanks I get!".

"You sound like Tom" James snapped.

"Take that back"

"No"

"Take it back, boy!" Robert was beginning to lose his temper.

"I said no!" James snapped, standing up and squaring up to Robert, as everyone around the small campfire tensed up, preparing themselves for what was going to happen next.

"Don't... don't fight! Miss King said meekly.

"What are you going to do Robert?" James demanded of him "Kill me too for rebelling? Get that Wol... well Ethan to kill me!? Is that the type of man you're going to become? Like the President? Robert, we are thankful you got us here, but we're worried about the man you're becoming".

"Me!?" Robert snapped "I'm fine!"

"You're not" James said "You need to step down as leader. For a while at least, look I think we all agree about the plan to get back to Luke's old shelter, but on the way there. Who knows what could happen, if you keep on leading you're going to pile too much pressure onto your shoulders and..."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" Robert exploded, aiming a sudden punch for James' face, he didn't see it coming and ended up on the ground with a blue bruise now covering his cheek. Spitting out a bloody tooth, he looked up at his raging leader.

"YOU JUST WANT TO TAKE OVER!" Robert roared "DISPOSE OF ME AND THEN TAKE OVER AND THEN... AND THEN...!"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE LEADER!" James spat back "I WANT YOU TO STEP BACK, AT LEAST FOR A WHILE, MAN YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN AND LOOK BACK ON WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU NEED THE PRESSURE OF YOUR SHOULDERS! THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, BELIEVE ME!"

"FUCK YOU!" Robert snapped, aiming a kick at James, but before Frank could run in too stop the onslaught, someone else had chosen to speak up.

"Robert, step down" Luke said.

Robert turned to face him.

"It's happened to every leader I'm come across" Luke mumbled "Vince, Carver, The President. It almost happened to me as well, I know what position you're in Robert. It feels like we're all your enemies, you've done so much for us but it feels like we're ungrateful to you. Feels like we want you to step down so we can kill you and take the position of leader. Get that thought out of your head, it's nothing like that, man. Whatever pride you have, you need to swallow it and step down, I can't make you. No one can. But if you don't, you will become what you fought against. If you step back and let other people help, you'll be surprised at how quickly things will get better".

Luke finished his speech, neither him nor Robert broke eye contact for a full minute.

"Fine!" Robert finally snapped "Take it! Just fucking take it...!" and with that he stormed off into the undergrowth like a toddler about to have a loud tantrum, Clementine briefly saw Robert's eyes were watering before he vanished from view and knew it would be best if the group just let him be, for as long as he needed to recover.

"So... who do actually want to be leader?" Jason finally asked, in the wake of Robert's absence.

James rose from the ground and rubbed his cheek, wincing in pain he turned to face Luke.

"Luke of course" he answered.

"Me!?" Luke said.

"Please, who else would it be?" Jessica muttered, as if it were obvious.

"You know where we're going" Jasper mumbled "You just spoke to Robert like a true leader, I know you might hate it and it brings you a lot of pressure, but if you lead your group to Wellington, you can lead them and us back to that... Howe's place".

"Luke don't forget you arranged that plan to save Sarah, while destroying the cult" Clementine encouraged him "You can do this. At least until we get to Howe's".

Luke inhaled deeply, clenching his eyes shut before he snapped them open again with a new fire present within them.

"Okay, I'll do it" Luke confirmed "Let's get back to Howe's!"

"YES!" Clementine exclaimed in joy, knowing she had to go back to Howe's and knowing there was something there for her, some sort of answer to this second chance mystery and now they really were on this final journey for the truth.

"We'll get going tomorrow" Aidan said.

"Tomorrow?" Luke inquired, rather bewildered, "Look Aidan, your ribs are..."

"You actually fell for that?" Aidan said, rising on his two feet and poking his ribs, before he smiled at Luke.

"But Maria, you said..." Luke gawked, looking from Maria, back to Aidan and that's when the truth hit him like a brick.

"This was a set up!" Luke exclaimed.

"A damn good one I think" Aidan said, as he approached Jessica "Jess here thought of the whole thing, wouldn't have thought someone who looked like the dumb blonde of the group, could conjure up something that fast after Wellington fell".

"I was one of Schulz's sluts as well" Jessica informed them all "I know the type of man he was, what leadership did to him. I didn't want that happening to Robert, so we needed an excuse to stop him and... well..." she paused there.

"Who was actually in on this!?" Luke demanded to know.

James and Frank raised their hands, as did Jessica and Aidan and then finally Maria.

"Maria!?" JJ squeaked.

"Wow Mum, get you rebelling against the leader!" Luis muttered with a (I have the coolest mum in the world) tone.

"So you agreed to their plan" Ethan said "So you could give a false statement on Aidan's well-being, due to your medical knowledge. Give everyone an excuse to stop and then transfer leadership from Robert to Luke, or anyone else so this group can continue to remain stable".

"I figured I'd try these complex plans" Jessica mused "and for someone who is shit at it, it worked surprisingly well for me".

"Indeed" Maria agreed "I didn't like this backstabbing and plotting. But I have lost faith in so many people and this scheme... it was what was best for Robert. I don't want another Tom".

"I think it's brilliant!" Luis mused, beaming at his mother in pride "Fight fire with fire, is all I can say!"

"Thank you Luis" Maria said, a smile of her own forming on her face as her son was finally... learning to smile at her rather than scowl. It seemed like he really was starting to mature and become a wiser and more grateful young man to previous sulky and immature teenager he once was.

"Still, some of us did actually suffer physical injuries!" Stephanie reminded them, referencing her broken leg, which ached a lot less now. But was still painful to walk on.

"You can be carried, don't worry" Maria told her, looking over at Ethan. Although both Nick and Stephanie were uncomfortable of the prospect of Stephanie riding on the back of the Wellington Wolf, it would help them move on from this clearing outside of Wellington. Where the howls of the wolves were alarmingly closer to as where they were the previous night. With only one gun between them, a skirmish with some wild wolves that had quickly caught their scent was something they all wanted to avoid.

"I guess it was what was best for Robert" Luke finally agreed, before he seated himself once again. But as for now, he was their leader, he was the one who was getting them back to Howe's.

The next two weeks, were certainly going to be quite eventful for the worn down survivors from Wellington.


	34. Revelations

**A/N: Okay keeping it short, sorry for the long ass wait, work's gotten very busy, but thank you Chameishida's review and your opinion on Olivia as I'll work on that in upcoming chapters and thanks everyone else for all of your reviews as well they are all appreciated.**

**Now I'm dropping some bombshell's this chapter, I hope you guys like and enjoy this, so without further ado onto Ch34!**

* * *

_"Family's important Clem, ain't many people you can trust"_

_Luke remembered walking alongside Clementine as he said that in those woods which now seemed like a million years ago, where most of the group behind him (minus Nick) were now deceased. Clementine was asking about Rebecca and her deal with Carver, how little she knew then about everything that would occur afterwards, how little she knew about Rebecca._

_How little she still knew about __**him.**_

_Luke was disconnected as he muttered these words at the girl he was slowly starting to like, in those early days he would have never thought he and Clementine would become as close as they did and right then and there it was so easy to distance himself from her. So easy to distance himself from the group, keep his secrets firmly in his chest and walk onwards as he fled from the truth that was consistently pursuing him. _

_It was happening more and more often now, since they had started walking (away from Wellington) Luke would dream like this. Of him and Clem walking towards that rusty old bridge on their way towards the lodge, it was so similar both then and now they were leaving a home they had made. But what Luke had tried to keep for secret for so long was unravelling, his dreams distorted and Clementine's face would warp into Kenny's and the nightmarish hallucination he had experienced in the burning field after the loss of his leg would plague him once again._

_"WHAT TO DO YOU WANT!?" he found himself bellowing up to the angelic form of Jane, as she merely leered back down at him. He hated this torture, this torture of being hated by a woman he once loved. _

_"For you to tell the truth" Jane replied coldly._

_Jane's appearances and presence in people's visions... it was all leading up to something. The dots were connecting faster than Luke wanted to admit. The truth was there, hidden in the recesses of his brain, repressed and forgotten for so long but Clementine had repressed her memory of killing the stranger and through her second chance she realised her error in thinking and had corrected the mistake she had made. This second chance both he and Clementine had... it had some sort of purpose in unlocking repressed memories and Luke could be as stubborn as he wanted too. But... but the pressure was too great on his shoulders, he was leader again and he was going to break for real if he didn't find a way to unload the pressure and maybe screaming or finally acknowledging the shocking truth. He was clutching his family locket tighter in his hands and it began to vanish._

_"NO!" Luke screamed up at Jane._

_"It's time to face the truth Luke" was all she said "None of it's real. None of it"_

_"NO!" Luke echoed, his voice dying as the family locket in his fingers turned to dust and the comfort Luke relied on, the smell of Jane and his family... it was gone. Reality hit him like a brick wall as he screamed out in the inferno..._

* * *

"AH!"

Luke shot up awake in his sleeping bag and looked around, his heart was racing and he was covered in sweat and he was surprised to see that his shout had failed to wake any of his slumbering group. Every single one of them had been exhausted from days and days of trekking through the endless forest and now fourteen days after Luke had become leader they were... here. Still in the middle of nowhere, although judging by the maps and few landmarks they had passed, they had just crossed the border into Ohio which meant they still had to get through this entire state and Kentucky before they arrived in Tennessee, where (a possible ruin) would be awaiting them. They would soon come across landmarks of their last trek through the madness, although last time they had taken the route through North Carolina and Virginia so Luke hoped the more straightforward route by cutting through Ohio and Tennessee would get them there faster. They were less roads this route, but without any form of transport, there was simply a long and straight road ahead.

After the madness and their impossible, mind numbing escape from Wellington and the short burst of drama with Robert afterwards, the day the group started moving a sudden hush seemed to come over everybody. There was no doubt everyone was still pondering on Wellington and everything they had lost, but for the first week Luke barely had to lift a finger to keep anybody in line. Everyone seemed rather content in the fact they had a goal, they hunted, discussed directions, decided who was on guard for the night and would generally learn a little more about each other's lives in Wellington and before the apocalypse, before it would be lights out and the group (with their legs aching and chests soar) would happily give themselves as many hours as possible to rest their aching muscles before another day of dull trekking would begin.

After a week passed, the mindless, distant behaviour of the group finally seemed to die off. Wellington was gone and after that milestone of 7 days it seemed to hit everyone that they were moving on and hopes and motivations begin to soar once again. But with that came tension and that general feeling of unease when people spent too long cooped up together. When Jason was causally discussing something with Miss King about redheads not being very attractive, Eddie had nearly punched him, resulting in Luke telling Eddie to get some breathing space.

"It's... it's just for the best" Luke nervously told him. Eddie had been as quiet as everyone during that week and no one really knew what to say to him Of course Clementine and Stephanie became the most vocal supporters in trying to get him to join in with group activities. Which he would bluntly decline, Luke himself felt like he was walking on eggshells around Eddie and hoped he didn't explode right in front of him.

Eddie sighed.

"I could use some" he snarled, he took several angry steps forward before he stopped, he seemed to be looking at robin in the tree's as it sang out peacefully before he reverted his gaze back to Luke.

"Luke..." Eddie began his voice a lot calmer than it had been beforehand, his eyes wide. The angry man in front of Luke was gone in an instance, he suddenly looked rather upset.

Luke clenched his lips together unsure of what to say and Eddie seemed like he was in the same boat, the bearded man sighed as Luke simply nodded his head at him and Eddie did the same. Before he went out to calm himself down, Luke staring after him, maybe it was gender stereotypical thing that men like himself and Eddie weren't the best in showing (or in Luke's case) sharing how they truly felt. But Luke hoped that Eddie having time to himself would help him.

Eddie seemed content for the rest of the second week, he wasn't his jolly self again but he didn't emit the same sulky aura that he did. He seemed more engaged in what was occurring around him. Robert was still distant and snappy and didn't really gain any love from many members of the group, Luke hoped this was merely the cool-down period from him being replaced as leader but this period did seem to be dragging by now. Aidan, Jason, Nick and Luis (with their abrasive personalities and their need to be alpha male) soon started to grate on everyone. Nick wasn't the worst as he had grown up and matured quite a lot, however the other three wouldn't drop their stubbornness. Frank was like a father that couldn't control them, Jessica the eye candy Jason and Aidan were now "competing for" which led to Jessica snapping back she wasn't a piece of meat and Luke had to calm her down afterwards and give one of his "You are useful to the group Jessica, you're not just eye candy here..." speech, which made her grow on Luke quite a lot. Melanie seemed to be overcoming her earlier grief and turned out to be quite a second medic in Maria's shadow, giving her the gentle, maternal aura. James and Jasper were mostly quiet, James being a straight man and Jasper just being himself, while what Terri and Wellington Wolf seemed to be growing on the group by the day due their deadpan attitudes and well worded threats to become "Wolf killers" in light of the wolves howls they heard at night, never the less they were the muscle of the group and could be counted upon to hunt as many animals as they could get their hands on. JJ tried to assist but wasn't very good, JJ himself had been acting... rather strange since Wellington. He would mutter inaudible things under his breath, flinch at the sight of anyone and any random time and start tapping his foot without much control and develop a nervous twitch in his eye.

So although Luke could handle them at the moment, it was his own group he was most worried for.

Eddie... was coping. Stephanie seemed okay, she was growing on the Wolf seeing as he didn't drop her when he had to carry her due to her broken leg. The wound itself (with Maria and Melanie helping making a cast for it and using a branch to help straighten the broken bones in her leg) seemed to be healing. Although Luke was aware of her pregnancy that would become an issue in the upcoming months. Nick hated the Wolf and the arrangement at first but when his numerous verbal assaults and doubts were met with Ethan's silence or calm answers. His attitude towards the blonde haired agent slowly seemed to grow warmer and Luke would find Nick in his company more often as Nick was slowly starting to trust Stephanie in the Wolf's company. Molly was her snarky self, although she had maintained a very frosty silence on the status of herself and Luke's relationship since that night Clementine overheard them. She still spoke to Luke and slept near to him, but there was no more physical contact or kisses, or any sign of affection. Luke wondered if he'd blown his chance and now Molly just saw him as a friend, it was impossible to discuss the status of the relationship in those two weeks as Luke had all eyes on him. Luke would have to find the time to talk to her and set this straight and that led to Clementine. Although Luke could see she was still grieving for Rebecca it was mostly a puzzle to know what she was thinking in present day as she remained herself, although Luke was worried about her future and her reaction if Howe's was now just a ruin that held no answers for her.

That night Luke awoke, he realised Miss King was on guard and she had remained her bumbling self since Wellington. As much as Luis had remained himself, an earlier argument between him and Clementine had probably exhausted the group. Luis had been attempting to "seduce" Clementine when he went to wash in nearby stream by taking off his shirt and approaching her stating how good it was they were to be married in the future. Luis didn't even get to remove his shirt before Clementine picked up a stone and threw it at his head and claimed he was being an idiot. Luis then dramatised the whole thing and stated how the stone could have killed him and wanted Clementine sent down for domestic abuse, while Clementine argued she was trying to fix his already damaged brain. It was a silly, stupid argument that made Luke smile simply thinking back on it, but with how seriously they spoke and for how long it dragged on, anyone would have thought they really were arguing over a life or death situation.

Using the memory of the argument, Luke smiled to himself and settled down trying to forget his earlier dream...

"So. Vision?"

Luke looked down Molly was curled up next to him and her eyes were wide open.

"Nightmare" he replied.

"Anyone awake here?" she asked looking around at the sleeping group, curled in their own bags and trying to fight off the January shivers, as the winter seemed to be following them south.

"I don't think so" Luke said, keeping his voice down.

"TITS!" Molly exclaimed suddenly making Luke jump and nobody stirred (other than Nick who rolled over in his sleeping bag).

"Yep, they're flat out" Molly confirmed.

"Yeah... guess they are" was all Luke could think of saying, he and Molly were finally alone with no one else to listen in on them and that's exactly what Molly seemed to be thinking at that time.

"Well, we're alone" Molly observed "You think I know I've wanted to talk to you for a while, shall we do it in the trees over there?"

"Do it!?" Luke muttered, his face going red as Molly face-palmed herself.

"Slow down there hotshot" Molly told him "I meant talk, no whatever your dirty mind is conjuring up".

"Sorry" Luke mumbled "Just um... well... just thought..."

"Well stop thinking it and follow me" Molly commanded as she slowly rose up in her bag and stretched her arms "and don't pull anything on me Luke, I don't want you to traumatise Clem, or give Luis a demonstration on how it's done"

"Yeah, sure... whatever" Luke muttered not picking up on Molly's humour in those moments as he proceeded to follow her into the treeline, with the forest dead silent around her she inhaled her breath and prepared to speak...

* * *

"Okay, empty for sure"

Luis had his solitude the grating snores of Jason had kept him awake as he lay there fidgeting and looking up at the pitch black sky, trying hard to think of something that would put him back into a peaceful slumber. But that was near enough impossible when the British man next to him was seemingly coughing his guts out with every snore. Jason wasn't a usual snorer, but tonight of all nights he had suddenly decided to snore just for the sake of annoying Luis, with this in mind the grumpy mexican teenager decided he simply couldn't sleep (and after trying and failing to overhear a conversation Luke and Molly we're having, her shout of "TITS!" however had alarmed him yet he remained in place feigning sleep), the pair of them had gone off (to do what, Luis could only guess) but the coast was clear as Molly's yell of Tits should have sent half of the guys here up in the instant, if Jason and Aiden were the prime example to follow in what defined a "guy".

Luis at first wanting to behave like a "guy" sought to awake Jason by covering his face in stinging nettles, however he knew that would lead to an argument that would wake everyone up and the last thing Luis wanted was trekking another day with a sullen, tired group who would keep shooting him death glares. So (childishly) he wandered over to Clementine and decided he would still have his revenge considering she had hit him with a stone earlier, yet he planned it so that only she would be awoken and no one else. He could deal with Clementine disliking him, he was far too used to it by now.

"Clem... Clem... Clem..." he kept whispering, poking a spot on the forearm where he knew there was a weak point there (apparently she had been bitten by a dog there and a faint scar still remained there and ached from time to time) eventually she grunted in pain and cranked an eye open.

"Want me to tuck you in?" she snapped spotting Luis' face "Or are you afraid the bed bugs may bite?"

"I want you to do something about Jason's failing lungs" Luis snarled, gesturing at the roaring and snoring British man.

"Oh great" Clementine droned "You can't sleep because of that, neither can I right now with the noise his making"

"Revenge, Tah-Dah!" Luis chimed.

Clementine rolled her eyes.

"Want to entertain me and see if you stuff rope in his mouth?"

"I'd rather not"

"Hmm... spook the hell outta Miss King?"

"She on guard?"

"Yep"

"No, it's too cruel"

"Hmm..." Luis hummed trying to think of something "How about a romantic venture into the forest?"

"No, it's too cruel" Clementine yawned "For me"

"Well, we could always listen in what Luke and Molly are doing in the forest"

"Wait, they've gone!?" Clementine muttered sharply suddenly rising in her sleeping bag and she could see Luis wasn't pranking her or anything like that, Luke and Molly's forms were absent from their sleeping bags.

"Yep, getting freaky no doubt" Luis said with a mischievous smile "So... we're not going to sleep anytime soon. Want to entertain ourselves watching whatever they're doing?"

"You're gross"

"But me"

"Yeah you, Mr. I'm so Asexual but really a peeping Tom"

"I'm not planning to get off on anything, they're both ugly enough as it is" Luis muttered "But hell, it would be funny if I just strolled up to them and caught them in the act and the look on their faces..." Luis could envision it now as he laughed to himself "It would be funnier if you were there too..."

"I've seen enough of that too last me a lifetime" Clementine replied to him, remembering the time herself and Sarah had come across Vince and Kelly in the act. She didn't want that process repeated with Luke in Vince's place, then again she was curious about why they had wondered off and although she didn't want to see anything...

"Well... I suppose it can't hurt to hear what they're saying" Clementine eventually admitted.

"Yeah just those moans..."

"Shut up"

"Oh Luke please! Please... Oh My God...!"

"Again, shut up" Clementine said rising to her feet.

"Luke please! Give it too me harder...!"

"Do you have a filter?"

"Oh My God, I can't... Molly I'm going too...!"

Luis then wheezed and then nearly collapsed onto the ground, wheezing heavily as clutched his damaged privates and Clementine (beaming to herself) proceeded to lead the way towards Luke and Molly. She had a more mature head then Luis and knew (whatever he thought) they weren't sneaking off for that kind of thing. It was something Molly probably wanted answers for, but she and Luke had been a team for a long time and whatever he told Molly, she was going to find it out as well.

Whether Luke wanted her too, or not.

* * *

"Well?"

Molly's single word was direct and straight to the point.

"Well what?" Luke muttered blankly, looking at anything but her at this current moment in time.

"This Jane woman" Molly snarled "Unless you're into necrophilia you can't exactly be into her like the way you once were, I mean I know I wasn't around at Howe's but how long did you and Jane actually know each other?"

"Well... 'bout a few weeks" Luke timidly admitted.

"and in those few weeks" Molly snapped "She became the love of your life? Just like that the one you can never get over? Luke, it's been four odd years since then. I know you felt responsible about what happened to her but have you considered anything else?"

"Anything else?" Luke enquired with a raised eyebrow, now leaning on a tree to support his one leg.

"You know, think about all the girls that have been crazy about you" Molly muttered "Take Bonnie for example, you knew her longer, she fancied you for ages and when you finally got together she dies in a horrible way. I hate too say this, but you could have prevented her dying just like Jane. I know it wasn't as straightforward as that, but..."

"But nothing" Luke snarled and Molly could now tell she was getting the responses she wanted, she had to uproot this problem and he was going to lash out at her and that's what she needed.

"and in Wellington!" Molly continued "From what I heard girls wanted you really badly! You could have been like Eddie and got yourself girls! Nick was committed, but you were a free agent and it's only healthy for you to move on that way. But you kept yourself above all that..."

"Because of you!" Luke exclaimed.

"Oh don't tell me that bullshit" Molly snarled "Don't play the whole I saved myself for you angle... you couldn't get over Jane..."

"and what happened to Bonnie!" Luke ranted "I think it put me off relationships for a good long while!"

"But three whole years in Wellington!" Molly exploded.

"The one time I did get a girl for that sort of comfort, it turns into a rape allegation!" Luke informed Molly, as he thought back to Kelly "So I didn't want that again, I didn't want that attachment! Besides you can't preach shit here Molly, you saved yourself for me".

"I never actually fancied you" Molly admitted "In fact I hooked up with a few guys on my scouting missions".

"Wait, what!" Luke imploded, startled at this new news "You sure kept that quiet!"

"No point in telling" Molly replied causally "Besides that's all they were, passing flings. Don't worry they're all dead now, in fact most of them died on the missions anyway..."

"Most of them!?" Luke screeched "How many we're you seeing!?"

"Oh I'm sorry for not being the Virgin Mary here Luke" Molly snapped "Whatever you think of me, I never liked those pigs anyway. Okay, I liked the way they looked, but beyond that they taught me something, that's the type of man I wouldn't want to be with. But then when I was at my lowest you were there for me... everyday and that's when..." she paused there and let a smile spread across her face.

"I realised none of those guys would do that for me" Molly mused "It was you Luke, I really did start to like...love you for everything you did for me. I was afraid of commitment and relationships like you were... like you are. The passing fling was fine for me but actually staying with someone? That's scary and it is scary Luke but I'm going to risk it for you and I'm going to help you like you helped me. Even if I have to pester you till you kill me, I'm going to keep onto you, so what is the deal between you and Jane?"

"There's nothing there" Luke protested "It's over, it ended at Howe's Molly! It's just... she was my first relationship in this mess and everything was perfect and she was perfect and because of me... I killed her. Even when I had my second chance she was the one person I wanted to save but I couldn't".

"Look I know it might have seemed perfect between you and Jane" Molly told him "But you were only in love for a few weeks and the first weeks of a relationship are usually the best. Whatever romanticised image you have of Jane you have to get rid of it. If she had survived Howe's she wouldn't have stayed your supportive, sex happy girlfriend, you would have quarrelled. Look at Nick and Stef, they'll tell you a relationship is hard and not..."

"But it's different!" Luke shouted "She died because of me! I screwed my own chances of having everything I wanted... and all I wanted was the simple things. A wife, kids, a house... that's all"

"Jane wasn't the answer to all of that" Molly muttered "Is that what this is? Is that what you've done Luke? Made Jane this angelic figure in your mind?".

"Who else could I turn too!?" Luke snapped at long last "She's the only one that hasn't let me down! She was perfect!"

"NO ONE IS PERFECT YOU IDIOT!" Molly was now shouting as well "You've been through a lot of shit, but fantasying about Jane helping you out, isn't going to solve everything! Speak to me or Clementine or Nick for crying out loud! We're real, alive and we care about you!"

"Someone always lets me down" Luke muttered darkly and it was now Molly realised that he was clutching Jane's locket tight in his fingers, she couldn't see it of course, but she could smell the faint metallic tang of the thing and she could hear it shaking in his fingers.

"You're clutching that locket again" Molly noted.

"Does it matter" Luke snapped.

"You always tend to do when things get a bit... much" Molly observed.

"It's a comfort to me!" Luke informed her harshly "It still smells of Jane and has my parents photograph in it..."

"Whoa hold on there!" Molly cut Luke short as she sniffed the air again "I might be blind Luke, but I can still smell things and I doubt the taste of metal on my tongue is Jane's scent. Unless of course she was an android which I doubt".

"It-smells-of-her" Luke growled.

"No it doesn't" Molly argued back "and if you want this relationship to work Luke, I'm not going to spend the rest of my time living her in pitch perfect shadow!"

"Maybe I don't want it too work then" Luke informed her darkly "If you're gonna keep bringing up this shit..."

"I'm trying to help!" Molly snarled and with this Luke was silent, as he could feel the truth creeping up on him with a slow and dreaded pace his breathing became sharper and narrower and he wanted to get the hell out of here and use this image he had built up of Jane as his silent comfort. He knew he was being ridiculous and unreasonable about this, but he couldn't stop himself it was like an unhealthy addiction and he was stuck right in the middle of it.

The only sound in the small clearing, was that of the locket shaking in Luke's sweaty fingers.

"It's all fake" Molly said at last "Jane and..." she paused there, a shocked looking spreading across her face.

"They're not even your real parents are they?"

Luke gasped and felt his heart miss a beat.

"Er.. well... I... I..." Luke mumbled, he couldn't formulate a full word, as nobody and absolutely nobody (other than Nick himself) knew about that. That was one of his darkest secrets.

Well, there was killing Nick's dad as well. That day made Luke happy.

"Were they foster parents?" Molly muttered "Were you..."

"I...i don't..." and with this Luke gave a heavy sob as the full weight of his secrets and lies finally fell onto his shoulders as he finally felt himself slide down the tree to the ground. There was no point trying to hide it anymore, Molly had heard him crying so she knew she was onto something and Luke had to finally unleash the heavy load that had built on his chest.

"I just wished we were like any other family" Luke finally muttered "I was an only child, so when my parents fought all the time I... I pretended they didn't. I idolised them, they both loved me but when I got older I kept on wondering why they bothered having me in the first place if all they did was fight when I was around".

He sighed there.

"My Dad went on business trips most of the time" Luke told Molly she listened in closely "When I was old enough to understand, I knew exactly what he was doing and my mum was no better. There always seemed to be a plumber or an electrician around she would invite in the bedroom and well..." he paused there, teetering on the edge of what he knew to be the truth.

"So... you weren't your dad's son?"

"No" Luke admitted "I don't even look like him, not really. I loved him and looked up to him, but he knew I was someone else's and never treated me right. He was never abusive or hurtful he'd just... well he'd distance himself from me" Luke remembered that now, he looked down at the picture of his parents. Or at least his birth mother and her partner. His real father, well his real father...

"I soon figured out who my real father was" Luke said "He had a reputation for sleeping around, especially with bored housewives and we looked quite similar and I realised I moved just like that man. I had to be his son and... that guy, that electrician I saw when I was young..."

He gulped there.

"There's a reason I went to Howe's Molly, there's a reason I lead the group to Howe's..."

"NO!"

Clementine had screamed it she had come running out where she was hidden in the tree's and was now barrelling towards Luke, shock was plastered all over her face. If Luke was saying what she thought she was saying it simply can't have been true. There was... there was no way in hell!

Luis meanwhile lingered back, he could have grabbed popcorn if the food was available he couldn't really sympathise or understand the gravity of the situation as he hadn't been involved in Howe's.

Yet Clementine had been and despite Molly's startled yell of "CLEM!" Luke carried on speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Because I knew William Carver was my father"

A ringing silence echoed throughout the clearing at this statement for a full minute neither Clementine nor Molly could speak. Until finally Molly seemed to find her voice.

"That asshole who lead your place? _He_ was your father?" Molly muttered.

"I'm pretty sure he was" Luke mumbled sadly.

"But he can't have been!" Clementine interjected "You... you would have told me! The cabin group must have known! If you were Carver's son then... then you'd be AJ's older brother!".

"That's why the group was like my family" Luke said "Because I knew deep down, part of them really were".

"But... but..." Clementine stuttered unable to process this bombshell that had been dropped upon her "Why didn't you tell anyone!? Someone must...!"

"Nick knew, why did you think we spoke in private after I killed Carver?" Luke told her "and that I'd always seem better afterwards? He convinced me that whether or not Carver was my father or not he was an asshole who had it coming. But even too Nick I only said it as a passing thought, a slight chance... so that's why he never told any of you. Plus we kept each other's secrets, we were promised blood brothers after all..."

"Nick's self harming" Molly muttered "He kept that secret for a while from what I heard and he kept your secret as well..."

"But why didn't you say anything Luke!?" Clementine pleaded "Too me! I thought we were close, I thought we shared all of our secrets..."

"It's like when you repressed your memory of killing the stranger Clem" Luke told her "I shoved it too the back of my mind and pretended it wasn't true. Until eventually I started to believe it myself. But now I can't do this anymore... with Jane cropping up in these dreams it's taking me back to those times. and I never told because... you know... who would trust the son of the tyrant? Vince was already pointing out my every flaw and I didn't need anybody knowing my dirty laundry now did they. Sometimes I'd notice I'd look or move like Carver when I lead Howe's and I couldn't stand it... I couldn't be like him..."

"You weren't" Clementine encouraged him "Luke, you're nothing like your parents".

"Thanks Clem" he muttered with a small smile "I... i wanted to see my mother and my supposed dad one more time when all this shit broke out. They were still together, old, cranky and unbearable. By the time I got too them, they were already dead by the walkers. I got no answers, but I soon grouped up with the others after I dealt with Nick's asshole dad..."

"That's how you were able to kill your own father" Clementine muttered absently at this information "You killed Nick's dad in a similar way didn't you? Nick and Pete and Nick's mom knew it. They probably saw it but agreed to keep it secret between them, because Nick's dad was an asswipe anyway..."

"He was insane and someone had to do it" Luke muttered "But I went too far with Nick's dad, all those years of pent up rage and aggression I let out on him and... I don't think Nick could look at me the same way again. But we kept it between us, either way I knew then I had to see my real dad, we heard William Carver had set up a community at Howe's. The group were doubtful but I insisted that we go..."

"Why?" Molly asked again "If you wanted to see the man who you knew was your real father, then... then why did you keep quiet and tell nobody but Nick about it?"

"I just... I just wanted to see him" Luke said "Too see if he really was as sleazy and creepy as people made him out to be, I knew the potential danger I could have led the group into but I just had to see my real dad and too my surprise, he was kind and caring and damn good leader. I looked up to him in pride, despite the fact he once used to sleep around a lot and had no idea his own son was right beneath his nose. He probably had loads of illegitimate kids he knew nothing about but I probably would have told him what I thought. That I was his son, if... if he hadn't started changing..."

"Carver went downhill, just like every other good leader" Clementine recounted as Luke nodded.

"More power, more people, the hard world we lived in... it all just got too him, turned him into the asshole he probably always was" Luke explained "But I held my tongue because it turned out my real father was just as bad as my old parents. I didn't want to be me anymore, I lead my group into this dangerous community because of that fact, I was too blame for this and I couldn't stand the guilt".

"So you made yourself someone else" Molly muttered in understanding "You made up your ideal parents with that locket you had of them. You weren't Carver's forgotten son anymore, you were an orphan who tragically lost your loving parents. You rebelled against your father, not as the desperate son you knew you were. But as a fresh faced and daring rebel, you made yourself kind and understanding because you didn't want to be associated as the guy that brutally killed Nick's dad..."

"That's why you became distant from Nick! Back at the start!" Clementine now exclaimed it was all now beginning to make sense "With Nick's Mom and Pete dead, he was the only one who knew who you truly were and you didn't want that. You wanted to be someone new and Jane she could have given you that new life for the new you, that's why you're really so cut about Jane. When she died it all came crashing down and you killed your own father because you felt like he was too blame for this, because he was a part of you, you never wanted to be".

"Yeah, suppose it explains why I such a mess of a leader at Howe's..."

"Luke with all that going on, you did great!" Clementine encouraged him.

"But this is the real me, the me I don't think anyone is going to like" Luke mumbled sadly "Just a sad, messed up guy who..."

"Luke, we can help you now" Clementine said referencing herself and Molly "The group aren't here too cut you down anymore, you're leader and you need support and we're going to help you this time! Now that we know we can help you! You're not going the same way the other leaders are gone. We're getting back to Howe's Luke and we are going kick the world's ass this time around".

Luke felt a new genuine smile spread across his face, as happy tears poured from his eyes.

"Thanks Clem" he told her "You're right we're gonna do this together now. No more secrets"

"Are you okay for now though?" Molly asked of Luke, as Clementine helped the one-legged man to his feet.

"You know, I think I am" Luke mused "For the first time Molly I really am fine and you know, thank you. For helping me"

With that jubilant statement out of his system, Luke grabbed Molly's face and kissed her full on her mouth and Molly returned this kiss which just as much passion as Clementine groaned to herself. She allowed them three seconds of this bliss, before she coughed and muttered "Can you save this till later?"

Luke and Molly broke apart, red faced and both panting slightly.

"Sorry Clem" Luke mused, "Just erm... well... you know..."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A scream, one horrified shocked scream tore over the clearing and made the trio of them look in the direction of the scream in alarm, as Luis jumped out from where he was hiding.

"CRISTINA!" Molly bellowed, reconsigning that the teacher on guard was currently screaming.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Luke shouted, looking over at Luis.

"Getting my daily fix of drama FM, what else?" Luis snapped back.

Another scream from Cristina King cut off Luke's reply.

"WE'LL DISCUSS THIS LATER, LET'S MOVE! WE NEED TO GET TO HER!" Luke instructed of Clementine, Molly and Luis, so with that (and being supported by Luis, as he was the strongest of the three people available) they ran off to see what the problem was. Clementine was guiding Molly and they could hear the screams had awoken the others as well, who were swearing in surprise and slowly rising in their sleeping bags.

* * *

There it was.

Anyone would have screamed owing to what Cristina King had seen, the teacher had heard an odd snapping sound emit from somewhere nearby and after hearing it a few more times had decided to investigate the source of the noise. What she had seen, had left her drained of colour, screaming to the high heavens and with her about to vomit onto the ground. Luke hobbled towards her and planted his hand across her mouth.

"You'll draw walkers!" he said "What's a...?"

Clementine's gasp, told him all he needed to do was look ahead and that shut him up instantly, as more and more of the group converged on the scene and paused dead in their tracks. Maria gasped and started muttering a prayer under her breath, Luis swore loudly, even Ethan and Terri had troubled looks on their faces, while Melanie fainted on the spot and Jessica wept into her hands. James was immobile, Nick was swearing under his breath constantly, Aidan was doing the same. Jason looked green while Stephanie simply sat on the ground and took deep breaths to calm herself down. Eddie was frozen, snapping out of his grieving state to gaze at the scene in front of him.

Robert was dead, he was hanging from the group's rope which had been arranged into a noose and he dangled off a tree, but that wasn't all.

Frank and Jasper were dead as well, their clothes were nowhere to be seen and both naked men had their bodies sliced open, their guts laying all over the place and blood was splattered everywhere. Across the bark of the tree's and saturating the grass and the soil, both of them had looks of terror upon their detached heads which lay on the ground.

and in the middle of it all, was JJ himself. Naked, caked with fresh red blood and currently chewing on a funny purple organ, a bloodied sickle lay in his other hand.

"Oh hello" JJ eventually said, facing the group and he didn't sound like the friendly JJ nor the malicious killer TT in those moments. He just sounded... lost. Completely emotionally detached.

Which made it even more terrifying.

"Oh, don't worry" JJ said looking at the horror stricken group.

"The meat's fresh, we'll be fine".

Miss King vomited at this point, while Clementine could only stare. After everything she had seen and heard of tonight only three words rang out louder than any other's in her head.

**"What The Fuck?" **


	35. Animals

**A/N: Hello again everybody! Thanks once again for the reviews and continued support this far along, as we're nearing the mid point of Episode 4 and nearing the end of the series altogether, this chapter I hope entertains, while I answer your reviews!**

**ffapathy- Glad you enjoyed and Luke opening up and revealing these secrets was done for the purpose of bringing him closer to Clementine and Molly, it shows he can finally tell the full truth to Clem and proves to Molly that she finally means more to him than Jane or Bonnie did, as she has gotten him to open up to things he didn't want to talk about, but had too. Jane didn't know him long enough and I imagine Bonnie would be more akin to just be supportive of him and not as challenging as Molly is, the twist was something I had planned from around the tenth chapter of this fic, of Luke being Carver's father as I re-read No Going Back and it just fit to me and explained little holes in the story. I liked you noticed the subtle little scene between Eddie and the robin as I'm using the spirit animals less frequently now but they do make more subtle appearances as the last one I imagined to either Rebecca or AJ giving Eddie some comfort at that time.**

**Yep I remembered attention to detail with the three deceased, I've thought about how they died and since Chapter 31 I think, is when I decided this is how they're going to go out. Also not knowing what JJ/TT actually did but seeing the results makes him a more terrifying villain, as the group didn't know what he did to Tom, or how he set up Tom in the first place, or even managed to kill Edward. JJ works behind the scenes and I've shown the reader his evil plots so far, so when he has finally lost it. I've put the reader's in the group's position of not knowing what it is JJ has done to make him even more unpredictable and crazy as a villain and wondering what on earth he'll do next. All in all thanks again for another awesome review I can't thank you enough!**

**Aqua Destiny's Embrace- What will the group do? Find out this chapter and yep the revelation shocked everyone like I hoped it would (still surprising you this far into the series, I am proud of myself), anyway thanks again for reviewing!**

**Justsomeguy23- Speechless and hating JJ, understandable indeed but thank you for your review and yep Luke was AJ's half brother if Rebecca had found it, I imagine she'd treat Luke more like a son than she did beforehand.**

**TWDRUNNER37 and paradoxilla- So everything shocked you last chapter from Robert's demise, to Luke's secret too what JJ did, glad it did and thanks for your reviews! Robert had survived for a long time and grew into an interesting character into his own right, but I just felt his arc had come to an end now, as he didn't go insane like many leaders before him and had the pride to step down and was on his way to finding redemption when... BAM! Yep bad shit happens and you'll learn soon how Robert died...**

**As for now, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Was It Right?"

Olivia asked herself this as she gazed down at the papers laden out on her desk, all of them detailing the services running short in Utopia, there were no longer enough guards on the perimeter, walker hordes outside of the grand city had reached such a number the only way in or out of this place, was by air travel. The Economy here was struggling, employees could only work certain hours as most of the time they had to look after those who had been euthanized, with a lack of employment supplies were starting to run short. Food, water lines, sewage, building materials... all of that wasn't running up to it's usual standard with a lack of people to deliver and maintain them, this sparkling city was losing whatever charm and grace it had.

Olivia slammed her fist on the desk.

"When do you ever stop!?" she demanded of the walkers outside of the walls, it had been several years after this epidemic had first started and so many of them had been wiped out, she had seen it herself in the first days of this city, how thousands upon thousands of walkers fell at the impressive gunfire hailing down on them. Back then she was merely a Secretary serving under the President himself, what a noble man he was, stern, authoritative, but underneath that exterior he could kind and caring... after the first lady and his two children had been slain in the earliest days, he had turned to her and she was happy to comfort him. Soon that turned into something more and...

Well, did it matter any more if Olivia had slept with him? That she had slept with the most powerful man on the planet? In the old world she would have been splashed across tabloids, made into an instant celebrity. But in this new world, it didn't matter who the hell you were any more, as long as you were alive that's all that mattered and Olivia could sit in this chair and pretend she was a president and pretend she was doing good for everyone, but deep down she knew she really wasn't.

She sighed to herself, pushing back her greying hairs, looking out of the flickering lights of the city.

She had been regretting her decision to euthanize those Russians a few weeks ago, at first that commander certainly was a treat in the bedroom, but then after a few days she looked at her papers and then at brain dead men she wondering around this grand building. It hit her then, they could have solved this issues, had she not euthanized them and made them useless. But at the same time, they were rebels who would have overthrown her authority and she really cared that much about being leader and maintaining order...

All of her sins were catching up to her and she was powerless to stop it.

There was a knock on door.

Blinking back the tears in her eyes, she barked "Come in!" and Robinson, her most trusted solider slowly crept into the room, the look on his face screamed bad news. It was in the middle of the night and Olivia's eyes were baggy from dealing with a day of these constant stresses and for him to come to her at this time... well it had to be something urgent.

"Yes, Robinson?" she wearily asked.

"The jets are back, they found nothing and no-one. We passed Wellington, but it's burnt to a crisp now and Alexandria was too far but we expect the same has happened there as well. Pretty much it's nothing but a wasteland out there, there isn't anybody else".

Olivia blinked back some more tears.

"I really was pining my hopes on Wellington" Olivia muttered sadly, gazing at the dark horizon outside of her window once again "Rumour had it, it was the place many survivors flocked too, but if there are no survivors there, then..."

She imagined the only people left in the wilderness now were complete savages or bandits and if they truly were the last of humanity, a dark beacon glowing in this dark, dark world than the weight of the walkers piling down on them was causing this city to crack... it was too grand and majestic to be obtained with walkers still out there and Olivia thought she was a saint by not killing anyone, after these past few weeks and the situation forever getting worse, now with the final bombshell of Wellington's end had forced her hand and she finally realised that she had to stop living in the delusion she had built herself.

"Robinson, everything's coming to a standstill" she murmured "I tried for so long to help us maintain a society with law and order..."

Robinson was silent.

"But the world just keeps on getting shitter doesn't it?" she emitted a humourless laugh after this.

"Utopia can probably only last a few more weeks" Robinson muttered honestly "Most of the guys at the wall are busy with the women who can't refuse... and the Russians helped maintain the wall around this city too, so with them gone, it won't be long before thousands of them break in here..."

"and we're blocked in" Olivia muttered in horror "We'll be slaughtered".

There was a grim silence in the office at this statement.

"It was stupid decision to do that to the Russians" Olivia muttered "I must have been mad with power, but I just so afraid of losing my position I doomed us all. and what was I hoping for? That some make-believe group would come from the outside and solve our problems?" she laughed harshly at herself "We'd need at least a thousand people to do that... there was no way in hell that would succeed..."

"You kept us together Olivia, for this long when everywhere else has fallen" Robinson said backing her up "You did all you could..."

"I appreciate that" Olivia said with a small smile, "But I can't run on this plan anymore Robinson, I can't just continue to play safe until the end reaches us. The time has come to act... and as much as I regret it... we need to wake up and face this threat!"

With this she proceeded on out of her office, Robinson could only stare on after her, before she brought back the Russian Commander tugging him by his larger hand, his eyes were unfocused and the scar on his head was clearly visible. Olivia looked at him and stroked her aged fingers across his bulging chest.

"It hurts" she muttered looking into his blank eyes "It really does Commander, I always preferred you when you spoke, when you opposed me. You would never have slept with an old thing like me before... but..." she laughed at that point "I've killed you, I've convinced myself for so long I never killed anyone, but I've been slaughtering rebels. Turning them into nothing but vegetables and sex toys all because I was scared for my own life... I really wanted to be a good leader and I wanted to show people I could do it..."

She inhaled deeply at that point, as Robinson continued to openly gawk at her, wondering where all of this was leading too.

"But you taught me something, sometimes taking a risk doesn't pay off... but sometimes it does"

With this she swept behind her desk and swiped a knife from nowhere and silt the commander's throat, he made a few surprised gasps as blood from his windpipe squirted and sprayed in every direction, staining the pristine white office with a shocking crimson coat. The commander fell to the ground as dead as could be, still oozing blood from his still form, as Olivia drenched within his blood simply stared down at his dead body, as blood dripped from her greying hairs and landed with quite splashes on the recently cleaned floor.

"P-P-pr-President?" Robinson stuttered in shock.

Olivia clutched onto her bloody knife even tighter.

"I'm not your president, fuck that bullshit and all those titles" Olivia snapped doing a complete 180 from her usual personality which caused Robinson to gaze at her with even more caution.

"What... why did you do that!?" Robinson muttered.

"Because he is useless and I can't continue to look after him" Olivia snapped harshly "It's time to let go of him and all the others I have, I want you to do the same Robinson. Kill all those whores you have, every last one of them or so help me I'll do it myself!"

"Olivia!" Robinson yelled in alarm.

"What!?" she snarled, looking back at him and daring him to challenge her and fight back, his lower lip trembled and he couldn't formulate a response. He wanted that selfish easy pleasure from one of the women who couldn't refuse. He had never been lucky with women before and Olivia had given him all he could have possibly asked for, yet... after a while there was lessening satisfaction. He hadn't earned his pleasure and he had tried to convince himself like Olivia this was all for re population and not killing anyone and all that stuff, but he knew the truth deep down.

That's why he couldn't argue back.

"If you want to get yourself a real woman, then there are still plenty left around who can help the community" she informed Robinson "The one's here we have killed, we need to let them go for good. It's the kindest thing we can do for them is too live on for them and we can't do that if we're babysitting them. I want all the Soldiers on the wall to kill there whores as well, I want every single goddamn vegetable in this city wiped out!"

"Olivia?"

"That's an order Robinson!" Olivia snapped "I don't think I care anymore, whether everyone has a bitch fit about it, the time's come to wake up and focus our attention on the walkers and actually surviving! I want all those euthanized burnt on a pyre at the city centre, if they resist have Soldiers kill them anyway and drag them out. But don't kill anyone who is still in their right minds, restrain them if you have too but I want everyone in this city around that pyre tomorrow at 3!"

"Why?" Robinson inquired.

"Because I'm going to give everyone a speech explaining why" Olivia said "I'm open for rebellion against me, I don't care anymore as long as we survive because... we might be all that's left! I can't repopulate the earth anymore, but I'm going to do my damn hardest to protect those who can!"

"Is that all?" Robinson asked, rather awe-struck.

"No. Not only do I want everyone working to protect this city, it's time we fought the walkers once again..."

"You can't mean...!" Robinson began.

"I'm ordering you to execute Code: AX..."

"But..." Robinson began.

"You said it yourself Robinson" Olivia reminded him "There's no one left out there, all communities are destroyed and there's nothing but savages outside. We have enough bombs in our underground units to blanket bomb the US and Canada combined and that's what we're going to do. To wipe out the walkers once and for all".

"Are we really doing this? There could still be people..." Robinson began to reason.

"There is no one left out there worth saving anymore!" Olivia protested "We need to think about here and us! We need to do this, AX is our last hope you know those walkers will never stop coming and if we don't fight back we're going to stay in here until they break in. I want Men stationed around the walls to gun down the thousands outside of our city. I want Jets back up in the air, as many of them as you can order and then..."

She sighed there.

"How many nuclear warheads do we have?"

"Three" Robinson responded "But we have to think about the radiation and permanent damage using bombs on such a scale will cause..."

"The land is already damaged and uninhabitable" Olivia reasoned "But I'd rather have a smoking crater without walkers, than land with walkers on. So... we need to get started as soon as possible, do you read me Robinson!"

Robinson blinked in a confused manner, the enormity of the task on his shoulders was something he had yet to digest.

"Robinson!" Olivia barked.

"Yes!" he exclaimed making his mind up "We're gonna do that Olivia, it's about time we fought back!"

"I knew I could rely on you" Olivia smirked "Enough whoring and wasting around, let's fight again it should give those sex crazed men at the wall something to do to kill time... hell I'm glad Wellington fell now! If it hadn't then we'd probably still be wasting away..."

With this Robinson left the room as Olivia sat back down again, the tears were now none existent on her face, the Commander's body still lay on the ground and the silence in her happiness was quite unnerving. She felt the damp blood on her clothes and hair and shivered slightly, but nothing could ruin her new fighting spirit, she clutched her knife tighter in her hand and walked on over to her bedroom, preparing to rid herself of her own mistakes and distractions.

She took one last look back at the city and most particularly the part of the city everyone called... _"Wellington" _named after the establishment Olivia had so much faith in but never got to see. Wellington was pleasant area, covered in rolling green plains and spotless buildings, an ideal day out for a good view or a picnic, yet that idealised Wellington had fallen and Olivia was glad it had, it was the wake up call she had needed. The world wasn't peaceful like that anymore and if she ever wanted it too be, she had to earn it.

By fighting for it.

* * *

_"That's just what we do to people who aren't of use anymore, I'm sorry" _

_The weeping father slowly closed the door on them, Jena was stunned as she felt the dark spot from underneath her clothing spread as Ethan looked on in shock, the gunshot still ringing in his ears. _

_"Jena?" he called out blankly._

_It was freezing out here, they were getting closer to Wellington but the endless piles of snow had built into an unforgiving blizzard that Jena and Ethan had to pile their way through, but with their fingers turning a deathly shade of blue and with the feelings in their hands and feet numbing out of existence it was clear they needed shelter of some sorts and the small house they had found was ideal for that, yet it was locked and inside a terrified family had screamed at them to leave._

_"GET OUT OF HERE!" The mother had screamed, Ethan and Jena could hear the wails of two children and the mother and father who yelled back at them._

_"WE JUST NEED SHELTER! WE'RE NOT GOING TO HURT YOU!" Jena protested "IT'S JUST ME AND VIKTOR HERE AND WE ARE HARMLESS...!"_

_"BULLSHIT!" The father bellowed "WE'RE STILL ALIVE BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T LET ANYONE IN! THEY ARE ALL BANDITS OUT THERE AND FUCKING THIEVES! WHY SHOULD YOU BE ANY DIFFERENT!"_

_"BECAUSE WE ARE!" Jena screamed "WE CAN HELP YOU! WE CAN HELP YOU FIND SUPPLIES! LOOK, WE'RE HEADING TO WELLINGTON ARE YOU...!?"_

_"GET AWAY! JUST GET AWAY! MAKE THEM GO HONEY!" The mother screamed from inside of the house, as there was a distinctive click of a gun from near the door, Ethan and Jena were planted in front of._

_"We might freeze to death out here!" Ethan exclaimed, adding his input "Please, me and Jena have come a long way and we only require a night of rest in a warm place. We'll be on our way in the morning..."_

_Yet Ethan's reasonable words, didn't resonate with the father._

_"GODDAMMIT! JUST LEAVE! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!" He screamed._

_"WE ARE GOING TO DIE OUT HERE!" Jena screamed back "WE CAN'T LEAVE! JUST LET US IN... WE CAN HELP...!"_

_At this the door had creaked open a fraction and Jena turned to Ethan with a small smile on her face._

_"Well, looks like people can still be..." she began with a hopeful little smile, before a resounding BANG echoed across the snowy plains and the father had said it; __"That's just what we do to people who aren't of use anymore, I'm sorry"_

_He closed the door, as Jena fell, she had been standing in front of the door and had been the one to take the bullet to the heart while Ethan had merely stood there and watched her fall. As she hit the snow, Ethan came to his senses and picked up her frail old form, feeling a fleeting sense in his stomach. Knowing full well she was going to die, but... but he didn't want her too! They had come this far!_

_"Jena" he said to the elder woman._

_She cranked open her eyes and grinned at him._

_"Who'd have... who'd have thought we'd have got this far?" she smiled, before coughing up some blood, holding her convulsing body Ethan felt something seep through him that he hadn't felt in a long time._

_A wave of sadness._

_"You look sad, you really are going to miss me, aren't you?" Jena asked._

_"Y-Yes" Ethan admitted honestly, surprised that his voice was shaking as much as it was, as he faced the prospect of being alone once again._

_"Always the honest one" Jena laughed to herself, before she shuddered and looked at the white sky above her._

_"What's your real name Viktor, what are you really doing?" she asked "I just want to know, it's a dying woman's wish"._

_Ethan felt himself reply automatically._

_"Zeljko, My real name's Zeljko I'm an agent deployed by the Russian Government to find a cure for the infection" he muttered "I wanted to get to Wellington, where there are a lot of people in the hope of finding an immune survivor who can give us a cure"._

_Jena smiled to herself, still gazing at the sky._

_"If you weren't such a far-fetched person, I wouldn't have believed that far-fetched story" she said before she looked at him for the final time._

_"Yet I do, good luck Zeljko son"_

_and with that she went still, the snow piled on her recently deceased body as Ethan let her slowly fall to the ground, as he rose up having not had any call him Zeljko since his parents had done all those years ago and that just made Jena seem more like his mother in those moments, his mother who had genuinely loved him and known the real him, back when he was an innocent, carefree child and where he wasn't an agent that lived under many false identities and name's. He realised in those moments he had just lost a mother figure and he felt a warm feeling crawl up his throat and something sting at the corner of his eyes..._

_No. He wouldn't cry._

_Something else clouded his emotions in those moments, something he couldn't control. He had the strength so with it, he broke down the door to the house, grabbed the startled father's gun before he could react and in his fury had looked at the cowering, pathetic family that had been responsible for Jena's death. The two children clung onto their mother, crying and looking at him like he was... like he was..._

_A monster._

_Ethan didn't care in those moments, maybe it was because of what he did next, that allowed him to feel nothing as the Wellington Wolf. As he grabbed the children and mother by their hairs and flung them into a basement Ethan had spotted while coming in. He soon tackled and chucked the father inside the basement as well. Ethan was aware they had fought him, he was aware he had punched and scratched and screamed at and had blood leaking from his skin. Yet none of the pain registered, the weeping and winded family were cowering in the basement exactly where he wanted them. Maybe he would have gotten one of the guns from his bag and shot them all there. But Jena was on her feet again as a hostile walkers, bringing chunks of snow into the house as she lumbered her way towards Ethan and with this another spur of the moment plan came to Ethan's senses, as he grabbed Jena by the hairs and flung her into the basement as well. The family screamed and backed into a corner, as Jena got up again._

_"LET US OUT! PLEASE!" The father screamed "PLEASE HELP US, MY CHILDREN... YOU CAN'T... YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO THE CHILDREN...!"_

_The children were wailing in horror, as their screams drew Jena closer towards them, her greedy hands were outstretched. Ethan smiled a savage smile down at them, as he began to close the basement door on them._

_"I don't forgive you, but let's see if she does" Ethan muttered, as the family screamed louder._

_"That's just what I do to people who aren't of use anymore, I'm sorry" Ethan muttered in sarcasm, before he slammed the basement door shut and sat on it as the family wailed from below and begged to be let out. But Ethan blocked out all emotions, sound and pain as he continued to sit there as the family's wails turned to screams of pain and agony and soon the only sound that was heard from the basement were faint whimpers and the crunching of Jena devouring flesh. They had tried to fight her and they had failed no doubt, Jena had not forgiven them in the __slightest._

_Soon, everything was silent from the basement._

_That, was how the Wellington Wolf dealt with monsters, that weren't himself. _

* * *

Did he need to do it again?

It was the morning after and the shock of losing Robert, Jasper and Frank had not settled yet at all, the group were debating fiercely over the smouldering campfire about what on earth needed to be done with JJ. The insane boy himself was tied up to a tree, still plastered in blood and looking completely out of his mind as he nibbled away at one of his bloody fingers while speaking to himself quite openly.

"Fun... fun... fun... fun..." TT sing sang.

"I guess it is fun" JJ agreed, with a smile of his own "You were right TT, I guess I gave up back there, I'm glad you stopped me from breaking"

"Yep and look at the fun we're having!" TT exclaimed in joy, causing a few heads to turn in his direction. "So come on then JJ... who do we eat next?"

"Stop it!" JJ blushed "They're all staring now, they all look so delicious I can't decide..."

"Jesus, fucking, Christ" Jason snapped "Didn't I say back in the church that JJ's a complete lunatic, now look at him his completely fucking broken! Why are we even debating this! He needs to be put down right fucking now!"

There was a silence across the group, in the hours they had spent arguing JJ seemed to have gone deaf as he payed them no attention what-so-ever and continued to rant and rave to himself as if he and TT were the only two people to exist in the world.

"He doesn't even recognise what I'm saying, the kid's lost it" Jason said pushing his argument further forwards "If we want to get to Howe's place we need to be rid of him, do you know how much time and effort it would take to constantly watch him!".

"His a friend!" Luis argued back (it was surprising out of everyone, that Luis was jumping to JJ's defence) "I can fucking watch him myself if need be! Besides we don't know the full story yet, how do we know for certain that JJ killed those three!?".

"It's pretty fucking obvious" Jason snarled.

"I don't know, I'm not too sure, but I'm siding with my son on this matter" Maria muttered "We've known JJ the longest, maybe we can get through to him and ask him what really happened..."

"It looks like a goddamn massacre happened!" James exclaimed, the death of Frank had hit him hard indeed "Look, I know he was your friend. But now my friend is dead and it's been hours and we've got nothing from that kid. Nothing! I don't want an explanation, I want peace of mind and as we're unlikely to get an explanation from this freak, I just want him dead!" James proclaimed.

"JJ has always shown signs of being damaged" Terri muttered entering the debate "For a while it seemed like he could contain himself, but right now regardless of what happened, we saw him eating them. It's not the fact he is a good or bad person anymore, the fact remains he can no longer be reasoned with and has resorted to mindless insanity to deal with whatever pain was plagued him for so long. I've known JJ and I've liked him as a friend very much, but it's too risky to keep him around. He needs to be dealt with as soon as possible".

"How can you say that Terri!?" Luis exclaimed in horror "It's just you, me, mum and JJ here left from our group! His our family and you're just going to let him die!"

"This isn't an easy choice" Terri reasoned "But..."

"It certainly sounds easy to you!" Luis snapped "It always has done, you've hated him for ages. You've always thought he was off his rocker! But not me! I'm giving him a chance, I think he can still be redeemed!"

Jason opened his mouth to argue back, but was silenced by Terri.

"I know what you're doing Luis" she muttered icily "and I can't stop you, but you need to let him go. What happened to him isn't your fault and you can't fix it..."

"That's a fucking lie and you know it" Luis growled "People can be saved and redeemed, regrettably I learned my lesson from Clem here".

"Me?" Clementine said as she saw now that Luis was looking at her with impressionable eyes and it was then she realised she had made it her mission in Wellington to make him see the world as a brighter place. She had saved Nick, a good friend of Luis' and brought him back from the impossible and she realised that stuff like this, along with her impulse to go back into the field to save Luke (where he had followed her) seemed to have inspired him to follow in her footsteps. Yet right now, in this scenario she was insanely worried about how this had affected him, she had (deep down) been on Terri and Jason's side in the argument that JJ needed to be put down it was the correct and sensible option. Yet Luis arguing for the exact opposite and she was the role model that had inspired him to think this way, if she went against him now... she could picture the rage and disbelief that would spread across his face. She could hear his hateful words already, she could see his face slumping, all the faith he had rebuilt in humanity would be tarnished once again and he'd be that same cynical asshole once again. He wouldn't be the guy that had dived into the riot and saved her, he wouldn't have been the one that carried her through the herd after the hospital and Luke supposed death, he wouldn't been the one to agree to the plan to save Nick at the prison, that wouldn't have been the Luis that joked around with her, or threw bottles with her... that Luis would have been gone.

She remembered her first time meeting him, as he had held her back from saving someone, that hostile face in the shadows and his lack of faith in humanity... he merely wanted allies to save himself.

He never expected to make a friend.

Yet he had one right now, his complete and utter faith resting in Clementine's hands, as the 15 year old realised then just how close she and Luis had become and if she went back on her word now... she'd be that boy in the alley. Holding Luis back from saving somebody who could have been saved despite the risk. She convinced herself in those moments that whatever was going through Luis' head that gave him justification to spare JJ, she simply had to support, because maybe, maybe a small part inside of her wanted to see JJ gain redemption anyway. Sarah had liked him at one point, there had to be good in JJ somewhere, somewhere deep down, right?

"Yeah" Clementine muttered "Yeah, we spare him at least until we can find out what happened. We will get the real story from him it will just take some time and if we're all watching him..."

"We don't have time for this!" Jason snapped "We need to get to Howe's, he puts that at risk! We-Put-Him-Down!"

"I agree with Clem" Luke piped up "We can't kill him if we didn't know what happened. It might look obvious, but we never know and we have the numbers here too watch him and..."

"Luke" came a new quiet voice "Do you remember what happened the last time you let a mad-dog live?"

Eddie stepped forward, his presence silenced everyone, as he continued to speak.

"Wyatt died Luke and we got divided" Eddie snapped "Don't make the same mistake man, or someone you know is going to die. I mean that, you think you have JJ under control, but he'll find a way out and when he does... we might live through it. There is only one of him after all, but the damage he could do. The people he could take... I'm begging you Luke, don't make the same mistake. You are going to regret this if you let him live".

Luke gulped, Eddie's black eyes now boring into his own. Luke was only agreeing with what Clementine was saying because it seemed like the morally right thing to do, if Clementine hadn't have backed JJ's chances than Luke doubted that he would have as well. But with Maria (the sensible Medic) and now with Clem fighting for him. Luke had shamelessly followed suite and convinced himself he didn't want his group resorting to murder with no evidence, despite the very obvious murder scene. He still needed some sort of explanation from JJ to get the truth, that's the lie he told himself to make this seem like it was the best choice.

Unknown to him, Clementine only agreed as Luis had done, as had Maria. Despite her sensible side screaming at her to disagree with her son, she found that she couldn't do it. Not after seeing him go through such a positive change and too watch his old friend die... if that we're too happen she knew Luis would return to his sulky state, as she knew Luis blamed himself for how JJ had turned out and now Luis was hoping he could help the blonde haired boy. So with that Maria had decided to try and help him as well, convincing herself she didn't want too lose another member of their old group. First Tom had descended to madness and now JJ... she couldn't take it, maybe it was a foolish decision but she was making it anyway.

Eddie's speech however left an impressive silence within the group, before Luke found that he had to break it.

"Maybe I will" he said "But I have faith this time around Eddie, it ain't gonna be like last time".

"Faith isn't going to save you, it didn't save me" Eddie snarled before he turned away from Luke and proceeded to sit on down by the dead campfire once again, he looked into it's ashes and was reminded of everyone he had lost in Wellington. Violet, Rebecca and AJ...

"Although..." he muttered to the ashes "Don't come crying to me when something bad happens because all I'm going to say is, I told you so"

With this grim statement out of his system, Eddie remained silent and allowed the group to make another stupid mistake.

"I'm with you then Luke" Nick muttered rather predictably "Any movement from this guy though, if he escapes or harms anyone we kill him instantly" Nick warned, despite following Luke he was also aware of Stephanie and the baby he had on the way and he wouldn't be too forgiving or trustworthy, if someone found eating people had escaped their grasp. But with Luke and his friend Luis and Clementine backing the decision to let JJ live, it didn't seem like such a bad idea in Nick's eyes. Maybe he really was stupid, maybe he was just following the herd rather than trust his gut instinct, but he had faith in the group and he wasn't going to be a pessimistic asshole in this situation. He had helped himself and Sarah a long time ago, two people who were helpless... it wasn't the same as JJ but... he had also helped Stephanie as well. He could do this, he had a lighter side and he was going to continue fighting for good.

"Yeah, I'm with you guys" Stephanie agreed, taking hold of Nick's hands, she would obviously be following the majority of her group's leadership, yet she remained holding onto tightly to the father of her child regardless. As if seeking his protection and care even more now as she felt as though she was doing something very wrong, but couldn't speak out in words where this unease was coming from.

"Well I really don't like this" Molly muttered right off the bat "But if everyone thinks he can't be any danger, I'm going throw my hat in and say why the fuck not. We kill him anyway if he puts a toe out of line so that's good enough for me". As Molly hadn't actually seen the state of the three deceased her mind was more at ease than the others and she had naturally gravitated towards the decision her group had made for her.

"This is madness!" Jason roared "Stop being green loving fucking hippies! and get your head out of your arses he needs to die!"

"We have this under control Jason" Luke snarled "Or don't you have any faith in me as a leader at all?"

Jason was silent after this.

"We'll put this too a vote then!" Luke exclaimed "Whoever wants to see JJ killed here and now, raise your hands!"

Jason thrust his hand into the air instantly, Terri followed suite.

"It's the right thing to do" she persisted.

Ethan gazed at her and remembered the family he had killed in vengeance for Jena and how he dealt with monsters, how he dealt with threats to the group and found his hand drifting into the air as well.

"It's for the group's safety" he said.

James raised his hand into the air, after a few moments silence, Aidan, Jessica, Cristina King and Eddie followed his lead.

"You're insane, why keep him alive after what he did?!" Aidan inquired.

"He needs to go!" Jessica persisted.

"This isn't an easy choice you know, I just think you guys are a bit..." Miss King finished there trying to find the words to define the group who disagreed with her.

"A bit what?" Luke challenged.

"A bit emotionally blinded by it" Miss King said "I know it's a hard choice, but it's easier for us guys to see it, as we weren't as close to JJ as you were. I'm just saying looking at it from an objective point of view, I think it's the right choice".

Sighing, Luke did a quick count of those that wanted JJ dead.

James, Eddie, Jason, Miss King, Aidan, Terri, Ethan and Jessica 8 of them.

There was sixteen of them within the group and Luke knew what this meant, as he counted those that hadn't raised their hands.

Luke, Clementine, Molly, Nick, Stephanie, Luis, Maria, Melanie 8 of them.

It was spilt vote.

"Why do you want to keep him alive?" Aidan snapped at Melanie.

"I just want the truth" Melanie muttered "I'm not that emotionally blinded as Cristina said, it's just... what we saw. Did Robert kill himself and then what the hell happened with Frank and Jasper, did they get into a fight or something? Why were they naked? What if JJ came across the scene like we did and it broke his sanity or something? It sounds mad but I need answers and JJ's the only one who might have seen something to help us... I know it's stupid but to honour those who died we at least deserve an explanation for what the hell happened back there".

She finished there, as she gazed at JJ knowing full well the kid had answers somewhere and she needed to find it out.

"It's a spilt vote" Luke announced "So... we're in a bit of sticky situation people. But I doubt JJ would want himself killed and as you guys voted me leader here..."

"THIS IS BULL!" Jason exclaimed.

"No, let him make that mistake" Eddie muttered darkly "He'll learn, believe me".

"I guess JJ lives for now then" Luke muttered, feeling drained and it was barely the first thing in the morning, after burying Robert, Frank and Jasper and now having this debate along with constraining JJ, he was exhausted after the revelations he had revealed last night as well. He still had to let the inner core of his group know about that, but now the worst thing had happened. There was a clear divide within the group as half had wanted JJ put down while the half did not so these next couple of days were going to be stressful, with Howe's on the horizon, the worsening winter, the wolves tailing them, the walkers that could show up anywhere and at anytime, the increasing urgency of these dreams and unbeknown to all of them an incoming bombing raining all the way from the distant city of Utopia...

Added that to now keeping an eye on JJ and finding food...

Luke groaned and sat down on his one leg, massaging the place where one of his eyes used to be, he truly was battered by the constant hells this world threw at him, as the group dispersed muttering angrily amongst themselves.

"Thanks for backing me up Clem" Luis mused.

Clementine found that she couldn't look him in the eye.

"It was... really nothing" she muttered shyly.

"Hey Luke" Stephanie muttered "I'm getting better with the bow and you look exhausted, you rest here and keep Nick company I'm going go get us some breakfast".

"Stef are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll take Clem with me" she told him as Clementine found herself by Stephanie's side, as Clementine looked down at him, both of them shared an uneasy glance and then both of them looked back at JJ.

"Be careful" Luke muttered at Clementine.

"You too" he replied.

Clementine was now heading off to deal with animals, Luke looked at his divided group and then at the babbling form of JJ.

and he had to deal with animals too, he had taken Robert's gun from his discarded backpack...

Just in case he needed it.


	36. Digging Down

**A/N: Hello again everyone, sorry it's been a while but I'm glad you liked last chapter despite it being a little slow. This chapter will also have a lot of talk and character moments within it, but hopefully it gets the plot moving once again. Hopefully I can finish this fic (and this episode) before Season 3 comes out. Anyway thanks again for following this story for so long and keeping up with everything that's been going on.**

**Paradoxilla- Glad you're still onboard as much as it's killing you.**

**ffapathy- As per usual loving your analysis of what happened last chapter and I'm glad the Olivia thing caught you by surprise as I wanted to make her a more dimensional villian rather than another Schulz or Carver clone also yeah I meant to say lobotomised rather than euthanized, thanks for pointing that out and I will try and correct it at some point. Thanks again for reviewing!**

**JustSomeGuy23- Yep it seems like keeping JJ alive was a bad choice, but this chapter you'll have to wait and see if it really was a bad choice after all... but I'm glad last chapter made you think Olivia was vicious but somewhat likeable to you because that's exactly what I was hoping for, I also hope this chapter continues to entertain you.**

**Protocol115- Glad to see I'm an inspiration to you in writing, It's fine about the criticism, it's what these reviews are for and It helps me write a better story. About the whole sex thing, I do think I've used it a little too much, In No Going Back it was all behind closed doors and didn't happen often. In Going To Ruin sexual abuse was more common considering the much darker tone of the story. In Ruin to Redemption people have used it to gain power and privileges but I think I may have used it too often and it may detracted from the main plot somewhat, as so far Tim and Stacy slept with each other for that reason, Stef slept with people to help the old group stay financially stable after the first riot and now in Utopia it's happening all over again so I can see where your coming from and will try and focus more on the main plot and events from this point onwards rather than all that stuff.**

**Also do you hate JJ as in you hate the character for what he has done? Or do you just dislike him as you feel he is a badly written, unlikable, or unrealistic character? I'd like to hear your feedback again, as every review is appreciated and I'm sure you write good characters as well so don't beat yourself up over that. Anyway best of luck with your own story and I'm glad you've enjoyed the trilogy thus far.**

**TheDomDotCom- "Sex with the vegetables" you can have and keep that as that made me laugh for a while, but I get the point your making. The bomb plan will be a threat indeed but when it occurs, you'll have to wait and see. Yep I'm glad you picked up on the fact it was essentially Luis who saved JJ and everyone else kind of followed Luis. So really a lot of blame and reasons for Luis being a complex character will centre on this choice, I find both Luis and JJ complex characters to write as their personalities are ever changing as they experience loads of different things in the story, but they sure are fun to write regardless! Again thanks for reviewing!**

**and finally AquaDestinysEmbrace thanks once again for reviewing and staying loyal to this story, so without anymore chit chat, it's back to the story!**

* * *

"So, this is why you really dragged us out here?"

Clementine wearily asked this of Stephanie, a couple of squirrel's lay dangling in Clementine's muddy fingers, so they had made some process with kills, however as the sun lay in the midpoint in the sky, indicating it was around midday, the raven haired woman had taken Clementine back to the scene of the earlier crime and was now digging up the quick, make-shift grave where Robert, Jasper and Frank had been laid to rest.

"Sort of" Stephanie replied, using her own hands to drag away mounds of soil and grass, she wiped a sheen of sweat off her forehead and crinkled her nose in preparation for the smell of gore and early decay that would smash into her nostrils.

"It feels wrong Stef" Clementine muttered, leaning against a tree and adjusting her cap, so the sun's harsh rays didn't directly reach her eyes.

"I know, but I just need to look" Stephanie persisted "Remember back at Howe's Clem? When Lilly insisted we check the bodies of Randy and Patricia? It helped us identify they'd been murdered and how they died"

"Yeah, but that didn't lead to anything good" Clementine mumbled.

"It lead to something" Stephanie reminded her, yet she too harboured harsh memories of that night and the fact she had attempted to steal the truck and had ultimately destroyed their only form of transport, leaving the group at the mercy of the cult to play it's sick mind games on them all. Well with the group of over 20 which had been at Howe's now reduced to just five. Herself, Clementine, Luke, Nick and Eddie. Molly came later on which still left them as a tiny group of 6 people. Stephanie always hated the fact she knew she could have saved more people and maybe more people would have been here now, maybe more people would have been able to save Rebecca and AJ and…

It was all one great big chain for disaster.

"But maybe we'll find evidence to prove that JJ was innocent" Stephanie said to convince herself more than she was Clementine, "Maybe JJ really did just come across the scene and it broke the guy, hell did you see him at the wall. The state of him? Tom really did some damage to the boy".

"But Tom said JJ was dangerous!" Clementine protested "Maybe Tom was crazy, but JJ was worse. That's why he went for him and I've got a gut feeling that JJ wasn't telling the truth about what happened back there…"

"Whatever happened JJ seemed battered either way" Stephanie argued, "I don't why you're trying to bring him down Clementine, you voted to save him!"

"Only because Luis did!" Clementine blurted out before she could stop herself. Stephanie's eyes widened at this news and Clementine instantly dipped her gaze to the ground feeling ashamed of herself.

"But Sarah liked him" she muttered after the silence grew too loud "So… maybe there is good in him somewhere".

Clementine knew that was flat and thin argument the minute it had left her lips.

"Yeah but don't take this the wrong way Clementine" Stephanie mumbled awkwardly "But… Sarah never had the best judgement when it came to that sort of thing…"

"You don't need to remind me of Arvo" Clementine spat, the Russian teenager had abandoned Sarah when she most needed him. Why did Sarah always fall for the assholes like Arvo and JJ when she was there for her all along? Why couldn't Sarah ever see that!? In light of Sarah's death Clementine felt guilty about feeling mad for Sarah because of this, yet she grew to dislike Arvo and JJ greatly as well.

"Besides why are you criticising him!?" Clementine demanded, "You voted to save him as well!"

"Because…" Stephanie said starting to go red in the face, before her argument dried on her lips and she let out a sigh and returned to digging up the grave.

"Because Nick did?" Clementine finished for her.

"Yeah" Stephanie admitted, not too proud of herself either.

"I guess we're both idiots then" Clementine concluded duly.

"With the baby on the way, I just thought…" Stephanie sighed there and muttered "I know it's stupid Clem to be so clingy to him but it's hard not to be. His going to be the father of my child, he's my husband, he's helped me through so much when I didn't deserve it. I had full faith in him when he said JJ should be spared, but now looking back on it…"

Stephanie felt silent and it remained between the two young women for a while, Stephanie scrunched up her nose as the tip of a bloodied finger came into her line of view and the familiar smell flared in her nostrils.

"Yep, they stink just as predicted". She muffled into the sleeve of her coat.

"Hopefully they give us answers" Clementine said "But, I'm not mad with you Stef for following Nick. You've known him for years now. I haven't known Luis for that long and I still sided with him, just because I worked so damn hard in Wellington to make the guy a tad bit more likeable and optimistic…"

"Did you ever ask yourself, why out of everyone, you decided to focus your attentions on him?" Stephanie asked with a knowing smile.

"Not for that reason" Clementine spat "Just because he was so damn prickly! He argues with me for no reason…!"

"You fall for the bait every time Clem, it's actually gotten cute to watch…"

"Don't ship it like you ship your husband and Luke" Clementine groaned, Stephanie's wider smile told her she was already too late in stopping that from sailing ahead.

"Regardless you still end up married in your weird future" Stephanie mused.

"He probably became brain-dead in that timeline then" Clementine retorted "With Sarah gone as well, I…"

She paused there rather abruptly, Stephanie was now scraping bits of mud from the tattered clothes of the recently deceased, at Clementine's silence the woman snapped her head up to see Clementine looking forlorn at the mention of Sarah's name.

"It still hurts us all you know" Stephanie said "and I understand if you're mad at me because If I hadn't run after Nick that day, things may have been different and both Lilly and Sarah could have lived"

"I was for a while" Clementine admitted honestly "You left them, then you left us. I blamed you, Nick, Rebecca, Luke, hell anyone who left us! But you didn't come back until Nick did and I was happy to have you back, but I was still kind of angry with you…"

"That's understandable" Stephanie mumbled sadly "I wish I could stop following his every word sometimes. Hell I argue with him too, I do actually disagree with him, why didn't I back then? When I needed too?" Stephanie asked this of herself as her muddy fingers flew defensively towards her belly.

"We all just thought it was the right thing" Clementine said "Hell, maybe it is" Clementine continued looking down at the now partly exposed body of Jasper.

"Hopefully" Stephanie muttered uncertainly "If not I hope Nick keeps us safe and I hope he stays safe. I worried about him so much, especially since he's been back I just want us to be a family in this apocalypse. I thought Rebecca did it well, but now she's gone as well and so is AJ, makes me wonder if it really is impossible to survive all of this".

"AJ got through so much though" Clementine reminded her "Rebecca fought her hardest to ensure he'd be safe and she succeeded so many times and I'm sure you'll fight as well"

"Thanks Clem" Stephanie muttered "Still it's a worry being pregnant, but when I was reunited with Nick. I just… well we couldn't keep our hands off each other and one thing lead to another and after near death and Schulz for ages… well… I didn't really plan on starting a family that night but…" she paused there "Sorry, I shouldn't go into specifics".

"Why not?" Clementine inquired.

"Because I still see the same little girl I saw back at Howe's" Stephanie reasoned "Hell, remember the first time we met? I was pregnant that time as well and it right after Becca had died. Now here we are again chatting away after Jasper, Frank and Robert have died".

"It's like a circle" Clementine whispered to herself, her old theory of being stuck in some sort of time-loop resurfaced in those moments and she grew weary that people may have been watching her in the nearby trees. Trying to shudder of this growing unease she felt she decided to continue her conversation with Stephanie.

"I'm older now, I know about all that stuff" Clementine said "So it's fine for you to carry on".

"I just can't, sorry" Stephanie apologised "It's still weird, you being in relationships or having crushes. You know Clem, you're going through a confusing part of your life but I don't think you're attracted to just the one sex. I think what attracts you too people, is how bright and optimistic they are".

"You think that?" Clementine inquired.

"I know that" Stephanie said "Takes a woman to know it, you and Sarah and now you're trying to turn Luis into what Sarah was. Positive, fighting for good all that stuff…"

"I'm not…!" Clementine began angrily, however she found her cheeks were turning red and Stephanie had spoken the truth.

"Well… I didn't mean too…" she gasped "I just thought it would be nicer to have more people like that around…"

"You know you both stare at each other, when the other one isn't looking…"

"I have never done that" Clementine lied.

"These urges come naturally Clem, especially around your age…"

"Pity, I must be a late bloomer then"

"Don't be embarrassed, you can admit it you know"

"Okay, maybe once or twice I've felt those… urges. Towards Sarah" she concluded quickly.

"and Luis?" Stephanie asked.

Clementine skated over the question and decided to try and plough into a new topic.

"Well it's nice having people like that around, the world has too few good people left within it!" she exclaimed passionately "Whether it's Sarah or Luis, maybe that's why I like that type of person because I know what's it like to be in a world without them".

Clementine had spoken the truth and it had hit her then, her second chance had not only saved herself and many people's lives, but had also given her a perspective into the people she needed and liked. Even from her younger age and before those "urges" and physical attraction came into play the loss of Sarah, the group's optimist, is when Clementine felt the world greying around her and she swore not too lose that beacon of hope once again. Unfortunately, she had lost Sarah all over again but not before Sarah had taught her that Clementine's actions alone were enough to stir up optimism all over again.

_"I'm glad it was you in the end" _

Sarah's last words were replaying in her head, as Clementine smiled to herself.

_"Thank you"_

"Maybe it is wrong to keep JJ alive" Clementine said "But it's even worse to lose whoever we were because of it. There could have been a way to do that, maybe we chose the easy way, but we've fought against people trying to turn us into monsters before and we're all still here. Hell, we took on the cult and won! If we can fight them and we can fight this!"

"We took on Carver and won" Stephanie recalled, as she inspected the bodies "He tried to break us, stripped us off and beat us and we laughed about that! We actually laughed, it was crazy Clem but it's because of memories like that I'm glad to be going back to Howe's, rather than dread it".

"At least there's no cult anymore" Clementine added.

"No Wellington either but maybe a smaller community is what we need" Stephanie suggested "If it wasn't for the cult we could have held out Howe's for another year or two. Luke rationed wisely to make our supplies last".

"Yeah he was a better leader than his dad by a mile".

"I'm sorry, what?" Stephanie questioned, sure she had heard Clementine misquote something.

"Oh yeah you don't know yet, Luke will tell you later" Clementine passed off causally, Stephanie however was reeling by what she had heard and gazed at Clementine for a full two minutes before returning to inspecting the bodies.

"This is crazy" she said "Absolutely crazy, all this second chance stuff and these secrets and lies. I want to see what happened in my own timeline when I was the last one alive. Might help us make more sense of what the actual hell is going on with all of this".

"It seems like Howe's is where it all started" Clementine said "and Howe's is where it will all end".

"Full circle and all that" Stephanie mumbled "Speaking of that, I have evidence here, under all these bite marks and shit that tell us exactly how Frank and Jasper died. Robert's was hung obviously I didn't find any gunshot wounds on him".

"But Frank and Jasper do?" Clementine said.

"Yep, under all this muck, two bullet marks straight to their hearts. Didn't turn because of the immunity obviously and JJ eating them didn't affect him either as they weren't infected, do you know what this means Clem?" Stephanie asked.

Clementine shook her head.

"It means what are the likelihood of JJ sneaking up to Robert, Frank and Jasper. Stealing Robert's gun the only gun we have in the group and using it to shoot the pair of them while Robert hung himself are un-fucking likely odds. Whatever happened here, JJ seems unlikely to be respon…ARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Stephanie screamed, as there was a giant gasp of air from below her and a muddy hand wrapped itself around her wrist. A head shot up below the mess of tangled corpses as Clementine ran over looking over at the blinking blue eyes of Robert Allen.

"What happened!?" he gasped looking around wildly "I passed out, I didn't…" he was unable to get anymore words out but simply had a violent coughing fit, in which dollops of blood propelled from his mouth. He massaged his neck where a red line ran deeply across it.

"I feel like my windpipe is crushed" he squeaked, his voice much higher pitched than it had been before.

"It probably is damaged considering you fucking hung yourself!" Stephanie exclaimed in shock.

"You… you buried me!?" Robert gasped glancing around and tugging dirt from his nose and ears "You buried me alive! No wonder I can barely breathe here… you got any water…?"

Clementine handed over her canteen and Robert drank greedily, it he coughed out the water and splashed it across his hairs and ruined clothes removing mud from himself, he slowly sat up but it was clear his legs were shaking as Clementine and Stephanie had to pry him from the naked, tangled limbs of Jasper and Frank.

"Didn't you bother to check for a pulse!?" Robert snarled.

"We were in shock, we…" Clementine reasoned, realising then with Frank and Jasper cut open, they had naturally assumed Robert died as well and chucked him in the open grave with the other two. Assuming of course that he was dead and they didn't bother to check a pulse merely cut him down and Luke said he wasn't breathing so that was enough to confirm his death.

"You weren't breathing; we saw you hung!" Stephanie shouted "Hung up from the ground on that tree!"

"Yeah well, I had to do something to ensure that freak with a gun didn't pop one in me next!" Robert affirmed "Fake hanging myself was risky and I must have lost foothold with the ground at some point and blacked out, but he was out of it, I don't think…"

"I'm sorry, what!?" Stephanie imploded "How do you fake hang yourself?"

"Complex process, but…" Robert paused there and looked up at the pair of them "Honestly, burying me though. It was so stupid, please tell me you haven't made anymore stupid decisions since then? Tell me you killed that maniac!"

Stephanie and Clementine looked guilty at one another.

"Oh God no" Robert muttered, his face falling in horror.

**_"You idiots!"_**

* * *

"They've been a while"

Nick muttered this at Luke as he took a seat next to his best friend, Nick's eyes remained locked upon the distant tree's around them.

"They'll be fine Nick" Luke told him "Clem's with her".

"Doesn't stop me worrying though" Nick said "My wife and a kid on the way out there… maybe I should have gone instead…"

"Your wife's a good hunter, let her have her space Nick. It will be good for her" Luke said, as Nick's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You've become very laid back recently" Nick commented "I thought you'd be more affirmative at a time like this".

Luke looked down at his remaining knee and then back at his stump and the soil underneath his feet, he could feel Nick's eyes boring into the side of his head.

"I told them" he said at last "About Carver"

"Told who?" Nick asked, his eyes widening.

"Molly, Clem and Luis overheard as well" Luke muttered "I know it for sure now Nick, Carver was my dad. I was right".

"That's fucking nuts" Nick snarled to himself "But… hell we knew didn't we? So maybe it's for the best you told someone else at last… how did they take it?"

"Shocked, but they accepted it" Luke replied, "All that stuff about Jane as well, you know Molly was great, she spoke me through all of that shit. Everything in my head that I'd been hiding for so long it was…" he smiled there and looked over at where Molly was currently chatting to Maria about something.

"It's easier knowing I have people there for me" Luke mused.

"You know I've had your back since day one man" Nick muttered rather sulkily.

"I know" Luke said gazing at him with his remaining eye "But I was selfish Nick, when we got to Howe's, I wanted to be some big, rebellious hero" he laughed harshly at himself at this point "Hell you, Pete and your mother you were the only one's there that day when I…" he stopped there before continuing "You knew I wasn't the angel I wanted to be".

"My dad was a fucking asshole" Nick spat "He would have killed my mum right there and then and probably me too, hadn't you taken his gun and bludgeoned the fucker to death".

"You looked… horrified though" Luke recounted.

"Man, the dead are rising and my dad pulls a gun on me and my mum and threatens to shoot us if we try and leave the house with you and Uncle Pete, I was horrified about a lot of things that day" Nick informed him "You killing my dad was the least of my problems, In fact I was kind of happy you did it, then I felt bad at myself for thinking that" he shook his head there.

"You might be a piece of shit sometimes, man" Nick said as he massaged his stump "But It was like when I killed those old people after Stef, I just remember telling her I felt like one of those murderers you see on TV. One's you read about in news, or watch in those documentaries and just think how the fuck do you end up that messed up? Then I took a look at myself after that and it hit me, **I** was that guy, that murderer. Back then you were that guy as well… don't blame yourself entirely because I started to avoid you as well. You were busy being a hero at Howe's, I didn't want to get in your way, I knew what you'd done and I just sort of…"

He shook his head once again and nibbled on the fingers on his remaining hand.

"Avoided you too" Nick finished.

"I was still a dick too you though" Luke acknowledged "Even at the cabin, after Pete died and then Clem shows up. I wasn't there for you, I was too busy trying to be cool with the new girl and trying to be a hero all over again"

"She adores you, you know" Nick said, Luke gave him an odd look before the pair of them burst out laughing.

"Not in that way!" Nick roared in mirth.

"Sure, I don't want paedophile thrown at me, as well as shitbag" Luke chuckled.

"You can keep shitbag and I'll keep dick" Nick guffawed.

"I'll bet you'll keep dick" Luke muttered.

"Shitbag" Nick grinned, punching Luke hard on the arm.

"Dick" Luke retorted with a smile, in all seriousness Luke had been through this scenario, whether in a past life or being accused of it in the timeline they were currently within. Yet right now he was joking about it with his old friend. Luke was glad after everything himself and Nick were back to being the friends they once were, it had been too long since this had occurred.

"But anyway…" Nick continued "She came to save me, because of you"

"Yeah, it's nice to know you both have my back on this" Luke said "Even if like Eddie said, it turns out being the wrong choice".

"We survived against fucking everything thanks to you being leader" Nick praised of his friend "There are times I wish I could be you and go back in time and change everything. But yeah Wellington's fallen but we got a cure out of that! People died, but it brought about the end of the cult once and for all! We've come too far now to go back and I trust your instinct here, we've been kicking the world's ass for too long now to start doubting ourselves and it's too fun to stop". Nick finished there a large smile on his face and Luke felt the smile force it's way onto his face as well.

"Well, thanks man" Luke muttered "But we're not all still kicking the world's ass and I'm not really sure keeping JJ alive was the right choice"

"Well it's the choice we made, we just have to stick with it" Nick encouraged him.

"Yeah, Melanie's questioning him right now and his been guarded by Eddie, Aidan, Jessica and Jason. Those four want him dead so even if he puts a toe out of line, they'll kill him on the spot" Luke reassured himself more than he reassured Nick, because currently this questioning was being conducted at a point beyond his line of sight. But JJ was well guarded and nothing could have gone wrong, Luke had made sure that Eddie and that were there to guard him and make sure he did nothing wrong.

But then, why did he feel so uneasy about it?

Trying to clear his thoughts, Luke gazed back at Nick.

"I guess it's always good to be open ain't it Nick?" he enquired of his friend "Hell I've enjoyed this conversation all right".

"Good to have more man time, like you said before I got hitched" Nick replied "Well if's JJ guarded and Stef and Clem are hunting us food. I suppose we can allow ourselves five minutes of fun, wanna play the spitting game?"

"Who can spit furthest? Old and boring, but why not" Luke said "But before we do, Nick I wanna know honestly, how did you die in the first timeline?"

Nick paused, his face turning a shade whiter than it previously was.

"Which one?" he asked, already knowing full well which timeline his best friend was referring too.

"The very first one, the one before Clem saved us" Luke said "Because while I've been sitting here I remembered something, you said when you died in a past life, there was nothing I could have done and I simply ran for it".

"Yeah" Nick murmured, not liking where this was going.

"Yet from what Clem's told me about, in detail might I add, is that I asked her where you were after her and Jane arrived. If I just ran for it, I should have known you were already dead and apparently I sent you out to go find someone to help Sarah, when I learned you died it was apparently news to me. It doesn't add up Nick, did I lie in that timeline? What the hell happened to you? What did I do?"

Nick sighed, if Luke had figured it out there was no point in trying to hide it.

"I didn't want to tell you man, not so soon after Edward" Nick muttered quietly, so much so that Luke had to lean in close to listen to him "But you killed me in that timeline, by accident like you did with Edward. We were arguing about saving Sarah, you wanted to play the hero again, but I was injured and cranky and I didn't want too. You got mad and shoved me right into a walker, it took a chunk outta my neck and I ended up on the fence bleeding out. You apologised, you were so upset but you had to run and then I imagine you lied about it because you felt guilty…" he paused there too look up at Luke again, whose face was frozen, his expression was impossible to read.

"But that was the old you, you've changed since then!" Nick exclaimed.

Luke finally mustered a tiny smile.

"Leaving Sarah, that doesn't sound like you at all either man" Luke mused "and in my old timeline, I had to put you down because you went crazy. I don't see that now at all and I don't see myself doing what I did too Clementine. If the choice came up again I'd kill myself first like I should have done before, but I was selfish and I wanted to live. Even if that fucking stranger was just fucking with us…" he paused there and patted Nick's shoulder.

"That's not us anymore, like you said we've been kicking the world's ass for too long now, just to give in" Luke told him.

"But we could be those type of people!" Nick muttered "Knowing that in some timeline I went as crazy as JJ and had to be put down. It scares me Luke, what we could become, maybe that's another reason we want to keep JJ alive. Just to convince ourselves that we're good people rather than sensible one's, maybe the world has already broken us…"

"Maybe it did, loads of times and in loads of timelines" Luke said "But we've bounced back, every time and we're here now. Nick, it's like you just said, I don't think I'm going back again to change things and maybe it's for the best. We have a cure; we've come this far. We can only keep on going".

"I guess" Nick muttered "I'm just a little concerned about this whole repeated timeline stuff, people going crazy, power hungry leaders, you killing by accident, hell it sounds stupid but it feels like history just keeps on repeating itself…"

"It doesn't, but people do" Luke muttered

"That's why we have change for the better"

* * *

"What happened back there?"

"…Why does she keep on asking questions TT?"

"Hey, JJ or TT whoever's listening, come on just try and talk to me" Melanie insisted, she was crouching near to where the insane boy was currently tied up to a tree, biting his hand rather openly. Behind the peaceful form of Melanie, lay four imposing shadows of people. Jessica, Aiden, Jason and Eddie looked down at JJ with no love in their eyes at all and with their sharp weapons laying at the ready in their fingers.

"…Fuck the bitch! JJ, when you get out of these ropes, fuck the bitch hard and good"

"Now that's not nice" Melanie said gently "JJ we just need to know what happened back there? Did you come across the scene? Had Robert already killed Frank and Jasper when you came across them?"

"She seems nice, should I answer?" JJ questioned of himself "No let me take over!" he spat back at himself more harshly before his eyes found Melanie once again "Hey bitch! Sit on my fucking fat cock! It's had some experience and…"

WHACK!

The butt of a wooden axe smashed across JJ's face, adding another wound to the cobweb of slashes already decorating his face. JJ smiled a blank toothed smile at a random point in the sky.

"Hey! Melanie asked you a question! Answer it you fucking retard!" Aidan snapped at him.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha…" JJ laughed blankly "I used to be handsome once but their hatred has reduced you too this…"

"I was trying to get somewhere with him" Melanie snapped back at Aiden "I can't keep questioning him if you keep hitting him across the face with that axe".

"His fucking crazy!" Aidan snarled "The way he talks to you, how'd you stand that! If he was free he'd rape the shit outta you and probably kill you".

"I dealt with similar threats in Wellington all the time, it hardly bothered me" Melanie lied "Besides you're one to talk, you frequented the strip clubs in Wellington and spoke to women in such a degrading manner from what Jessica told me".

"You might have done!" Jessica said quickly, as Aidan turned on her "But at least you were honest and at least you're sensible here".

"I didn't even mean half that stuff I said!" Aidan retorted "It was just drunken shit coming out of my mouth!"

"I thought that was all that came out of your mouth, Jock Stereotype 32" Jason snarled "The fact you have a brain in there is surprising, but regardless (Jason muttered this quickly, as Aidan opened his mouth to retaliate) you're on the right side here. Mel over here must be living in fantasy land if she thinks she can get through to that crazy fuck".

"You're all so cynical" Melanie snarled "Give it a chance! I can do this!"

"You really can't, it's been two hours now and no fucking progress" Jessica snapped "Give it up already, are you even qualified to do any of this? What we're you in Wellington? A mental health nurse or something?"

"I was a practising Nurse before all this began" Melanie retorted "Maybe not in mental health, but Greg had an anxiety disorder it made it hard for him to go outside. I used to speak to him and after a while he'd be comfortable and he'd…"

"Your spineless husband and this guy are two completely different cases, sweetheart" Jason bluntly told her.

"Greg wasn't spineless!" Melanie snapped, getting angry now as she turned to face the four of them behind her, as she did this TT whispered to JJ "It's kicking off, while they're distracted try and loosen the ropes around your hands and feet…"

"It sounds like he was" Jason said "I mean you being used to those threats, where was he? Sticking up for you? Or Hiding at home with the baby you had? You and him lived in Wellington before all of this, you are the most unqualified person in the world to handle a case like this, because you have no experience!"

"What should it matter!?" Melanie exclaimed.

"It matters a great deal" Eddie muttered speaking up for the first time "It seem harsh Mel, it really does from your perspective and we're probably just assholes to you. But we have to do this for your own good. People go crazy and they just can't be saved. Sometimes you've just got to do the bad thing to save everyone…"

"How would you know!?" Melanie demanded of him.

"I lost my best friend, because I made the same mistake you're making" Eddie told her, while looking her dead in the eyes "Look Mel, you've tried here and I suppose you want to go get Maria or Luis to help out next… but we can't risk that".

"What are you talking about?" Melanie muttered, even though she knew full well what they were planning, as they lifted the weapons in their fingers.

"NO! Y-y-you can't!" Melanie stuttered "It's a-a-against w-w-w-what L-Luke w-w-wanted…"

"Fuck Luke" Eddie spat "He might get pissy with us, but so what? Rather have him pissy with us for a bit, than us all dying. We're all willing to take the risk".

"He has got to go Mel!" Jessica protested "Look, we'll make it quick, we won't…"

"You're going against our leader!" Melanie exclaimed "Are you trying to take over the group!?"

"It's not as dramatic as you think" Jason informed her "We'll just finish the job here. Get our telling off from Luke and then all move on happily ever after to Howe's and whatever lies beyond that".

"If you kill him now, you won't ever know the truth!" Melanie exclaimed, knowing full well she was losing this argument.

"Oh what a shame, truly it is" Jason snarled sarcastically "We already know what happened, it's too damn obvious now move out of the way Mel".

"I w-w-won't!" Melanie protested feebly, stretching out her arms in front of JJ as if this offered him any extra form of potential protection.

"Don't make us hurt you" Eddie snapped "Trust me, we do not want to do that".

"I know you don't!" Melanie now found herself weeping, as they slowly encircled her "But please, just don't…"

She got no further as Jessica snuck up behind her and placed her knife around Melanie's neck "Don't scream or make a noise" Jessica snarled "Not until this is over…"

Then several things happened at once.

Just as Jessica tried to drag Melanie out of the way and Jason instantly swarmed in on JJ, his blunt hatchet already raised for the kill. A desperate JJ struggled against the ropes constraining him, finally freeing his one foot he slammed it at Jason's leg, thrown off balance he fell backwards, nearly hitting Aiden with his hatchet, however the commotion caused Jessica to be thrown off balance and thrust her knife upwards as Melanie opened her mouth to scream in horror.

Thankfully the knife didn't impale Melanie's neck.

But it sliced open her chin and past her open mouth, slicing off part of her exposed tongue and cutting open her bottom and top lip before Jessica managed to tug the knife away. But the damage was done.

Melanie wasn't going to making another noise again.

Melanie was aware of herself spitting out half of her tongue she watched in horrid slow motion as the piece of pink flesh collided with the foliage on the ground, then the pain hit her. The agonising, crushing pain that burned at the lower half of her face and made the torrents of blood already emitting from her mouth and open wounds, feel like molten lava. A shocked Jessica dropped her knife as Melanie retched and dropped to the ground, clutching her face and making loud gasping and sniffing noises, as she cried and silently screamed into her hands.

"JESUS, FUCKING CHRIST!" Eddie exclaimed dropping to his knees next to Melanie and trying too keep her still "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!?"

"I didn't… I didn't mean too… I got shoved and…" Jessica mumbled in shell shock, her pretty face a shade of white chalk, as her hands shook violently, blood from Melanie's wounds was still on her hands which made Jessica even more panicked.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Jason roared, getting up to face JJ, just in time to see the teenager manage to rip the last of the constraints from his hands. During the commotion, JJ/TT must have used all of his strength to pry the ropes off himself and now he was already running off into the undergrowth, faster than Jason could have believed possible.

"HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Aidan bellowed.

"NO HE FUCKING ISN'T! WE FINISH THIS, NOW!" Jason snarled "AIDAN! JESSICA WITH ME! EDDIE STAY HERE AND WATCH MEL, TAKE HER TOO MARIA AND WE'LL TAKE CARE OF JJ!"

"JUST GET HIM NOW, YOU'RE WASTING TIME!" Eddie roared.

The three of them bolted off after the insane teenager, as Eddie looked on.

"I knew this would happen, I fucking knew it" he snapped at himself.

* * *

"It's just… so crazy…" Miss King was babbling to Maria as they sat there discussing the previous night's events. Maria was comforting the British woman who seemed to have gone into a state of shock over what she had seen. Offering her canteen to the shaken former teacher, Miss King gulped on it greedily before addressing the Mexican woman again.

"I just… couldn't even think of an explanation for it" she muttered "Maybe it was right to keep JJ alive until we could at least find out what happened. As it's been bugging me ever since I saw it…"

"I do hope it was the right choice" Maria said as she looked at where her son had just taken down an approaching walker, tugging his axe from it's skull. He muttered a swear under his breath and proceeded to scout the area for anymore approaching walkers. There weren't many in the area but the occasional threat would sometimes lumber their way towards them, in which Luis could easily handle.

"Shocking kill! 2 out of 10!" Nick roared over at Luis.

"You're a 2 out of 10!" Luis retorted.

Miss King giggled to herself under her breath "Even though I was a teacher, you can never predict who your pupils are going to be friends with. It can surprise you sometimes".

"I'm glad for it though" Maria said gently, as she watched her son drag away the body of the walker, "How he's turned out, he used to have loads of friends back before everything went to hell. Ever since Juan betrayed him though…" she sighed there and looked down at her hands.

"Juan?" Miss King asked.

"Reason my son lost his eye" Maria muttered "In short, that betrayal crushed my boy, hardened him into someone I barely recognised. For a while I thought I'd lost him but now…" she smiled to herself once again "Whether or not sparing JJ was the right choice or not, It makes me proud as a mother to know that I've done right by him".

"Must be nice, having a son" Miss King mumbled dreamily.

"I'd die to protect him" Maria said "I love him that much and he reminds me so much of my late husband… tell me Cristina have you ever wanted children?".

"Maybe" Miss King replied honestly "Well I don't really know. I was still young when this whole apocalypse started and I had a boyfriend who seemed like everything I ever wanted, then…" she sighed there deciding not to venture back into her cult filled past. She decided not even Maria would be too understanding of that, considering the hell the cult gave to her group.

"Well it was like you said, a betrayal that crushed your son. What my boyfriend did, crushed me too I guess… he…" she was unable to continue there, her thoughts of Sam as that cult member, that complete savage that contrasted to that friendly basketball player she had known so long ago. The distant memories of happier times made tears sting at her eyes.

"Sorry…" she wept attempting to wipe her eyes.

"Don't be dear" Maria said offering her a comforting smile "You don't have to say anymore; I understand".

Miss King wanted to say more, to get it all off her chest but she simply couldn't… Maria was too kind too her. This group was too kind too useless old her, who had done nothing so far, other than trip up a few times, gobble away at their food and drink and scream so loud she had nearly drawn walkers to them all. She just wished she could somehow be of more use to them at the moment… then again she had taken down the Wellington Wolf and that was a thought that made her smile whenever she felt down.

"Still, all these forests. I'd love a change in scenery" Maria said gazing around the tall trunks around her "I spend years hiding away in forests, first with Luis and then with my old group and now I'm back here again and I'm already bored by it all".

"A beach would be nice" Miss King agreed "White sand, blue oceans. Zombie apocalypse or not, I'd still build a sandcastle!"

"I'd love to simply lay down and sunbathe" Maria admitted "Before I had Luis, my husband Jorge would take me to those islands in the Caribbean, the most beautiful beaches you'd ever seen. Even in Mexico we had great beaches on the coast, that was how we spent our honeymoon. Just on a beach…" her eyes became distant at this point as she recalled those memories.

"I'd have loved to seen that" Miss King mumbled in mild jealously "Most of the beaches back in the UK were utter shite. Rocky and filled with annoying little kids and that was during the one day of the year it was actually sunny…"

The pair of them laughed at this.

"I'd love to go back to those islands though" Maria murmured "Maybe show Luis them, after our honeymoon my husband lost his fortunes but we managed to live comfortably enough in our little shanty town. But I'd like to go back there… even to Mexico after Howe's…"

"At least the weather will be nicer down there" Miss King said "I miss the UK, I miss my family, but I don't miss the bloody weather"

She sighed there.

"But it would be nice to see it" she uttered "Just one more time"

"I know the feeling dear" Maria said "I pray that we'll see the world again someday. Even if it seems silly, even if everyone thinks I'm silly for still having faith. I've had it ever since I was a little girl and life has been kind to me. Much kinder than it has been for many others, so I continue to pray and hope for the best".

"Don't we all" Miss King replied, before her thoughts switched to JJ once again.

"Even if most of the time, it doesn't turn out well at all" she thought to herself in anxiety.

* * *

"You reacted!"

"I felt little to no pain"

"You acknowledged pain though"

"How much longer is this going to continue?"

"A while" Molly grinned, answering Ethan's question, from where himself and Terri had been discussing the potential scenario's for how JJ ended up in that state and what limits to take against him, Molly had come over to them and with nothing to do for the time being (they had collected all the firewood they had needed too earlier on) she decided to play a game with them.

"Who is the most robotic!" she declared "Any grunt of pain escapes your lips, or any laughter and you lose! I'm about to find this group's baddest badass!"

None of Molly's jokes towards herself, anyone else's sexual habits, Nick in general or the world long gone had any effect on the pair of them. So she simply decided to outright attempt to tickle the infamous Wellington Wolf, she got him right under the armpits and he thrust away from her past but not before a low… deep… chuckle emitted from his lips, causing Molly and Terri to stare in awe.

"You… you just laughed" Terri noted duly.

"A natural reaction" Ethan muttered composing himself quickly, yet his cheeks felt warm and red and Terri was gazing directly at him and he was looking back, slowly but very surely (due to the blank look on Ethan's face) Terri began to smile as well, before a small giggle escaped her own lips.

"Now you just laughed" Ethan mused, feeling a warm sensation rise in his throat.

"A natural reaction" Terri said, mimicking Ethan's emotionless tone.

"Are you mocking my voice?" Ethan asked with a playful smile.

"Am I?" Terri replied with a smile of her own "Make me laugh again and I'll tell you"

Ethan did so by forcefully tickling her and with this own hands, Terri was now laughing openly something she hadn't done in a very long time and with the Wellington Wolf of all people. Minutes ago they were discussing serious business, they had always done and never cracked a joke or laughed at one another. Yet in the space of minutes here they were, acting like complete giddy idiots, doing a complete 180, out of character thing for the pair of them.

Ethan eventually stopped tickling her, but by this point Terri was red in the face and her chest was hurting from the fact she had tried to stifle her laughter so the whole group didn't overhear her. But she had laughed regardless and felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"I was mocking your voice" Terri answered "Happy now?"

"Yes, It's nice to relax" Ethan replied and Terri knew in those moments he felt the exact same as she did. That light feeling that now coursed through both of their veins, the pressure that had been lifted, maybe the pair of them failed to realise how many emotions they had kept concealed inside of them up until this point and this crazy burst of fun was a way to vent out some stress, stress they didn't even know they had.

"I'm a miracle worker, I can't believe this…" Molly muttered in awe, it took her a full minute to recover from the shock of hearing these two laugh. But it told her that these two were human beings despite everything they had done, so with that out of the way she had gotten onto the pain testing, which resulted in her chucking pine cones at the stoic faces of the pair.

Which had led to Ethan asking the question "How much longer is this going to continue?" but in all truth he was rather enjoying this, now openly competing with Terri as Molly continued to chuck pine cone's at their faces. Both of them waiting to see if the other one crack first, it was silly activity but in light of everything maybe it was what they needed.

"Just wait till I start with kicking, punching, mauling…" Molly listed off causally.

"It sounds like you have a secret agenda against us" Terri said.

"What me? Never!" Molly exclaimed.

"Whatever your agenda it will have to wait for just a minute. I need to relieve myself" Ethan informed the two women as he got to his feet and began to walk towards a nearby clump of bushes.

"Can't you just say I need to piss!?" Molly shouted after him.

"Not breaking already are you!?" Terri called.

"Nope!" Ethan called back, he decided to move out of earshot and sight of the pair and finding a distant spot in the bushes to do his business, Ethan undid the zipper on his fly and proceeded to empty his bladder on the side of a tree. When he was finished he zipped his zipper up again and prepared to get back to the game.

When the sound of distant crying met his ears, looking up curiously Ethan located the source of the weeping in a short space of time.

James (who had been absent from the group ever since the vote this morning) was curled up near a log. His whole body heaving with sobs as he wept into the denim of his jeans, Ethan paused awkwardly unsure of how to approach the situation, it seemed as though whatever was bothering the young man. He had tried to hide his emotions from the rest of the group, just as Ethan had done, always focusing on the mission and never letting his emotions get in the way of things.

Deciding to simply leave James where he was, Ethan took a step to retreat and ended up snapping a twig in the undergrowth. The snap sent James' head soaring upwards as he quickly wiped his eyes and turned to face where Ethan was gazing down at him.

"Oh" he snarled in a voice that wasn't friendly at all "It's you".

"Yeah. Me" Ethan muttered, as James rose to his feet, furiously wiping his eyes although it was a pretty useless task, as tears still splashed down his cheeks. His face was flushed red and his eyes were still bloodshot.

"I was just…" James snapped "Just... allergies that's all" he lied.

"Do you…?" Ethan decided to ask, unsure of how to finish the question, before he simply decided to take a deep breath and get it over with.

"Do you require any assistance?" Ethan inquired.

"No!" James bellowed "I don't fucking need anyone in that dumbass group! Especially not fucking you! What could you do to help anyway!? You're just a fucking murdering sociopath!"

Ethan disliked the way James was seething in rage, hated the way he emphasised the word "YOU!" at Ethan as if he was solely to blame for James' current state and his final statement on what Ethan was, eliminated Ethan's good mood and reminded him of who he really was. Yet James had made his discomfort of Ethan being in the group known beforehand although it was not on this scale.

"Maybe I am" Ethan said "But if you're upset about Frank's death then…"

"IT'S NOT JUST THAT!" James exploded, looking totally demented for a few seconds, as strands of spit flew from his mouth. He eventually calmed himself down somewhat to mutter a calmer response.

"It's everything" he said "Just fucking everything"

Ethan was about to follow up on this information when there was a rustling behind him and Eddie emerged from the bushes carrying a limp Melanie. Ethan knew there was trouble instantly because Melanie was coated in blood and Eddie was having trouble carrying the young woman.

"Help!" Eddie panted at Ethan "She's hurt pretty bad!"

Rushing over to assist, Ethan grasped one of Melanie's loose arms.

"We'll get her to Maria, what happened to her?" Ethan asked of the bearded man in front of him.

"Shit got heated, she tried to stop us but…" he sighed there "It doesn't matter, he's escaped! He's fucking escaped, that little shitbag JJ!"

Ethan felt a wave of dread spread through him, JJ wasn't much of a threat by himself but if he had somehow already injured Melanie to this extent, then he worried immensely for the rest of the group and what JJ was capable of next.

James however seemed to laugh upon hearing this, as Eddie and Ethan looked at him oddly.

"Great!" he chuckled.

"Great fucking news guys!" he spat in heavy sarcasm, laughing himself hoarse at the situation they had found themselves within.


	37. Exposed

**A/N: Hello again, after another long absence I have returned to release this chapter. Regarding last chapter thanks again for reviewing, Robert's survival will be explained in more detail this chapter as I understand it was a bit confusing and unrealistic (then again everything going on now is starting to become unrealistic) which I wish I could change but as the story gets crazier I'll keep trying to make the characters as believable and realistic as I possibly can thanks for sticking aboard for this!**

**Anyway I've joined the telltale forums recently, so keep an eye out for ZombieGuy96 on the forums as I'll be posting every so often especially now I'm on the hype train for Season 3. After finally watching Michonne and Tales of the Borderlands online I have faith Telltale can once again create a great game. Game of Thrones and The Wolf Among us were pretty good, Michonne too, but Tales is fantastic and The Walking Dead Season 1 and Tales have made me very deeply invested with the characters and made me cry when we lose them (Lee and even Scooter...) anyway I'm rambling now I have faith in Season 3 and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it as well (especially since Trump is now in president, we could use some good news)**

**Okay enough rambling, here's chapter 37!**

* * *

"WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Aidan roared this at the foliage in front of him, his face a beet red from having chased JJ through the tree's, his chest was heaving and his skin was coated in a layer of sweat. From behind him he heard a rustling and quickly raised his weapon to defend himself, only to see a panting Jessica come to a halt behind him.

"Keep up" Aidan growled at her.

"Right, sorry" Jessica mumbled, like Aidan she was red faced but in more than just exhaustion, her blunder and the maiming she had accidentally given Melanie still weighed heavily on her mind preventing her from concentrating on the task at hand.

"Where did Jason go?" Aidan shot at Jessica, his eyes wildly scanning the green panorama in front of him.

"I-I think he went off in another direction, to c-clear more space" Jessica replied, her voice as shaky as her hands.

"Well we need to hurry" Aidan snarled "I'm not sleeping tonight knowing that freak is out here"

"Regardless it doesn't change what I did, even if we do catch him" Jessica mumbled feeling sorry for herself, as she hung her head in shame.

"Don't think about that now" Aidan instructed her "Think if we catch and kill JJ or TT whatever fucking name he wants to go by, you'll have made up for it, besides nothing bad against Melanie but if she had just stayed still and let us do what we needed to do..."

Aidan paused there and took a deep breath, giving Jessica a small ghost of a smile.

"At least you made the sensible choice"

Jessica smiled back at him.

"Thanks"

"Oh look at you two, so fuckable and fucked in equal measures..." came a growl from the nearby tree's, which sent Aidan sprinting in the direction of the voice, bursting into another clearing, he gazed around wildly and roared "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"

There was no response other than the chirping of the birds in the tree's, straining his ears Aidan thought he could make out some rustling from a point behind him, but expected that to be Jessica coming up from behind him, he waited there for a full minute straining his ears again. Wherever JJ was he couldn't hide forever and even if he could Aidan was a well built man currently carrying a blunt axe he had used the past couple of weeks to chop down thick branches from tree's to use as firewood. In a physical match JJ stood no chance against him, he could hide as much as he liked but Aidan would find him and kill him. Even if he stayed hidden, what was he going to eat? How was he going to survive out here on his own? He'd have to follow the group, which would be well defended as one, weak, skinny, teenage psychopath, missing an ear and nearly burnt to death beforehand (his skin was still raw to the touch) couldn't out-power the group no matter what he did.

"I'd rather get it over with now though" Aidan thought to himself, then he'd be the one everyone would look up to for once. Everyone just saw him as some douche-bag or stereotyped jock like character, in Wellington it was just the way he was. Out here he had tried to be more useful to the group, faking his injury and getting Luke into power was something he was proud of. But now Luke had gone and made a bloody mistake and Aidan found it hard to control his anger and impulses, he always had done, even before the apocalypse he had anger management issues. Right now JJ being alive was a trigger to spark that anger, maybe because Aidan blamed himself for JJ escaping because if he had just been faster...

"Fuck" he snapped to himself, hating himself in those moments and wanting to kill JJ more than ever. Not only was the kid nuts but if Aidan killed him, then the group would look to him in respect for once. Jessica would see him as someone more than just the boneheaded brute looking for 5 minutes of pleasure, Luke would respect and even admire him for helping to fix his mistake, that kid Clementine may have looked up to him, maybe...

Aidan continued to fantasise about the possibilities until he realised it was too quiet, he turned around and knew then what was troubling him... Jessica hadn't shown up yet and it had been over two minutes.

"Jessica!" he called out.

No response.

"JESS!?" He shouted once again, his voice more shaky and filled with concern than it had been previously.

Only the wildlife called back to him, as the silence began building on his shoulders making the young man sweat even harder and raise his weapon higher.

This wasn't good.

"You're stronger than him, just take him out... one swing... one swing..." Aidan whispered to himself, as he slowly cut his way through the foliage ahead.

* * *

"Can't you stop the bleeding!?"

"I'm trying! It's a complicated wound and I'm not a miracle worker!" Maria exclaimed to Eddie, everyone was crowded around her gazing in horror at Melanie, who was passed out on the forest floor, as a fountain as crimson liquid bubbled and dribbled down the lower half of her face.

"She's not going to die, is she?!" Miss King asked in a panicked concern.

"I don't know, if the blood loss continues it is likely" Maria muttered.

"Oh Jesus... Jesus..." Miss King groaned.

Eddie looked up from where he was gazing at Melanie and his eyes locked on Luke who was frozen in place gazing down at the scene. After stumbling into the clearing with Melanie in this state, it didn't take Eddie long to explain how she had attained this injury and how JJ had escaped. Jason, Jessica and Aidan had gone after him to kill him once and for all, Luke just sat through Eddie's speech silently although Eddie expected him to speak, to protest or say something Luke didn't mutter a word. Nick kept gazing back at him in concern and now that Eddie was gazing directly back at Luke again, Nick's eyes remained locked upon the pair of them.

"I've got nothing to say to you" Eddie snarled.

"But you want to" Luke mumbled "So go ahead, I need to hear it Eddie".

"You made a fucking mistake, a fucking big one! and when this is over you're not going to be leader anymore ,you know that right?" Eddie snarled.

Luke blinked and gazed down at his missing leg and rubbed his hand over his missing eye, he must have looked pathetic like this and Eddie had a point, he knew from the start he wasn't ready to do this again. It was breaking him, the blame, the pressure, the choices he had to make... he knew this would happen.

"Why did you give power too me?" Luke droned "If you knew I was going to fail, like I did before"

"We... I" Eddie muttered "I thought you'd changed, we escaped Wellington, we took down Tom! I thought after that you'd be more aware of what risks keeping nutters in the group would do! But no! Once again you royally fucked us over!"

"YOU TRY BEING LEADER THEN!?" Luke exploded, losing his temper rather suddenly "I FUCKED UP, OKAY!? I DON'T NEED REMINDING OF IT EVERY TEN SECONDS...!"

"SEEMS LIKE YOU NEED TO!" Eddie roared back "BECAUSE YOU CLEARLY DON'T SEEM TO GET THE MESSAGE! YOU CAN'T EVEN HUNT DOWN JJ OR BENEFIT THIS GROUP WITH YOUR DISABILITY!"

"I CAN STILL DO...!" Luke was cut off as he attempted to stand on his one leg once again, but in his haste he stumbled and collapsed onto the ground. Wiping the dirt off his face Luke looked up at Eddie and knew his argument was invalid, he was disabled here, he was useless, he couldn't run to save his life or protect the group. He sent Clementine and Stephanie off hunting in his own place, he was as useless as a teenage girl and a pregnant lady. He was useless as a leader, trying to keep the group's morale in place had resulted in this... Melanie dying, JJ's escape... what was next.

"Fine" Luke wheezed "I give up"

Eddie was panting fiercely, but he didn't seem to say another word and in the silence that now lingered over the group, Ethan came up to Maria.

"Let me help" he insisted.

"Okay" Maria muttered not bothering to test his faith on this, the exhausted Mexican woman allowed Ethan to take over, as his lighting quick hands got to work in trying to stem the blood flow from Melanie's severed tongue, Maria looked on in an impressed manner.

"Why didn't you help Melanie there with the medical treatment?" Maria inquired after observing his process for a full minute "You seem to know what you're doing"

"I didn't think you'd want me helping" Ethan muttered.

"I thought you were just a fighter" Miss King uttered "But you can do medical stuff too?"

"Yeah, he seemed to patch up Ryan by the wall when the walker broke in" Eddie interjected before his eyes darkened a fraction "But a fat lot of good that did"

"But he still did it" Terri interjected quickly to defend Ethan "and I'm impressed, you must have been trained to prepare for all of this".

"I was trained for it my whole life" Ethan informed her "It's come in handy now..." he peered down and appeared to be pinching the tip of Melanie's tongue as he carefully seemed to be wrapping something around the fleshly muscle to stop it from bleeding.

"Hold her mouth open... I think I can stop the bleeding" Ethan instructed of Maria who followed his lead.

"You could have helped me with Luke back in the fire you know" she told him kindly.

"I'm more trained in combat for that sort of scenario" Ethan said to her, "You seem to be the group's medic here".

"Well you're giving me a run for my money" Maria commented before she turned to the glowering form of Eddie who had made a "Pah" sort of noise at the compliments Maria was giving Ethan.

"I understand how you feel" Maria said to him.

"You really don't" Eddie snapped, like a sulky schoolchild.

"Luke... Luke made a mistake, there's no doubting that" Maria said loudly.

"Can we just stop rubbing it in!?" Nick spoke up at long last "Seriously, it wasn't just Luke. Half of us here are too blame as well! We voted to save him! I'm sick of this pointing fingers shit and blaming and killing whoever's weakest. It's like we're accepting a fucking Darwinism style of life here and I don't like it"

"You're right Nick, we all made a mistake" Maria continued "But look at Ethan here, we accepted him into the group when he could have been classed as insane as JJ is now and we accepted Terri and she was a serial killer!"

"That's putting it lightly" Terri interjected quietly, as Maria continued to speak.

"But they've saved us! They've proved useful too us! I don't know what made Tom or JJ different from Terri or Ethan, the lines have become too blurred for any of us to tell whose really good or bad anymore. But giving people a chance is what we're about and yes Luke as a leader made a mistake, but it was a very easy and understandable mistake too make and I'm sure we've all made mistakes like it and we're all still here because someone like Luke has forgiven us and given us a second chance to carry on!".

She looked around at the majority of the group who were gazing back at her.

"But... you don't get it!" Eddie stubbornly persisted.

"EDDIE!" Nick snapped "Remember when you nearly shot Vitali and fucked over the whole group! Luke and Clem stood up for your then! We could have left you, it was because of you I got shot!" Nick recalled "But we forgave you and what about me! I fucked up big style but you and the others always welcomed me back!"

"Can we not keep bringing up what happened and what is actually happening _now!"_ Eddie snapped "Why do you have to keep on justifying his behaviour! Why does he get all the support!? Why does he get everything!?"

"What are you going on about!?" Molly snapped, entering the foray later than expected.

"HE GETS YOU!" Eddie imploded "HE GETS HIS FRIENDS! HE GETS A BUNCH OF NEWCOMERS STICKING UP FOR HIM! HE GETS FUCKING EVERYTHING AND NO ONE CAN SEE IT'S BECAUSE OF HIM! I WANT HIM... PUNISHED!" Eddie screamed.

"I LOST A FUCKING EYE AND A LEG MAN!" Luke roared "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!? DROP DOWN DEAD!? HAVE SOMEONE I'M CLOSE TO DIE!? LIKE NICK, MOLLY OR CLEM!?"

"MAYBE IF THEY DID! YOU'D UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL!" Eddie roared.

"You... don't... you don't mean that" Molly uttered in horror.

An uncomfortable silence overcame the group, it was like that for about thirty seconds before Ethan straightened up and gazed down at the pale form of Melanie.

"I've stopped the bleeding" he announced "She should be okay"

"Good" came a new voice "Because we have a second patient for you"

Everyone's jaws hit the floor when Stephanie and Clementine emerged from behind a clump of nearby bushes and wedged between them and being supported by the pair of them, they were dragging along the very alive and battered form of Robert Allen.

"Howdy dumb-fucks" he croaked with a snarky smile towards the shocked group.

* * *

_If there was one thing Robert Allen enjoyed, other than the risks he took, the men and women he slept with, the need for power, the blissful feeling of getting pissed or high, the pride and love he had for his son and family, it was the peace and quiet._

_Someone as volatile and unpredictable as Robert needed time to himself, that didn't count when he was sulking at the back of this group when they trekked in the day. He could feel the glares of the others pressing against his temple, he could hear the merry conversations they had and how excluded he felt. Regardless of whether or not he was a good or bad leader, or whether what they had done had been for his own good. They had still ousted him and that hurt his personal pride and caused the former editor to distance himself from them._

_But here in the dead of night, away from Jason's ungodly snoring and simply gazing at the starry, clear sky above the endless rows of pine tree's filled Robert with a sense of calm and ease. After the madness of the fire in Wellington and their miracle escape, he swept his hand across the blades of grass below him and ran his fingers across the rough bark of nearby protruding tree roots, he inhaled the deep scent of the damp forest around him. It all felt natural, calm and real... hugging himself against the cold January gales he looked up at the clear white orbs in the sky._

_"I wish you were here" Robert muttered to thin air, watching white vapour emit from his mouth "You can get the best view of the night sky in January"._

_Robert had to think about it, July 2003 this whole thing had started it was now mid January 2010, it had been six and a half (coming up to 7) years since this whole thing had started. Six and a half years. Had it really been that long since he was happily married to his beautiful wife Lynn? Was it really that long since his boy Ryan had been so small? Had it really been so long that he had been freelance Journalist around the Michigan area, writing for various papers? _

_He closed his eyes and dreamed of the normal life he lived so long ago, when he was just a normal and bland guy who was set up to be a typical family man. His friends, Kirk, Peter, John, Vicky, Sam... all distant memories now. All died along with his wife on the first couple of days the dead started rising, forced to care for his young son as they got to Wellington. Robert was lost in grief and left his son more than he should have done, that's when he started drinking to blot out the pain, sleeping with strangers... before he finally realised he had wits about him and used those to rise in the career leader, but he still wished his young son was by his side right now. Robert wished he could have done more for his son and Ryan's death only made him realise he had been a neglectful father focused first on grief and then his career and sent him on a depressive episode once again._

_Maybe that episode hadn't ended, maybe it never would because he had nothing left to lose now._

_The distant howling of wolves prickled at his eardrums, groaning and being dragged down to earth he reached for his gun which he kept in his trouser pocket._

_It was empty._

_Alarmed he dug into his pocket again and ruffled around... nothing._

_"I must have dropped it back when I got up" he told himself, he rushed back to his sleeping bag and was alarmed however to find his gun was nowhere amidst the covers. He quickly retreated from the survivor camp and retraced his route to his place of solitude, amidst the thick foliage he had to have dropped his gun here somewhere..._

_Wait, there it was... voices, distant voices it sounded like two men were arguing over something._

_"Of course" Robert thought to himself, a new bubble of panic expanding his stomach and crawling up his throat._

_"I didn't drop my gun, it was stolen" he concluded, as he followed the sources of the voices he couldn't tell who they were and as suddenly as they were there, they were gone. A sudden impactful silence which told Robert something bad had happened, he swore he could have heard the faint POP of a gunshot in the distance and he was determined to stop whatever the hell was happening now. There was only one gun in group for a reason and he was keeping it close to his chest. How had someone managed to steal it off him? As a prosecution he always double checked his pockets before he slept, he must have only dozed off for an hour today before awakening and heading off to his secluded spot... why didn't he check for his gun then? He groaned to himself someone had simply gotten lucky and caught him when his guard was at it's very lowest. _

_Robert could make out the distant figure of Miss King dozing on a tree (and she was meant to be on guard?) well she clearly hadn't heard the commotion and he gathered it was up to him to put a stop to this._

_Venturing forward he became aware of two new voices and he was close now... he could tell who that was... Frank and that kid... JJ... in curiosity Robert peered out into the clearing they were in._

_Jasper was dead, a look of terror was on his face and blood drenched his clothing near to his heart, from above him Frank had his hands in the air and JJ was pointing Robert's very own gun at him._

_"...didn't do it! I DIDN'T DO IT, I DIDN'T DO IT!" JJ was roaring._

_"...WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE HERE BOY!?" Frank snarled back "PUT THE DAMN GUN DOWN! AND LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS! WE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING!"_

_"I HAVE TO KILL YOU! YOU THINK I KILLED JASPER, WHEN I DIDN'T!" JJ screamed, tears now pouring down his face. _

_"WHO ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT!?" Frank demanded._

_"I DON'T KNOW I FOUND HIM LIKE THIS!" JJ shrieked "WITH THE GUN BY HIS SIDE! I JUST PICKED IT UP FOR PROTECTION!"_

_"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Frank roared "NOW CALM DOWN! AND JUST...!"_

_"They hate you JJ" JJ muttered in a much quieter tone, as Robert leaned in to listen "They know you're a murderer now"._

_"I didn't do it!" JJ protested back at himself._

_"What are you talking about?" Frank snapped, as JJ ignored him._

_"It's not my fault!" JJ wept "I honestly just found him here! Why does no one believe me!?"_

_"Because they hate you" TT snarled "and you are a murderer, you killed Rebecca and AJ!"_

_"That was you!" JJ snapped._

_"Oh this isn't true, this isn't true..." Frank muttered in appalled horror._

_BANG!_

_This gunshot sent Frank straight to the ground, a look of shock plastered onto his face as Robert's heart was thumping in his ears as Frank twitched on the grassy ground for a few seconds before he went still, a puddle of blood started expanding around his form._

_"What have I done, what have I done, what have I done..." JJ panicked, pacing up and down and rubbing his hands through his ruined hair viciously. _

_"You made sure you're not going to break" TT responded coming to a halt "He knew too much, they have to die if they know too much! Like AJ he knew we set up Tom to die, so on that crane when you wanted to help Rebecca up, you need to understand both of them needed to be dropped and I helped you there. We aren't going to break, we've come too far"._

_"You're right" JJ muttered a blank look becoming evident on his face before he began to laugh himself hoarse, Robert was frozen in place not knowing what the hell to make of this, before he could move TT's insane eyes locked upon his own from where he was crouched in the bushes. Robert should have run then but before he could the gun was trained directly on him and a roar of "GET OUT HERE! OR I'LL SHOOT!" was heard by him, as he emerged from the bushes trying to think of a way out of this, even though he had just seen Frank gunned down with no mercy and JJ had snapped completely now so he didn't have any chance of getting out of this alive._

_"How much did you hear?" TT snarled._

_"Everything" Robert admitted honestly before he could stop himself._

_TT didn't need to say a word, he lifted his gun and pulled down on the trigger, Robert saw his life flash before his eyes as he inhaled deeply but in the last nanosecond, he realised he didn't want to die, despite his depressive state._

_"WAIT" He bellowed in desperation"I want to go out on my own terms" he improvised wildly._

_"I want you dead" TT snapped._

_"I will be" Robert panted "Just... I can't go on anyway. I'm not leaving here alive and I've wanted to die anyway, especially after everything I've heard today. I have no faith in the group anymore, they are all going to die and you are as well"._

_"I'M NOT GOING TO BREAK!" TT exploded, lifting his gun to Robert's forehead. Robert could have tried to tackle him but he had a feeling if he made one wrong move, he'd be killed instantly and was better not to take that risk._

_"But you have to survive, you have to do something!" he thought to himself wildly, he had learnt JJ or TT had outsmarted them all. Everything that happened with Tom... JJ had been the one who had set up Tom's downfall. Robert thought he was the smart mastermind behind it all but he was just a pawn for JJ's work and he killed AJ and Rebecca to keep himself safe. This maniac needed to go, Robert was still grateful to Maria, Terri and Luis those three needed protecting from JJ as well, he had to survive this or they would never know the truth (unless JJ or TT slipped up again, but by that point who else would be dead? Rebecca, AJ, Jasper and Frank had all been victims of JJ so far and even Tom in a sense) so who would be next to die? Robert felt his old journalistic instinct kick in once again, he had uncovered valuable information and he had expose it. _

_"You're an idiot, wanting to break yourself" TT muttered as he crouched on the ground and retrieved something from Jasper's back, a rope, he threw the thing at Robert's feet._

_"Hang yourself from that tree, I want to watch you die" TT snarled "I want to see you break for real, so I can convince JJ of why we're better off alive"._

_"You're insane, I..." Robert began._

_"NOW!" TT snapped, raising Robert's gun on him once again._

_There was no other choice Robert saw a low hanging branch and quickly made a noose out of the rope, feeling TT's glare on him the whole time he was doing it. He was praying someone would come along to discover this. JJ had been yelling enough... where was Miss King when you needed her? Ethan? Terri? Clementine? Nick or Luke? Anyone? No... he was going to die here..._

_Wait, he was currently on his tiptoes on a large protruding root, he was tall and if he stuck his legs behind the root than maybe..._

_"NOW, BREAK YOURSELF!" TT exclaimed._

_Gulping and forcing his head into the noose's tight hold, Robert wasted no time, as TT approached him and smiled._

_"Idiot" he mused._

_He then kicked Robert, so Robert had nothing below him and instantly the cut of the rope squeezed impossibly tight on his neck, he couldn't breathe, his neck was close to snapping, he wildly thrashed his legs around looking for the saving grace of the large branch, he could hear TT laughing somewhere far away, his ears were filling with white noise, he was starting to slow down..._

_Then... the soles of his feet rested on the tip of the tree branch, he obscured his feet from view and applied as much weight as possible as he could on his legs and with a great relief he could breathe again, the pressure was gone from his neck, but he could still hear TT laughing so he pretended to carry on choking and closed his eyes in apparent agony (because if he kept them open and then had to blink, his act was up) before he felt his body go limp. With his eyes closed he couldn't see a thing but TT's laughing stopped, he gathered TT thought he was dead then._

_"Idiot" TT repeated "Now JJ we can blame Robert on killing them and then killing himself"._

_"They won't believe us!"_

_"They will"_

_"We need to hide the bodies!"_

_"I'm hungry though!"_

_"We can eat them and dispose of the evidence, hell we haven't eaten all day..."_

_Robert thought JJ/TT sounded more deranged by the second, it wasn't really clear who was who anymore and when he dared cranked open his eye a fraction to see what was going on, he was horrified to see JJ using his sickle to slice open the bodies of Frank and Jasper as he began to consume them, removing all of their clothes in the process._

_"Jesus Christ, he's completely fucking broken" Robert thought to himself "If (or when) the group finally decide to show their asses and find this, they'll know JJ/TT is insane anyway" Robert thought to himself, they had to put him down then. Maybe they wouldn't know the full truth but the threat would be gone._

_Robert himself was struggling to hold himself upright, his grip on the damp root was slipping away slowly as he tried to stay still, but the rope was cutting into his neck once again, he struggled but JJ/TT now seemed so insane and yet invested in his cannibalism he no longer paid any attention to Robert at all. But Robert was losing this, he could feel his heavy body dragging him down and the rope cutting off his windpipe as he gasped and tried to take silent deep breaths... but he was losing his vision... his throat hurt so badly..._

_The last thing he heard was Miss King's shrill scream before the world went black._

_Then a flash of a face... mumbling..._

_The smell of dirt..._

_He was somewhere... he couldn't breathe! Weight and bodies were on top of him... he struggled feebly but felt soil clog his nose and mouth..._

_His throat was dry... he couldn't move..._

_Air? He could breathe clearer... a flash of daylight, a woman's face._

_He was breathing again, somehow by some means he heard a woman's voice as he reached his arm outwards..._

_"...whatever happened here JJ seems unlikely to be responsible..." Robert felt his hand clasp around her wrist as she screamed in shock and he propelled himself out of his make-shift grave._

* * *

"...and that" Robert said, his throat as sore as ever "Is what happened".

For about the 50th time that day a silence spread across the mound of survivors, as they had digested everything Robert had heard and was now telling them.

"So it was JJ all along? He set up Tom and messed with AJ?" Terri inquired.

"Yep and he killed Rebecca and AJ" Robert told them "and you let him live, you frickin liberal asshats"

"We... we... Jesus" Maria muttered "We really did fuck up"

Clementine gazed over at Luis who had been silent this entire time, a look of deep concern was on his face and it was near enough impossible to tell what the hell was going through his mind right now. Everyone else shared similar looks of discomfort or horror, James looked particularly scarred by events, even Ethan and Terri looked disturbed by the truth coming to light.

"He was just a kid" Nick muttered "AJ was a fucking kid, he... why!?" Nick snapped.

"He wanted to save himself, that's why" Robert snarled "He broke ages ago, whose gone to deal with him?"

"We sent Aidan, Jess and Jason after him". Luke mumbled sadly.

"Brilliant the jock with no brains, the bimbo who maimed Melanie here and the British asshole, couldn't have arranged a better A-Team myself " Robert snapped in heavy sarcasm at the defeated group in front of him.

"But they'll be able to take him down!" Miss King announced with a hint of optimism "I mean I know he has already killed Frank and Jasper, but he had a gun then, he doesn't now. He is powerless against those guys"

"He didn't have a gun when he killed Rebecca and AJ" Stephanie mumbled sadly.

"Yeah but we're not on top of a crane this time" Miss King added.

"He didn't have a gun when he killed grown men outside Gertrude's house back during the first riot" Clementine muttered as all eyes turned to face her "I saw him drown a guy in his own blood, he exhausted another grown guy and lead him into a trap. JJ or TT will play by every rule to win a fight, his killed grown men before when he was weaker and had less experience... he most likely killed Tom as well and even back in school when he snapped he broke Scott's arm like it was nothing. His stronger and much more deadly then he looks..."

"But three against one" Miss King muttered in deflating hope.

"I don't think their coming back" Clementine mournfully said.

"Three more dead because of this asshole" came Eddie's voice before there was a click of a gun.

Everyone froze in an instance, Robert's gun was planted on the side of Luke's head and Eddie was holding it with an unforgiving look on his face.

"How is every Tom Dick and Harry just picking up this gun like it's nothing!" Robert snapped.

"I got it out of Luke's bag while everyone else was listening to your story" Eddie informed him, as Luke gulped and turned to face Eddie.

"Don't!" Nick pleaded "For God's sake Eddie, Don't!"

"Anybody moves and I will shoot him, don't think I won't" Eddie informed the frozen group.

"Eddie if you do this" Molly snapped "If you kill him I don't care how blind I am, I will fucking rip you to shreds!"

"Yeah, I bet you will" Eddie laughed humorlessly after this "But I'm going to do it anyway because I'm so fucking fed up of everyone trying to talk it out!"

"Eddie..." Luke nearly whispered.

"WHAT!?" He exploded.

"Why are you doing this?"

Eddie paused for a moment, but he didn't move his gun and no one dared even to move a muscle, because the look on Eddie's face was deadly serious and any sudden movement would result in Luke's certain death. Considering the fact there was no chance Eddie could miss the shot either made people not want to risk it.

"I've lost everything" Eddie eventually said "Wyatt died because Luke decided to spare Vince! Violet died because of Tom and now I've learnt JJ was behind that! and that same asshole went onto kill Rebecca and AJ! We had our chance! I HAD MY CHANCE TO END THIS ALL! TO GET MY FUCKING REVENGE AND LUKE HERE FUCKING DENIES IT AND WALKS AWAY WITH HIS BEST FRIEND, WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND..." He shot two loathsome glares at Nick and Molly at this point "HE'S RUINED ME! HE'S THE REASON I'VE LOST SO MANY PEOPLE! I'VE GOT NO ONE LEFT TO LOSE NOW! SO I WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR ONCE! ALL OF YOU!"

"Eddie, I'm... I'm so sorry..." Luke muttered near the verge of tears.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP!" Eddie snapped "ALL THE FUCKING I'M SO SORRY SHIT! YOU CAN SWEET TALK EVERYONE ELSE LUKE, BUT NOT ME!"

"EDDIE WE'VE ALL LOST PEOPLE!" Clementine exclaimed "PLEASE, I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!"

"THEN YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL!" Eddie roared "BOTH OF YOU ARE ABLE TO GO BACK IN TIME AND CHANGE THINGS AND EVERYTHING BUT YOU STILL SOMEHOW FUCK ME OVER! YOU NEVER GAVE A SHIT ABOUT ME!"

"Go back in time?" Miss King asked of herself, as she shared confused looks with those who didn't know about Luke and Clementine's "power" yet.

"THAT ISN'T TRUE!" Nick snarled "WE DID EVERYTHING TO HELP EACH OTHER! THINK ABOUT ALL THE TIME WE WERE TOGETHER IN WELLINGTON, OR GETTING TO WELLINGTON! WE LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER, IT WASN'T ALWAYS PERFECT BUT WE DID ALL WE COULD!"

"THEN IT WASN'T ENOUGH!" Eddie snapped "NOW SHUT UP AND JUST LET ME DO THIS...!"

"EDDIE PLEASE...!" Stephanie screeched.

"SHUT IT!" Eddie exploded.

"EDDIE, THIS ISN'T GOING TO BRING THEM BACK!" Clementine roared "THIS ISN'T WHAT REBECCA OR AJ WOULD HAVE WANTED!"

"IT'S WHAT I WANT!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Eddie I..." Clementine groaned "You know what I did? I got my old friend Omid killed, he was Christa's boyfriend and the father of her child. Her life became ruined because of me. But she still cared for me and looked out for me, then a group I'm part of kills her Russian group she had grown close too. Then Vince survived and killed Mike as well, Christa suffered like you did Eddie and I never appreciated how strong she had been for me for all that time. By the time I got too her again it was already too late... she had been there for so long and probably felt so underappreciated, like you do now. But we do... we do all care for you. If we didn't you wouldn't even be here right now".

"I... i..." Eddie stuttered.

"If it gives you any peace of mind" Luke spoke up "Then do it. You're right Eddie I have deserved all of this, you've always tried to group safer better than I have. I never listened to you. I never knew how you felt, I... I r-really am s-sorry..."

Eddie's gun was shaking in his fingers now, as tears began to well in his eyes and splashed down his cheeks, as he sniffed loudly he wanted too... he wanted them too feel his pain for fucking once... but wasn't him. He wasn't a bad guy.

"I'm so pathetic" Eddie sobbed, moving the gun away from Luke's head, however before the group could take a collective breath of relief, Eddie turned the gun on himself.

"NO!" Luke and Clementine bellowed in unison.

BANG

The bullet missed Eddie's head by a centimetre, he fell to the ground as Luke (being unable to stand up) had grabbed Eddie by the legs and pushed him to the ground, saving his life from his own suicide attempt.

Eddie looked at where the gun lay on the ground next to him and then back at Luke both men gazed at each other for a few moments.

"I can't do this anymore" Eddie muttered in a hollow voice "I can't be around you anymore, I could... I could fuck up even more..."

"Eddie"

"Don't follow me" Eddie sobbed as he rose to his feet and proceeded to sprint on away from the group before anyone could stop him. Stephanie however trailed him and screamed "EDDIE! EDDIE! STOP! EDDIE PLEASE...!" as she ran after him. The rest of the group remained sitting in another silence, before a red faced and panting Stephanie returned five minutes later.

"He's gone!" she wept " He's really left!"

She crashed into Nick chest and allowed him to hold her as she wept onto his coat, Luke was numb from where he still lay on the ground. Robert managed to gain his senses first and proceeded to pick up the gun on the ground.

"I'll take charge" he muttered "Now where are those three..."

* * *

Fun.

That's what TT was having.

Sneaking up behind the blonde bitch, snapping her neck and then stealing her knife and then slowly hurling the brute towards his trap, his hands were still covered in bits of wood and dirt, he had to dig the ditch which was now covered in a thick layer of leaves, so he could lure in his next victim, he could hear that British idiot swearing at him, coming towards him. He laughed as he took another bite out of Jessica's flesh and then looked over at the body of Aidan he had recovered from his trap.

"HEY, THERE YOU...!" Jason exclaimed, before he stopped, his eyes dilating in terror, as he gazed upon the nude, dead forms of Aidan and Jessica, who JJ was currently eating.

"THEY TASTE NICE!" JJ called over to him.

"You just need to die, right fucking now" Jason snapped "You're just... fucking... fucking insane! How can you just sit there! You're eating people! People you survived with! People who hunted to get you food, people who shared supplies with you!"

"I don't care" JJ snarled "Not anymore, there's nothing worse than breaking and I need food to survive".

"You... just FUCKING YOU!" Jason roared racing towards JJ, his weapon raised high ready to end this once and for all, JJ licked his lips at the delicious dinner coming his way, he wasn't even going around him. Just charging forward in anger like Aidan had done.

Jason fell the same way.

He stepped onto the leafy patch and in caved in revealing the ditch below, where several wooded spikes were being held upright by the thick layer of mud below them, Aidan's still wet blood and chunks of flesh still stained many of the sticks (sharpened by JJ with the knife he had acquired from Jessica and knowing he couldn't simply snap the necks of these stronger and more brutal men) he was luring them into a trap and they fell for it, as Jason fell into the ditch with a surprised yelp which was instantly ceased as a stick went straight through his neck and he made a series of gasping and choking sounds, five more had entered his body, one through his leg, three through his torso and one through his collarbone.

Jason tried to struggle to break free, but was helplessly as he lay staring at the muddy ground below him, painfully and slowly bleeding out.

"It was easy to dig here you know" JJ said causally inspecting under his nails that were saturated with mud "The ground was soft and you and Aidan are so heavy and hit the sticks with a lot of force, so of course they'll go through you".

Jason continued to make some choking noises.

"The sticks didn't take me long either" JJ said "It's a classic trap but genius in this scenario I can't believe you fell for it. I thought you were meant to be a professional survivalist?"

Jason croaked and gasped, managing two words.

"Fack... you..."

Then thinking of his long lost daughter who he hoped to see again, he fell into a painful black abyss, escaping Wellington despite the impossible, surviving for so long out here and nearly 7 years into the apocalypse, after every dangerous situation and group he had found himself within. It all ended here, because he fell into a simple, goddamn, avoidable trap! He could have cried in anger at himself or frustration at his current situation but all he could do was envision his baby girl and smile to himself.

"Daddy's coming" he thought to himself, before his body went limp and Jason lay as dead as could be, in the ditch.

"You'll make a great source of food" JJ said, as he prepared to retrieve the body from the ditch.

It would keep him going and he would kill anyone who threatened his life, it was all about survival now and nothing else.

That's who he was now.


	38. The Help

**A/N: Hello again, back once again (it seems like updates will come once a month due to work commitments now)however I plan on staying committed to finishing this story right until the very end. On chapter 38 out of 52 there isn't that long to go now, so I mentally encouraging myself to get this finished but not rush it so I have the ending duly planned out and hope it entertains you guys.**

**Also to answer the review from last chapter on the character ages, these the ages from youngest to eldest...**

**Clementine, 15**

**JJ, 17**

**Terri, 18**

**Luis, 19**

**Miss King, 24**

**Stephanie, 25**

**Melanie, 27**

**Eddie, 28**

**James, 29**

**Nick and Ethan, 30**

**Luke and Molly, 31**

**Robert, 37**

**Maria, 48 **

**I've tried to keep accurate track of everyone's ages and that's the current result, also Olivia I imagine is 63 and Robinson 39 (just in case you were curious) but yep looking at the list, I've realised there seems to be lack of diversity in having really old or young characters. I suppose a reason for this, is that the age demographic for those still alive 15 to 48 is when humans are at their physical peak and would be more likely to survive an apocalypse, hence why their are so many teenagers and young adults still around, compared to old people or toddlers and babies. **

**Anyway, Thanks again for reviewing and the Season 3 trailer, is anyone else other than me hyped! Can't wait to see what it brings, Javier is looking fairly interesting and Clem... looks like a badass seeing her and Ellie again has made my day. Feel free to share your reviews and thoughts about Season 3 when it comes out as I will be happy to discuss them with you guys. **

**But now back to this chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

Robert sighed.

He never much liked Aidan, Jessica or Jason but seeing their detached heads and detached limbs lying there amidst the foliage, was something that made even the seasoned Journalist clamp his eyes shut and feel immense sorrow for what these three must have gone through in their final moments.

"Fuck" Nick muttered in shock, gazing at the slaughter in front of him.

"Fuck, sounds about right" Robert replied, as the rest of the group funneled behind him. Luke placed shamefully at the back, the young former leader couldn't even bare to look at the deaths he knew were his own fault. More people were dead because of him, people had lied to get him into power, how that had backfired on them all.

"First Jasper and Frank and now fucking this" Robert spat "That psychopath isn't going to stop until we're all wiped out"

"But...why!?" Miss King exclaimed to him.

A silence rang across the group, Miss King herself (being her clumsy self) nearly tripped into the death pit that Robert had pointed out at them all to avoid. The mechanisms of the trap JJ had set up were simple and effective enough to lure three people into an early grave. Robert had to wonder if this group we're really worth saving if they were this stupid to save JJ, this was exactly the result the three lying dead (and the absent Eddie) wanted to avoid.

But it happened anyway.

"Oh God..." Miss King groaned, whether it was because of the smell, or because of the grief she now felt was left up for anyone to decide. Because the former teacher crouched on her knees and proceeded to vomit into the nearby bushes once again.

"Does it ever end?" Stephanie asked "Just... will we actually find a place where this shit can just... never happen?" she was looking down at her bump as she muttered this.

"I wish I could say yes" Robert uttered "But I don't think so"

"This is my fault..." Luke began in a quiet voice that made everyone in the group turn their heads towards him. He looked like a mere shell of a man, plastered white, with heavy black bags under his remaining eye, his was shaking slightly on the spot, despite being supported by Molly. His missing leg now seemed more noticeable than ever as he looked down at the forest floor, still shaken by what had occurred with Eddie and now seeing this... he couldn't reign in his guilt any longer.

"I don't need to be told again" Luke said "I... just need everyone to know, everything's that happened. With Eddie, Frank, Jasper, Aidan, Jessica and Jason... it's all my fault and if anyone wants to hate me then feel free... I don't want an apology... I just want people to know..."

"Nice try Luke" Molly muttered from next to him "But the fact stands you are too blame, along with the rest of us who voted to keep him alive. So yeah we all have to feel guilty, but it's not _all_ your fault, remember that".

Luke was silent, but Molly felt his grip on her increase in those moments, his silent thanks.

"We should bury them" Terri suggested.

"Or what's left of them" Ethan added.

Another silence overcame the sombre group as Robert inspected them all. Luke, ashamed of himself and rightly so, looking weaker and more pale than ever before using Molly as his support. Despite her blindness and the dirtying bandage around her eyes and her wild blonde hair, Molly still had a determined look plastered onto her face. Nick and Stephanie clung to each other, their blue eyes wide in fear of every shadow lurking in the nearby treeline. Ethan had Melanie on his back, the blonde woman was still passed out and slowly recovering from her wound and informing her of this news when she woke up, wouldn't be pleasant for her at all. Terri looked... the same. Herself and Ethan being the powerhouses of the group always seemed to stand tall, despite whatever shit the world threw at them. Luis and Maria stood side by side, Maria looking her worried self and rightful so in this worrying scenario, whereas Luis... he looked strangely thoughtful at this time. Although he hadn't said a word through this whole ordeal which was very strange, considering his usual nature...

Miss King was still crouched down, wiping vomit from her chin and Clementine had a neutral look on her face as she stood by the almost forgotten form of James, hidden mostly in the shadows. He had a constant look of panic, or immense fear on his face which he seemed to be trying to hide, by keeping his head bowed to the ground for the majority of the time.

Himself, a limbless former leader, a blind woman, a young couple with a baby on the way, two serial killers, an injured, mute woman without a tongue, a middle aged mother and her sulky, armless son, a cowardly, clumsy british teacher, a 15 year old girl and another guy who had just lost his friend.

This was their group of 13, Robert, Luke, Molly, Nick, Stephanie, Terri, Ethan, Melanie, Maria, Luis, Miss King, Clementine and James... also Eddie if he decided to come back to them, but for now 13 people was all that remained. With a pyscho following them... no one else could die, they were growing thin on numbers again.

"Gather them up" He ordered of the group in front of him "Most of you here voted to save JJ, you feel guilty these three had to die for it. Show them the least bit of respect by burying them"

"and what about Eddie?" Clementine spoke up, as all eyes turned to her "Shouldn't we go out looking for him with JJ out there...?"

"It's too risky" Robert advised her against "I know Eddie's your friend, but we can't risk looking for him now for all we know. JJ probably already killed him..."

"D-d-don't say that!" Maria exclaimed.

"It's true though" Robert continued "We know from this JJ is weaker than us, he picks off lone wolves and lures them into his own traps. We don't go to him, that's how he wins. We stay together from now on, no one splits up no matter what. I want three people on guard at night, I want people watching people on toilet breaks. If anyone sees that fucker don't approach him it's what he'll want. Keep your distance and wait for him to come to you, alert me as well. I have the group's only gun now. I'll fire some shots to make sure we get him if we see him... But weapons are to be on you all the time! Understood!?"

The group nodded at Robert's words.

"But couldn't we send a group after Eddie?" Molly inquired "We can't just leave him behind..."

"He made his own choice" Robert snarled "He is free to come back, but we can't split up the group anymore. Supplies are dwindling and winter and those wolves are only getting closer. The sooner we get south, the sooner we get to this Howe's place. The better off we'll be, every day we spend looking for Eddie will be a waste. We need to keep going south and we can't stop for anything. The wolves or the cold will kill us if we stay out here..."

This was a grim reality the group had to face.

"Is this understood?" Robert persisted of the group once again.

There were a few murmurs of agreement.

"Then bury your fucking guilt with these three fuckers and let's move!" he ordered harshly.

* * *

_"...WELLINGTON'S FALL, MADE ME REALISE NO COMMUNITY IS GOING TO LAST FOREVER AND IF WE CARRY ON THE WAY WE ARE WE ARE GOING TO DIE IN THESE WALLS, HENCE I ORDERED THE DEATH OF ALL OF YOUR LOVED ONE'S! WE DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, NOR THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO CONTINUE LIVING LIKE THIS! I UNDERSTAND MANY OF YOU ARE ANGRY, FOR THE WAY THIS COMMUNITY HAS TYRANNICALLY RULED OVER YOU AS A FORM OF A FUTURE DYSTOPIA! I WILL ADMIT I WAS SHAMEFUL AND GUILTY OF ALL OF MY ACTIONS AND I DON'T EXPECT YOUR FORGIVENESS, BUT THE ONE THING I ASK OF YOU ALL TODAY IS TO TAKE MY MESSAGE! EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITH A WORKING BRAIN IN THIS CITY... HAS TO FIGHT BACK! THOSE WALKERS OUTSIDE OF THE WALLS AREN'T LEAVING ANYTIME SOON! WE NEED EVERYONE AVAILABLE TO FIGHT BACK! TO FIGHT FOR OUR FUTURE! TO FIGHT FOR OUR CITY! TO FIGHT FOR OUR VERY SURVIVAL!"_

_Their was a massive round of applause after this empowered speech, Olivia's face was red due to the passion in which she had bellowed these words into the projected microphone on the stand. In the centre of this city she was surrounded by the mass crowd her forces had aligned here, she was expecting more rebellion, she was expecting resistance, she wasn't expecting this applause, the people of this city... they weren't all that happy despite their cheers. But Olivia had spoken the truth and maybe deep down... they all wanted to fight. To do something rather than stay cooped up in these walls and survive until the walkers tore them down, just like they did with every other community across these fifty states of America. _

_The time had come to fight back, the population of these city had reduced rather alarmingly after Olivia ordered the cull of those lobotomized, but there was still hundreds upon hundreds of people still alive and still fighting. They could have hated her and killed her and she would have been fine with that, she had put these people through hell after all. _

_But as long as they world was rid from Walkers first..._

_She could die happy._

"...Olivia..."

Awakening herself from her slumber, Olivia looked around to see she was in helicopter still, as it blades whooshed from above her, a few of her military men lay slumped and asleep next to her and Robinson who was wide awake and gazing at her. Wiping some drool off her mouth, the president of the city of Utopia sat up slowly.

"Man, the picture of the president drooling..." Robinson mused.

"Tell anyone and you're demoted" Olivia snapped, as she looked out of the windows of the helicopter to see nothing but a blizzard in front of her, a white haze that prevented her from seeing anything around or below her.

"How long was I out?"

"Couple of hours" Robinson replied, inspecting his assault rifle.

"We near the location?"

"Be there in 15 minutes" Robinson informed her "The annihilation zone is outside of this massive forest, walkers are crawling round the area, but if we clear out this area. We don't have to worry about walkers coming from here..."

"I see, you'd think they'd freeze in this blizzard" Olivia said, gazing at her own reflection in the window of the helicopter.

"No, they're still going strong, Morrison reported last week when we dropped one near the Canadian border, that they were still swarming in their thousands" Robinson recalled "and it had to be minus twenty there at least..."

"Those things are freaks of nature" Olivia said "Be better to be rid of them completely..."

A silence engulfed the helicopter for a short while.

"What day is it again?"

"February 7th 2010"

"It's been that long?" Olivia questioned "nearly 7 whole years?"

"I guess so" Robinson muttered, before he returned his gaze to his president once again.

"Shouldn't you stay at your desk and watch things over back in the city?" he finally asked "For the past month since your speech, we've already successfully dropped 1 of the nuclear weapons and that area is devoid of any form of life and the success rate has been high..."

"I want to oversee Code AX" Olivia muttered "I want to see them die, I want to see it happen, it's important for me..."

She drew to a halt there and looked out at the blizzard, soon this whole area would be a complete wasteland, filled with radiation for years and years afterwards but with utter annihilation came the success of the Code AX.

Eliminating all walkers from this great country, once and for all.

"Do you think anyone's still alive out there?" Robinson asked, following her gaze.

"No" Olivia answered.

"No one at all".

* * *

February 7th 2010.

They were approaching Howe's, they knew that alright.

But the forest seemed to go on forever.

The weeks flew by since Jason, Jessica and Jason's premature ends, January only grew colder and windier despite Robert's consistent military march to the south. Using the map he had acquired and information from Luke's group on where Howe's was in Tennessee they set course in that direction. Using the road that cut through the endless rows of pine tree's as their guide. Many of the signs were now too rusted to read from afar, but upon closer inspection informed them of how many miles they had left to go.

"I wish I hadn't seen that" Luke groaned,gazing down at the road sign as he continued to hop on his single leg, two days after the massacre JJ had committed.

Luke himself was struggling now, having only one leg was starting to take it's toll on him, the lack of his eye seemed minor compared to the fact he was missing a leg and because the group had to walk so much, it came down to Ethan to eventually carry Luke when Melanie finally awoke, three days after Robert had taken charge once again. Suffice to say she did not take the news of what had occurred very well, although she could no longer speak it was Clementine who found her later, sobbing to herself over what had happened.

"It's okay" the 15 year old told her "We're all to blame, not just you"

Through her watery globe's she gave Clementine a small smile and slowly got to her feet once again.

Melanie lingered at the back of the group next to James after that point, with Melanie being unable to speak and James virtually not saying a word since the incident, the two of them formed a sort of silent kinship. Neither of them had been a member of Luke or Luis' groups beforehand and they weren't charismatic or loud characters like Miss King or Robert, so they felt like the outsiders that we're tagging along on this shared venture into a winter wonderland of hell. Of everyone these two were the only pair never to voice an opinion at group meetings and seemed to blindly accept whatever Robert was saying. It seemed the loss of Melanie's speech and James' friend Frank had reduced the two of them too nothing but mindless sheep following their shepherd.

"Maybe it's better we don't interfere Clementine" Robert told her, five nights after JJ's slaughter, herself and Robert were on guard for the night, along with their designated third guard Miss King, who was sitting quite a distance from the pair of them and couldn't overhear what they were saying.

"But, if they're struggling..." Clementine persisted.

"Then they'll have to struggle" Robert told her harshly "We don't know what Melanie's going through, losing her voice, never being able to speak again. All because she stood up for the wrong cause, that's a lot of guilt and shame to deal with Clementine. We can tell her what we want but it won't help her and as for James... I don't know about that boy, but he seemed to have no problem standing against me before, maybe he's just grieving for Frank..."

"How do you know that speaking to her, isn't going to help?" Clementine inquired of Robert, cutting through his wandering thoughts on James.

"I've been through it" Robert replied "When Ryan died, people told me it wasn't my fault, that the cult we're to blame..." Robert laughed harshly to himself at this point "Yeah fucking right, the answer was simple if I was there with Ryan that morning, rather than printing off that bloody Doomsday report, he'd be alive. He wouldn't have gone to the school..." Robert finished there and gazed over at Clementine, expecting her to speak, but Clementine couldn't think of anything to say.

"See, you know it too" Robert finally said "You can't comfort me, because you know it was my fault. Melanie knows that too, Luke knows that, I think we've gone past the point of comforting each other and we need to face some truths here. Do you know why Frank, Jasper, Aidan, Jason and Jessica lost their lives?"

Clementine shook her head uncertainly, wondering where Robert was going with this.

"Because from what I've been told, when you voted to save JJ you did it because of your morality, you were convinced you did something right" Robert informed her "You didn't think you did something wrong, or maybe you did, maybe you tried to cover the unease, the guilt that you felt by ploughing onwards" he sighed there, before continuing "I think that's how JJ turned out the way he did, from what Maria's being telling me. His grandfather shielded him from the world, JJ knew this was wrong somewhere deep down, but he never openly fought it or succeeded. Eventually as he grew up and fucking puberty hit he probably went through all the emotions, added to the fact his grandfather always shielded him from blame, so whenever he probably did do something wrong he convinced himself that it was right. No one was there to tell him he was doing wrong".

"Then, that's why someone should have spoke to him" Clementine insisted "Rather than just leave him to go through that alone"

"You're missing my point" Robert snapped "Whatever little support JJ did get, or whatever he was told was positive encouragement because JJ soon figured out the persona of JJ is what people want from him. That sweet, innocent little country boy who wouldn't do any harm to anyone, or wouldn't be harmed by anyone. JJ is JJ whenever he feels threatened or vulnerable, JJ is TT whenever he feels like he is in control, when he feels powerful, when he acts on his impulse, when he needs to be threatening... the short side of it Clementine is that JJ is who JJ is, TT is who JJ wants to be".

"So you're saying, that JJ became this insane, because no one was there to tell him to stop?" Clementine concluded.

Robert nodded.

"You saw him back in the church when he started to snap, he switched back to weak little JJ in an instance" Robert said "TT developed because no one told JJ that he was doing any wrong, no one challenged him and by the time they did, it was too late. I'm not saying Melanie is going to end up like TT because she's going to bottle up her grief and pain, what I'm saying is that if everyone forgave Melanie and told her it wasn't her fault. She'd soon realise that she could flutter her pretty little eyelashes and be forgiven by everyone and that's where I have a problem".

"Melanie's not like that!" Clementine snapped.

"Not now and probably not anytime soon" Robert agreed "It didn't just happen overnight to JJ either, it took years for it happen. If we start adapting that mindset however in whatever community we managed to settle in, we'll get more psychopath's springing up because they can't accept what they've done wrong. Someone needs to be there to challenge them, they have to realise their grief and shame and go through that process and learn from it... like I did" Robert muttered quietly.

"What did it teach you?" Clementine asked.

"That the old me, wouldn't even be having this conversation with you" Robert said "I've done lots of wrong I know that, I was too brutal back at Wellington. I killed Billy when I could have handled the situation much better. When you guys usurped me, I was surprised and I was angry. I convinced myself I'd done nothing wrong and was doing everything to help the group. You know I spent nights alone, hating all of your guts. But then I realised, I had to swallow my pride for once, because If I had carried on the way I did and no one was there too stop me, who knows what would have happened. I would have become the next Schulz or Tom..."

"Vince..." Clementine echoed under her breath, remembering what had occurred to her former leader.

"It's not an easy process to admit when you're wrong" Robert continued "It took me a while and a lot of sulking to accept that. But it's like I have a new leash on life now, after that insane freak almost killed me. But I'm ready to lead again and be challenged, we're nearly home free Clementine. We have a small, decent group here and we're getting closer to sanctuary. I don't want another Wellington or JJ repeating itself when we get there, I want something that's actually going to last... so the point I'm trying to make is, they need to go through it for their own good. We'll be there for them, but we can't shift the blame from them..."

"I suppose I can understand what you're saying" Clementine muttered "I don't like it, but I get it. After all the people I've lost. I know I could have done more, I know I'm to blame for some of it. But from that it's made me stronger, if you can't live with your guilt, you can't live in this world".

"Couldn't have phrased it better myself" Robert said "You're a decent kid Clem, I think you're going to be fine".

"Well... thanks" Clementine uttered, herself and Robert hadn't really spoken all that much, or had that much of a relationship but although he was a complex character, Clementine was slowly growing to like him that little bit more. Despite his sometimes, insane methods that she sometimes disagreed with, he seemed like an okay guy.

"Which leads me onto something else" Robert muttered "Before Eddie bailed, what did he mean with that second chance business?"

"It's like a lucky charm thing in our group" Clementine replied causally, (herself and everyone else who knew about Clementine and Luke's power had a meeting the morning after JJ's massacre and in light of what Eddie had revealed. Had come to the conclusion not to confuse the group further and come up with an alternative meaning for the "second chance" to pass it off as some sort of lucky charm to those who got curious and asked about what Eddie had meant).

"Lucky charm?" Robert muttered, looking puzzled "I dunno Clem, did the cult know about this lucky charm thing? Because it did come under yours and Luke's name in the Domesday Report. You passed it off as nonsense if I remember correctly. Didn't concern me at the time but now Eddie mentions your two names in particular relating to it? I dunno Clem, something doesn't add up here..."

Of course, he worked on the paper at the time he'd pick on this detail.

"Me and Luke saved our group several times" Clementine muttered in response "We couldn't save everyone, but we did all we could. Especially from the cult, they grew to despise us because of that. It also the fact it was like a lucky charm in our group, that we'd come back to save people and give them a second chance..."

"I see" Robert said "But lemme spring this on you Clem, you said the cult we're after you because you knew their leader. He wanted you to himself because he was a guy you knew beforehand, a guy you spared..."

"You've done your homework" Clementine muttered, feeling slightly uneasy now.

"Even so the cult attacked hundreds, if not thousands of people. Their leader must have seen or been spared by a vast array of people, why out of every single person, would he target your group. Just based on the fact you spared him beforehand?"

"Like I said" Clementine replied firmly "You knew as well as I did that guy was sick in the head, I don't know why it was me, but he was fixated on me. The decision I made to spare him was the worst thing I've ever done and I lived with the guilt of it ever since"

Robert was gazing at her now, as if his gaze was x-raying her to detect any sign of deceit.

"Fair enough" Robert concluded, but he didn't sound all that convinced.

"You know, I never liked that re-population policy you had planned" Clementine muttered, to drag the conversation onwards, so Robert wouldn't ponder on that point.

"I had to say something to make myself seem like an a potential President" Robert replied "Looking back, I have my reservations about it now. I can't exactly force people to do my bidding anymore. Even if it is for the benefit of humanity..."

"Well as long as you don't implant it at wherever we settle" Clementine informed him "Then we're cool"

"Noted" Robert mused "By the way speaking of repopulation, I need to ask you something".

"The answer is no" Clementine replied instantly.

"Okay, that was phrased badly" Robert muttered "Let me try and make it simple, you know the one who wants to re-populate with you...?"

"Luis?" Clementine asked "For the last time, I'm not his...!"

"Yeah whatever, the fact you instantly came to the conclusion it was him, tells me enough about your relationship"

"I don't like him!" Clementine snapped in defiance "Well not in that way! Why does everything think that?"

"I could give you a lecture Clem on why everyone thinks that" Robert said "But we'll be here all night if I do, so I'll make it short and simple. Whatever relationship you have with Luis, you're the only one who can get through his thick skull. I've been speaking to Maria a lot lately and she's worried sick about him, apparently he's refusing to accept his part in keeping JJ alive..."

"He's a stubborn idiot, what do you expect?" Clementine replied, then again she had noted, how she had spent the last five days going over events of the massacre with Nick, making Luke feel better, joking with Molly, hunting with Stephanie and reminiscing about Wellington with Miss King of all people. Between all of that Luis hadn't been up to her, argued with her or kept her company in all of that time... Clementine didn't want to approach him either. She knew (like everyone else) out of everyone who had voted to keep JJ alive, it was Luis who had initially protested for his friend's life and had convinced (or pressured) everyone else into agreeing with him.

"Everyone I've spoken too said Luis was the initial reason for supporting JJ" Robert said as if he could read Clementine's mind, "He caused the chain reaction that lead to the death of five group members, he can't accept that apparently. I don't know what's went through his mind when he thought saving JJ was a good idea, or what's going through his mind right now. But I don't want to deal with another JJ..."

"You want me to speak to him?" Clementine muttered "Whatever happened to leaving them to learn from their grief and shame...?"

"The fact is he isn't even acknowledging he's done something wrong, is what's bothering me" Robert muttered "If I tried bringing it up, it'd just end up being a dick-measuring contest, if you did maybe you'd make that dip-shit see some common sense".

"I'll get to it, when I can" Clementine promised him.

She would have to expose to Luis to what he had done wrong.

But she was hesitant too.

Because she was the one who had done wrong as well, she would have to admit to him.

Something about the way Robert was looking at her... told her that he knew Luis' beliefs in sparing JJ had come from her and she was the only one who could undo the damage and make him see the world a little clearer.

* * *

A week had passed since JJ or Eddie had been seen last.

Day 7 was nearing late January and another day of walking through the woods.

"We've been walking for near-enough a month now!" Molly snapped, as she massaged her aching legs "How much longer is this going to take?"

"I'd still love a change of scenery as well" Maria added, gazing up at the pine tree's she was too well accustomed too.

"Don't let it get you down" Robert muttered as he gazed down the map, he had spread across the palms of his hands "We're making steady progress this way, there's no other way about it folks we just have to keep movin'..."

"God I wished we had a car again" Molly moaned.

"It took us weeks to get to Wellington even in a car" Stephanie reminded her.

"Because of the snow, which I don't see here" Molly informed her.

"I hate to break this too you" Nick began "But sometimes when people lose their eyes, they don't see all that much Molly..."

"Sometimes Nick when people lose their brain cells" Molly shot back "They end up talking like you do..."

"Hey! I made a valid point!" Nick defended himself with.

"I can't feel the snow then, happy now!?" Molly asked.

"So you were wrong then?" Nick teased "Did you lose some brain cells with your eyes?"

"Did you lose some with your hand?" Molly inquired.

"Whatever, it's fucking cold enough as it is" Nick snapped, rubbing his remaining hand against the warmth of his coat and looking up at the greying sky above him, whether those bulging clouds would emit snow or rain nobody knew. Rain soaked them and froze them, but if they were dealing with snow they were in serious trouble. The wolves howls maintained a steady distance in the past couple of days. Miss King had hopefully suggested they'd gone after JJ as he was a lone target, only for Robert to remind her JJ could set up traps and it was most likely Eddie caught between their jaws. This shut her up and made Eddie's group drop their heads in diminishing hope that their friend was still alive out there, Clementine had been hoping he would suddenly just turn up one day but each day grew longer in his absence, so he really had gone then...

As they walked on that morning, Robert kept shooting glances back at her and she knew why... she had steeled herself to try and talk to Luis a few times but always chickened out in the last possible minute. She had no idea why she was acting like this, she had argued with him before and discussed with him many touchy subjects for her, but right now she didn't know what to say. No matter how hard she thought about it, she decided that today would be the day she'd bury her fear and just get it out of her system and see how he reacted, if Maria was worried about it then it had to be of concern.

So when they stopped for a lunch break (Stephanie's finest squirrels) Clementine decided to approach Maria who was sitting by herself, chewing on the meat of the deceased animal.

"Hey" Clementine muttered.

"Hello" Maria replied.

Clementine took a seat next to her.

"So what's wrong with Luis, Robert told me" Clementine explained.

Maria sighed.

"I've tried bringing it up too him" she informed Clementine "I pressed gently, because I knew he'd blame himself for what happened. But he didn't give me that, he just told me in the most relaxed voice I've ever heard from him, that he didn't blame himself or anyone else and what happened, just happened".

"That doesn't sound like Luis at all" Clementine concluded.

Maria nodded.

"I tried bringing it up again, but he has always shrugged me off he eventually told me to just drop it and I... I haven't the heart to tell him again" Maria said "All I've been doing is letting him know I'm there for him. But he hasn't said anything... and I'm so worried. That's why I told Robert, I thought he'd be able to do something about it. But instead he sent you" There was a note of disappointment in her voice.

"Is that a problem?" Clementine asked.

Maria directly faced Clementine at this point.

"Yes" she muttered honestly "I don't like you Clementine"

Clementine felt something get caught in her throat at this, it was true that Maria was the angel of the group to everyone. But between herself and Clementine there was a certain distance and lack of communication, but she didn't know that Maria actively disliked her.

"Why?" Clementine inquired, trying to be too hurt by Maria's bluntly honest words.

"Because it's stupid" Maria replied "I shouldn't dislike you, you seem like a decent person Clementine. You're brave, courageous, smarter than any other girl I've seen of your age. But whenever I look at you, I overanalyze your flaws and that makes me dislike you" Maria admitted "You wouldn't understand Clementine, as a mother I look out after my son like a hawk and anyone who has an effect on him positive or negative, I am wary of and I know my son best and you've had the biggest impact on him. He has changed like I would not believe ever since he met you, however much he tries to hide it" she mused with a light smile.

"I can't help it" Clementine muttered.

"I know" Maria replied "But you changed him for the better until now, he thought he was doing the right because of the influence you had on him. He said it himself, that it was you that inspired him to think differently, he thinks very highly of you, holds you very dear I imagine, romantically or platonically" Maria muttered, as Clementine remained silent "Regardless your influence lead to his current situation and you haven't even mustered the courage to go and talk to him about it. That's one of the reasons I dislike you now Clementine more than ever, even if you do go talk to him now it's only because me and Robert told you too..."

Clementine hung her head in shame at this point, Maria was right.

"Are you just using him?" Maria asked "My son? Are you just using him for your own agenda? I won't allow it Clementine, you can't play with him he is already damaged enough as it is. I won't allow someone else to come into his life and..." she finished there, unable to continue.

"Juan" Clementine uttered.

"What?" Maria snapped "How did...?"

"He told me" Clementine said "He didn't go into full detail, but I know his friend Juan betrayed him at one point, the reason he lost his eye was because of him. Maria, I'm not going to betray him..."

"What if me and Robert weren't here?" Maria pointed out "What if his choice to spare JJ had really gotten Robert killed, along with me as well? How would he cope with that? Who would convince you to go and talk to him? Would you even bother with him? You probably wouldn't even know the burden he hid, the point I'm making is Clementine I won't allow you to talk to Luis".

"What!?" Clementine exploded "You're acting way too overprotective of him!" she accused of Maria.

"Maybe I am" Maria muttered "But why do I care anymore Clementine? Tom was once my friend, he died a villain. Same with JJ, Ana blinded Molly, Tim made a grave mistake, Terri became a killer... the people we've been surrounded by have all gone down a very dark road. Enemies become allies, allies become enemies and the reasons are never clear or always correct. I don't know if I supporting the right people anymore, if staying in this group is a sin in itself. I always just wanted to do the right thing and protect my son in the process, but it's become too difficult now to know what's right anymore and he is the only person left in this world I will always love unconditionally and would die for without hesitation" Maria finished her speech there, before sighing and addressing Clementine once again.

"Through that, you must understand why I don't want you anywhere near Luis" Maria said "Stay away from him".

"I won't" Clementine uttered before she could stop herself.

Maria blinked.

"I beg your pardon"

"I'm going to speak to him" Clementine said "Because I really don't care what you think. You can't help him through this, but I can".

"I won't allow it, you stupid girl!" Maria snarled.

"Tough" Clementine responded "I'm speaking to him whether you like it or not and you can't stop me"

With her mind firmly made up, Clementine stood up and left Maria chewing away on her piece of meat, with Clementine's back turned. Maria dropped the hostile face she had been wearing, as a warm smile lit her features.

"Good" she whispered in response to Clementine's last statement to her "I was beginning to think you really didn't care about my son after all"

"HEY GUYS!" Came a sudden exclamation from Robert, which made everyone lift their heads towards him, as they finished off scraps of their latest meal.

"What is it!?" Luke inquired, hopping over next to him.

"Whether it snows or rains, we got a shelter over here for the night!" he muttered in glee.

Luke's face however sunk at the sight of the location.

It was the old house in the middle of the woods, where Christa and Sarita had lost their lives and where Clementine and Luke had revealed their second chance power for the world to hear.

* * *

"So this is the same house?" Molly asked, as the group carefully entered the scorched structure, the house had been blackened by the fire that Nate had started but still stood, with algae and moss growing on the walls and it gave the group a shelter from the oncoming rain or snow, as the roof was still intact.

"Better not touch the walls" Robert warned, as Miss King nearly stumbled into one "Or go upstairs, this house has been burnt to a crisp, we apply any pressure it could all come crumbling down"

"How has it survived this long then?" Stephanie inquired.

"Nothing but a ruin now" Luke mumbled.

"Regardless it's a shelter" Robert muttered "It will keep us safe from the wolves and winter and JJ so let's just stop here for the night. We could all use the rest we can get".

"I'm not too sure I'm comfortable staying here" Nick muttered, Stephanie looked up at her husband and saw he was gazing into the living room. This was where he had nearly been shot, this is where Clementine had been shot. This is where the second chance itself had been revealed and this is where Nick had told Kenny those things that had made him snap, all those memories that were coursing through Nick right now, were shared by his wife, as she gripped his remaining hand tighter and the two of them looked at each other.

"We'll sleep in the kitchen" Nick muttered.

"Are you sure?" Robert asked "This living area seems safer, warmer and more secure".

"Not too us" Nick said "Too many bad memories"

"BUT THE KITCHEN HAS A MASSIVE HOLE IN THE WALL!" Miss King called (from where she was inspecting the kitchen itself) "ARE YOU SURE... ARRRRGGGGHHHH!"

Miss King's scream sent Robert, Nick, Luke and Stephanie (with the rest of the group on their trail) bolting towards the kitchen, where three walkers had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. One of them was biting down hard on Miss King's wrist, as it tried to get to the struggling woman's neck. While the other two were approaching James and Melanie who had followed Miss King into the room, James swung his weapon and the walker collapsed into a bloody heap on the ground, for a moment it seemed (in Melanie's silence) the walker had got her. But a moment later it too collapsed onto the ground, Melanie held her bloodied crowbar high and was a chalk white colour, gazing down at the truly deceased walker.

Nick charged forwards and using his remaining hand, managed to plant his axe into the walker's skull that was on Miss King, she grunted in disgust as it's brains leaked out onto her coat and proceeded to squirm out from beneath it, wiping down her coat and holding onto her bloody wrist.

"They always turn up when you never expect them too" Robert snarled, as Maria came forwards and helped a panicking Miss King.

"It bit me!" she squealed, as she wept to herself.

"and your immune, remember!" Maria reminded her kindly.

"I still feel dirty though" Miss King sobbed "and these bites still hurt, feels like I'm on fire. I've never been bit before, what if my cure doesn't work..."

"It does, I can reassure you" Ethan interjected "I wouldn't have committed the atrocities I did, if it wasn't that effective"

"It feels like it burns, but it gets better after a short while" Stephanie comforted her "When I got bit the ankle it was like that, then again I had my head wound as well, so I was more concerned about that"

Miss King got to her shaky feet.

"Does anyone else require any assistance?" Ethan asked, as Maria was occupied with Miss King.

"I'm fine" James said blankly, his gaze never leaving the walker on the ground.

"You?" Ethan asked of Melanie.

She shook her head, but seemed paralyzed on the spot.

"First walker kill?" Ethan asked.

Melanie (once again) shook her head, leaving Ethan confused on why this walker attack had shaken her so much...

"First close call with a walker?" Terri asked in Ethan's steed.

Melanie slowly nodded.

"No way to call for help, walker bearing down on you... I know how that feels" Terri muttered "It gets less scary as time goes on".

Melanie seemed comforted at this fact, as she brushed herself down and stood a little taller and prouder than she did seconds beforehand.

"I can't imagine you being scared" Ethan commented.

"At one point, my stupid 11 year old self was" Terri replied "Now look at me, funny how things change isn't it?"

"Indeed" Ethan muttered "Well I think I'll guard this hole for the night if walkers are coming in this way..."

"I'll assist you" Terri added predictably.

"Three people on guard at night" Robert reminded them of the rule "Anyone else want to join the golden duo?"

"I will" James volunteered quietly, still looking down at the walker he had slain.

"Great, let's get to work moving these things then" Robert ordered, glancing down at the walkers themselves and reminding himself of how many things wanted this group dead at this current time.

The pressure really was building.

* * *

"Not too shabby corn dog"

Nick looked up to see Stephanie had addressed him, as he continued to wipe away the blood on his axe.

"I got lucky" Nick mumbled.

"Don't give me that" Stephanie mused as she took a seat next to him, the pair of them were sat in the kitchen as the last rays of the sun shone through the hole in the wall. Where Nate and Marisol had crashed the truck that would lead them to Wellington all those years ago, but now they were going back. One stop at a time, before long they would probably be back at the lake and then the ski lodge for the sick and finally Howe's itself...

"Feels like we're going back in time, being here" Nick muttered.

"The state of this building makes me worried about what Howe's will be like" Stephanie admitted "I mean Lilly burnt the trucks and all and who knows what the cult did with the place...what if it's just a ruin like here?"

"We're not staying at Howe's permanently, it's just a destination for now" Nick said "We stay there for a few days, maybe a week or two and then I imagine we'll head south. Try and find an island like Jane originally suggested and then... we should be safe. Just in place without anymore walkers..." he sighed as he dreamed of impossible scenario. But against all odds himself and Stephanie we're still alive, so they could keep on going and reach wherever the hell the world was going to take them next.

"I've been thinking" Stephanie muttered, glancing down at her stomach "We haven't thought of any names, have we?"

"If it's a girl, I think we can both agree on Lilly" Nick muttered, as Stephanie nodded with him.

"I know Lilly might seem like the most obvious choice" Nick eventually said "But... maybe we can call our kid Sarah, if it's a girl that is..."

"I like that as well" Stephanie smiled "Sarah Lilly Duran... has a ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Yeah" Nick smiled, as he held onto Stephanie's stomach "Our kid Stef, I still can't believe I'm going to be a dad and have a family" he paused there his eyes brimming with pride "I'm gonna give this kid everything my dad never gave me, We're gonna make this work Stef no matter what happens..."

"I know" Stephanie smiled "It's just... I can't stop thinking about what happened with Sarita, added to the fact her skeleton is probably still upstairs..."

"Don't think about that" Nick muttered, although that fact made his stomach swirl in discomfort as well "Think about now Stef, we're gonna change things this time around, I might not be much in my state but I'll do everything I can..."

"You are so much more than what you think you are" Stephanie muttered, leaning in closer to her husband's embrace "Always remember that, so what if you lost a hand? You saved Cristina earlier like it was nothing, you've been supporting Luke through this time and speaking of Luke did you give him what you've been working on?"

"I'll do it in a bit" Nick replied.

A short silence engulfed the raven haired couple after this statement.

"What if it's a boy?" Stephanie suddenly asked.

"Hmmm?" Nick hummed.

"We didn't think of a name, if it's a boy" Stephanie said.

"I'm sure we'll think of one in time" Nick replied.

The two of them sat in silence for a short while after that, the cold gales funneled into building through the hole in the wall, only caused the young couple to hold each other tighter. Using their shared body heat to keep each other warm, in this cold world which only seemed to grow colder and crueler as the days progressed.

* * *

"Hi Luke"

"Hey Clem" Luke replied, as he looked up at the 15 year old girl was looking down at him, she glanced around where the majority of the group were scrambling around and setting up their sleeping bags in this living room. The sofa's that had been in this room previously had been burnt black and everyone was avoiding sitting on them in case they split in two due to the sudden pressure. Rain was now viciously pelting against this ruin of a house and a few droplets seeped through the damaged wood and brick and leaked steadily onto the ruined floor.

"Have you seen Luis?" Clementine asked of him.

"I saw him going into the basement" Luke muttered.

"Oh, okay thank you" she said to Luke, but before she could take off, Luke's hand wrapped around her wrist.

"You know who died down there, don't you?" Luke asked.

"I know Luke"

"You know, when you mentioned Christa to Eddie a week back..."

"I know Luke"

"Are you sure you're...?"

"I'll be fine Luke, honestly" she reassured him "I just have to speak to Luis, it's important..."

"If you insist" Luke muttered feeling rather disheartened with her reply, as she proceeded to descend the steps to the basement.

"Having trouble?" came a familiar voice.

Nick sat next to his friend at this point, as he too looked at Clementine's fleeting figure.

"I'm getting too old aren't I?" Luke asked "I sound like her dad"

"Well if you feel old, might as well reinforce the idea" Nick muttered, as he handed Luke two large wooden sticks, at least that what they appeared to be at first.

"What are these?" Luke inquired.

"Crutches" Nick replied "I've noticed you've had trouble walking and all that, so I thought we the spare firewood we had, I'd try and craft these for you... because you like a lazy ass when Ethan's carrying you around all the time, walk like the rest of us asshole".

Luke looked down at the crudely crafted crutches, for a full minute as he ran his hand over them.

"They might not be the best" Nick piped up nervously "I mean, I did try but..."

"They're amazing" Luke responded, turning to face Nick "Thanks a lot man"

Nick turned slightly pink in embarrassment at Luke's compliment.

"You know as many bad memories as they are here" Luke said "I still remember when you brought up the Shaky stones here, that gave me the will to go on. That was a good memory, I guess it ain't all bad".

Nick smiled back at him.

"I guess so" he mused.

* * *

Luis was sat on the ground of the basement, he was immobile gazing at the corpses of an old family who were mere scorched skeletons now, the largest hunk of black mass was the father, a blob next to him must have been the mother and the tiny bundle between the pair of them must have been their daughter, the melted remains of a felt tip pen lay in her tiny fingers. Clementine remembered briefly seeing this basement the last time she had been here and had no desire to come down here again. Although she wished this poor family could have been buried like Christa had done, but maybe this was meant to be their final resting place.

Despite the blackened walls, Clementine could still (just about) make out the poem written there.

_**DADDY'S STICKING NEEDLES INTO HIS ARM, HIS ACTING FUNNY **_

_**MUMMY GOT BITTEN WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THE CAR, SHE SAYS SHE HAS AN UPSET TUMMY**_

_**I AM SCARED, DADDY HAS GOT A GUN**_

_**I AM CRYING, THE MONSTERS ARE BREAKING IN, WE CAN'T RUN**_

_**MUMMY SAYS THIS POEM IS BEAUTIFUL AND I SHOULD BE PROUD OF MYSELF FOR BEING ONLY SEVEN **_

_**BUT I HAVE TO FINISH NOW, DADDY IS HUGGING ME AND MUMMY NOW, SAYING WE'RE GOING TO HEAVEN**_

"Luis" Clementine called out nervously.

He didn't reply to her.

"Luis" she called out again.

Again he didn't reply.

Clementine took a few steps towards him, nearly stepping on the skeletal remains of a man, who still had a blue cap perched on his bald, white skull.

"Nate" Clementine recalled to herself, remembering faintly how Eddie had informed them of how this psychopath had met his end in this basement.

"Luis" she muttered again, she now mere steps away from him.

No reply, so he was giving her the silent treatment.

"I was wrong" she admitted "I don't regret not trying to make you into a better person, or at least a more positive one. But if you retained your original stance on things, you wouldn't have even thought about sparing JJ and five people would still be alive. It's your fault they died and I think you need to acknowledge that".

Nothing. Luis didn't even move a muscle.

"I'm to blame as well" Clementine added.

Nothing.

"SAY SOMETHING!" Clementine roared, now looming over him and walking around him, she could now see Luis had a blank look on his face and was gazing at a rusty needle on the ground, even when she waved her hands in front of his face he didn't reply. Even when she actually slapped him around the face and told him to "Snap outta it!" he didn't do a thing.

"I'm not leaving until you say something!" Clementine persisted, getting rather upset as she shook Luis by the shoulders, but he seemed like an empty rag doll at the moment, devoid of any working thought.

Clementine didn't know how long she sat with him in his silence, but she sat there for hours on end, she could hear the others upstairs but no one came to check on them. Maybe they all assumed herself and Luis were having another one of their arguments and thought it would be best to leave them to their business, until they resolved it. But the hours ticked by and as much as Clementine wanted to move her stiffened limbs, as much as she needed to go to the toilet, as much as she wanted to leave this dingy and stinky basement and warm herself up in the living area, she stayed with Luis. Who also removed to move a single limb, it was as if he was made of waxwork. Clementine didn't know what else to say to him, she was truly pathetic, if Maria (his own mother) had tried and failed then what chance did she have? Maria was right, it was best she didn't speak to Luis anymore, whatever was bothering him was something she couldn't solve, she wasn't as close to him as she imagined herself to be.

But she fought the need to give up on him and continued sitting there, the hours continued to tick by, eventually and finally Luis made a movement.

Clementine (who was nearly dozing off by this point) was startled and looked up as Luis extended his arm forward and picked up the rusty needle, he inspected it for a minute. Clementine had a horrible feeling he was going to jab into in his arm and end up like Christa had done, Luis must have known that too, but would Luis be the type to end his own life after what had happened? Clementine watched him nervously as he seemingly weighed the choice in his hands...

"Luis... don't!" Clementine protested, finally able to say something to him again.

He didn't even look at her, however a second later he threw the needle across the length of the basement.

"Idiot" Clementine breathed in relief, as Luis finally turned to face her.

They gazed at each other for a full minute.

Then out of nowhere and out of nothing, he grabbed her and wept very openly onto her chest as she held onto him tightly, feeling numb herself as she allowed him to openly cry there. Once again she wanted to say something to comfort him, but she couldn't think of anything to say and he hadn't muttered a single word in all the hours he had been down here... she wasn't helping him... she wasn't helping him... she was useless...

She wasn't aware of herself drifting off to sleep, but nightmares fuelled her slumber and she was aware of how useless she was in all of them and that caused her to weep openly, she awoke suddenly, tears falling down her face and she sniffed heavily...

WHACK!

A sudden sharp pain.

"What?" she wept.

"Snap outta of it" came a bored voice from above her.

She wiped the tears from her face, to see Luis was standing above her the usual bored sneer lined his face and not the vacant one he had been wearing the past week.

"What?" she repeated.

"Are you fucking dumb, stop crying" Luis spat "I couldn't sleep with you weeping all night"

"You're one to speak!" Clementine snapped back before she could stop herself, however then she realised something even more horrifying.

"Wait, you slept next to me?" she uttered in horror.

"Yeah we slept together" Luis mused with a small smile.

"That's not funny" Clementine muttered, as she came to the realisation the pair of them must have dozed off in each other's arms and if anyone came to check on them... then...

"Oh no" Clementine moaned.

"Oh yes" Luis replied "Wait until Luke learns that you slept with me..."

"You're taking it out of context!" Clementine snapped. "We didn't do a thing!"

"Yeah, you tell everyone that" Luis replied, before he began to ascend the stairs "Now I really need to shit, so if you don't mind I'll be on my way".

He took a few steps up.

"WAIT!" Clementine suddenly exclaimed.

Luis paused and looked down at her.

"Yes?"

"I'm right, we didn't do anything... I didn't do anything. I didn't say anything or do anything to make you feel better" Clementine muttered sadly "Are you really feeling okay now?"

"I thought you'd argue with me" Luis admitted "Like you always do, but you didn't. You just sat there like an idiot"

"But... how did that help!?" Clementine enquired.

"You couldn't have said anything to me to make me feel better" Luis informed her "I've heard it all before and I didn't feel like saying anything either, you've probably heard it all before anyway".

With that he ascended the stairs even further.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Clementine yelled after him.

He turned around again.

"Idiot" he mused with a light smile, before he left the basement, leaving Clementine sitting there on the ground, she was still confused but she found herself smiling as well, for whatever reason the old Luis was back.

"Asshole" she replied at Luis' now absent form.


	39. To Ruin or Redemption?

**A/N: Back again and finally have some free time so hopefully I can get this chapter and the big bad Chapter 40 done and dusted in the next couple of weeks before I enter the final arc of this trilogy, but first let's discuss the elephant in the room.**

**Season 3!**

**Well, what I can say about it? I'm willing to discuss it to death and have joined the Telltale discussion forums to let some of my thoughts be known, but basically I have some mixed views about it, brace yourself, this author's note may get quite long but I can't help myself, warning spoilers ahead, if you haven't played Season 3 yet, skip to the start of the chapter...**

**Firstly, Episode 1 I thought was pretty decent all things considered. Javier surprised me with how likeable he was and the family dynamic they had going on. Bonding in the car with Kate, exploring the Junkyard, I was getting my hopes up this would be a more slow paced game like Season 1, where we'd get to know the characters better. Then the new frontier turned up and stuff happened, good for some action and all that, then we meet the girl herself and I had no complaints with how the story turned out. We went to prescott, able to explore it, get to know Conrad and Franince, Eleanor and Tripp, went back to the junkyard, saved the family. BAM! Shock death, however it had a purpose plot-wise to motivate the animosity between Javier and the New Frontier, rather than the pointless shock deaths in Season 2, other than the terrible, terrible flashbacks (I could write a novel on them, but I'll save it) Episode 1 was pretty damn good in my eyes.**

**Then Episode 2 came along and I fear things are starting to fall apart, Prescott falls within five minutes of the New Frontier turning up, characters I thought we'd get to know better are killed Franince, and Conrad is determinant. Unrealistic returns for the sake of drama (David), love triangles, the implication of Gabe and Clem getting together (I'm firmly against it, mainly because Gabe seems like another Carl and I can't stand the archetypes for their characters and how Kirkman pushes these type of characters forwards). Speaking of Kirkman you can definitely feel his influence over this season, don't get me wrong I love the comic, but I prefer the game and the tone of the comic I feel is taking over the game with the love triangles and relationship drama, Kate, David and Javi, Eleanor and Tripp relationship, the implication Eleanor fancies Javi, even Clementine can't escape it, being paired with Gabe and Franince and Conrad we're together... ugh! Now I'm as guilty as Season 3 for pushing forward relationships in this fic, but I wish their were more variety in the relations between the characters. That being said Jesus was an awesome addition even if he was from the comic.**

**However Episode 2 overall felt like I was being dragged through an action movie, with little time to develop the characters and just dragging us from place to place, some scenes were great (such as Javier burying Mari) and the New Frontier are interesting villains, the plot is much more focused than Season 2. Season 3 can still be great, but I hope they don't waste all the potential they have been building for the past two episodes on the New Frontier in Episode 3. I don't want a repeat of In Harm's Way... either way Season 3 in a nutshell for me has been... Episode 1, wow that was pretty good, terrible flashbacks though... Episode 2... um... okay shit's happening, but I only care about Clem still... maybe Kate and Javi but that's it. **

**Okay, back to this chapter, I beginning to understand when someone said there was too much sex and relationships in this fic and seeing it in perspective I will continue to work on that issue. Also Season 3's characters may be in this fic, but I do not want to force it and I feel adding them will lead to that, however I have a few ideas at the moment... **

**Now onto this chapter, (sorry about the long review of Season 3) thank you for continuing support and bearing with me due to the long waits between chapters, I've taken your reviews into consideration and hopefully this chapter and the next one do you guys justice.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The Beacon had been passed onwards.

JJ had crept into the basement and shivered, it was so damn cold in here and it was getting colder and windier by the day. The layers of clothes he had stolen from the corpses of Aidan, Jessica and Jason had kept him warm for a short time, no matter how many coats or t-shirts he stuffed onto his skinny form, the cold had a way of seeping through the fabrics and making him shake uncontrollably. Of course most of JJ's skin was still scarred and scorched from when Tom had chucked him back into the fire in Wellington, the feeling of the heavy clothing against his scabbed and irritated skin was something that made him itch constantly and grit his teeth together, as the rounds of pain would overcome him.

"Don't break, don't break, don't break" TT's mantra was consistent in his head, as he placed one weary foot in front of the other.

"It hurts..." JJ moaned to the empty air of the basement.

"Ride it out, pussy!" TT snapped back at him.

Groaning JJ continued to descend into the basement, he had spent these last few weeks following the group. He didn't actually get close enough so he could hear them, or see them, but the smouldering remains of their campfires followed a general direction that JJ could easily follow. Also, despite his survival instinct telling him not to get too close to the group, in a forest devoid of people, their voices sometimes carried great distances and made it easy for JJ overhear what they were saying and continue to pursue them.

His stomach growled and he clutched it.

He was getting hungry again, but what the hell could he do? Robert had kept the group as close knitted as could be, there was no chance JJ could sneak up on them and take out another lone survivor. He'd heard Eddie had gone off on his own, but was unable to locate the bearded man and the approaching howls of a pack of hungry wolves had sent JJ clambering up into the branches of a tree to sleep every night, he'd wake up the next morning to find 2 or 3 of the deadly animals, circling below the tree. It took a great deal of rock throwing, screaming and sometimes sneaking out of the vicinity to get rid of them. Amazingly they hadn't attacked yet, his close proximity to the large group, probably kept most of the pack at bay. But JJ knew if he fell too far behind, he'd be left at the mercy of the savage wildlife.

Also the group had to provide him with food, they left no spares for him. JJ was able to find freshwater from streams, but food was a different matter. His grandfather not teaching him to hunt was now taking it's toll and JJ was forced to nibble on the bits of decaying human flesh he had in one of the backpacks Jason was wearing which he now took as his own. The flesh now tasted horrible and gave JJ a bad stomach and terrible diarrhea for hours afterwards, but it was either this or nothing. The only other thing he ate was a few berries he knew were safe to forge and eat, but the group before him, had picked many of these berries clean. Besides berries alone weren't enough to keep him on his feet, he was growing weaker and more desperate by the minute, sooner rather than later he would have to make a move.

Or else he would die of food poisoning or starvation.

"What's the point?" JJ asked aloud of himself, as he fell to his knees, the rancid taste of Jason's decaying legs, still sour in his mouth, his burns itching worse than ever, he cocked his head to the side to hear the silence around him, seeing as one of his ears had been lost in Wellington. He looked at a family of three burnt crisp in front of him and his eyes scanned over a poem on the nearby wall.

"How pathetic" TT snapped "Breaking like that... that won't be us JJ"

"But is _this_ going to be us?" JJ moaned to himself, this decaying basement, the decay on his breath, on his tongue, inside of him, all around him, everything around him was breaking and despite his persistent struggle to survive, JJ was starting to envy the family in front of him, they may have broken but at least they were together in their final moments. Whereas he had no one, he would have to kill his old group and even if they lived, they'd never accept him back into their fold. Alone but alive... where was the fun of living? He wasn't doing anything for anyone, he was surviving for his own selfish reasons and people had died because of him.

"No, we don't want to break!" TT snapped.

But that's all he knew, what he didn't want, not what he actually wanted. Even if they were somehow able to escape this wasteland and meet up with a new group, they or he could never escape the past. It was written on JJ's mind driving his insane, while all TT wanted to do was push forward.

"Look, we'll make it, we have a purpose!" TT snarled, as he felt himself pick up a blue hat on the skull of a skeleton below him and place it on his own head, (as an extra form of warmth).

"Do we?" JJ inquired.

"Yeah everyone else is doing the same anyway!" TT snarled "Killing each other to survive, no one is dying for anyone else, no one is dying to save the world, or bring about world peace! It's all about survival! It's all about number one here JJ! You've seen so many people die and how painful it's been, we haven't come this far to fucking break now have we!? We can't! We fucking can't, there's a future out there for us... somehow... and you know it..."

JJ inhaled and readjusting the new cap on his head, before he smiled to himself, reassured at TT's words.

"Okay" he finally muttered "Let's give it a shot"

The beacon had been passed onwards.

From one delusional psychopath, to the next.

* * *

"Here again"

It had only been a few days, but using the route Robert had lined on his map, the group found themselves back at the shores of the lake where Vince, Mike and Wyatt had met their makers years beforehand. If the house had been lined with bad memories it was nothing compared to this lake, which is where the group literally fell apart.

"I never thought I'd see this again" Stephanie mumbled sadly, her icy eyes gazing over the lake, which was once again frozen over, although the ice looked thinner than it had done the last time they had been here. So no one risked stepping out onto the lake once again and no one had any particular desire to do such a thing. Luke gazed at it and was glad Eddie wasn't here with them for this, because this was where (for Eddie) he lost his best friend. Soon after he'd lose his girlfriend and then Rebecca and AJ. Luke should have just shot Vince there and then rather than try and be a saint about things... what was he thinking back then? After everything Vince had put him through... if only he'd pulled the trigger there and then, Wyatt's rotting skeleton wouldn't be buried under this icy cold body of water, along with Vince's. If Wyatt was alive, then who knew what the difference could have been? More people could have been here right now...

Clementine looked over at Luke, she knew what he was thinking.

"I had a chance here Clem" he muttered over at her "a chance to make things right"

"Luke" she muttered back "It could have been worse than what it was"

Luke nodded to himself, his first life... whatever he regretted, stopping what occurred in his first life he felt was his biggest achievement and getting his group to Wellington (or what was left of it). Regardless Wellington was gone now, so what was his purpose? The decision to let JJ live showed how out of his depth he was without future knowledge and being out in the open like this. He knew how Clementine felt now when they went this way the first time, but to get to Howe's and beyond... how many more people would die because of bad decisions? Why did it always end with communities falling and his group on the move? It was nearly seven years into this mess, society should have been rebuilding by now, communities should have been running efficiently, but people still fought and that ultimately lead to Wellington falling.

"Maybe it will take a little longer for the world to get back to the way it was" Luke thought to himself, if it ever would in his lifetime. Maybe it would take decades... even longer until every damn walker was wiped out and what remained of society could slowly rebuild, they had been vaccinated against the virus that was a step in the right direction... but looking at this lake made Luke feel like...

Like he was stuck in some sort of time-loop, that would keep on repeating and repeating and repeating...

Until his luck finally ran out.

"I just wish we could make a difference for once" Luke uttered "Rather than this same shit, happening again and again and again..." he sighed there, as Molly helped him stay on his remaining leg, as he was still getting used to the one Nick had crafted for him. However Luke was a lot more mobile than he had once been, so he thanked Nick for that.

"Me too" Miss King (of all people) echoed.

"Hey... look" Nick muttered miserably, the group saw that he was looking over at a half buried skeleton, whose ribcage protruded out of the iced ground...

"Mike" Clementine muttered in misery.

The group was silent and sombre for a minute after this, looking down at the remains of Mike, who had saved them from the icy lake. He had paid for Luke's mistake and Luke couldn't stand the guilt any longer, hobbling on his leg he turned away from the site, as he felt his artificial leg trail in the dirt after him.

"You alright there?" Molly asked, hearing him.

"Yeah... It's just... I just wanna get moving again" Luke replied.

"Thank God, this is memory lane before I showed up" Molly said "So I don't really know what to say to comfort you"

"It's okay" Luke reassured her "Just being here me now is enough".

This was followed by a retching sound from somewhere in the group.

"PUT A CAP IN IT LUIS!" Molly exclaimed over to him.

"What makes you think it was me?" Luis replied, looking thunderstruck.

"Who else would it be?" Molly snapped.

"Fair play" Luis muttered "But I agree with you on one thing, can we honestly get moving? Or do we have stop at every tree and offer our condsconles..."

"LUIS! His mother snapped.

"What now?" he inquired.

"Have some sensitivity, please" Maria insisted "People have died here, good people..."

"People have died everywhere" Luis said in his defence "But I don't see us stopping there, or say pouring a vat of holy water over Wellington..."

"No tome ese tono conmigo señor! ¿Tienes idea de lo grosero que estás siendo ahora mismo!?" Maria snapped in spanish, showcasing that she was getting annoyed indeed.

"No estoy siendo grosero, honesto ..." Luis muttered.

"Una palabra más, de tu boca joven ...

"¡Tengo 20 años en unos días! No puedes seguir mandándome como si fuera un niño de 8 años!" Luis ranted back, as Robert turned around to Clementine and smiled at her.

"Whatever you did, it worked" He told her "As annoying as he can be, I'm glad his back up on his feet again"

"Point is I didn't really say anything" Clementine uttered as she gazed over at Luis. It was welcome to see him recover from whatever had been bothering him, for the past few days since they'd moved on from the house. Luis had once again made his presence known, openly acknowledging he had a part to play in the JJ scenario and bickering with whoever he felt like (mostly Clementine). Of course Clementine tried to hide her joy that he was back to his old self, by treating him as she usually did, but he had the threat of them "sleeping together" hanging over her head and in typical Luis fashion he went and told his mother.

Clementine didn't appreciate being awoken near midnight, to be told by a stern faced Maria about how she had apparently seduced her son and slept with him in the basement. Apparently they didn't use protection, it went on all night and now Luis was worried that Clementine could have been pregnant with his child. Poor wittle Luis was confused, it was his first time, he didn't know what he was doing and Clementine had started it all...

Clementine groaned when hearing this and told Maria the true version of events, for whatever reason (despite the fact Maria supposedly disliked her)she believed Clementine. Maybe Luis made his tale far too outlandish, sure enough the site of Maria bellowing in spanish while whacking her son across the head with a branch, was something that had Clementine in tears of mirth for hours. Despite the fact it woke up some of the others and they groaned about the noise, Maria informing Luis on how worried she was and Luis astounded reply that "It was a joke Mum... Jesus christ!" wasn't going to cut it. The sight of a man nearly 20 years of age, being beaten by his mother over a prank made Clementine's life near enough complete. Although judging by the way Luis was glaring at her afterwards, she had been on the lookout for whatever revenge he was planning.

She was smiling lightly now, she realised then how long it had seemingly been since she last smiled... the dance at the wedding maybe? Cracking a few jokes with the other group members? Either way in light of this depressing setting, it was nice to have new people here who could lighten the mood. James and Melanie were as silent and sombre as ever, but Robert seemed to carry a positive aura, that they were at least making progress towards Howe's. Miss King shared the same optimism and was becoming louder once again, Clementine suspected she grieved for Jason (the only other British person present) but was slowly recovering. She made a fuss about her bite wound sometimes and how it didn't seem to be healing, in which either Ethan or Terri would point out to her it was scabbing over (much to her relief). The Watchmen of the group themselves or the "golden duo" as Robert called them were the same as ever, quiet, observant but always watching over the group and always being the one's to alert them to any approaching walkers.

"You know, we should bury him"

Clementine looked up, it was Nick that had spoken he was looking at Mike's skeleton in the dirt.

"He saved us from the Lake" Nick muttered "Then the cult go and fucking skin him like an animal, he deserves better".

"Fair enough" Robert muttered "Don't take too long though, the sun's setting. We could stay in that hut over there..." he pointed at a building across the lake.

"Oh boy, there again" Stephanie muttered "Remember when we got stuck in there Luke. I think it was a boy scout's camp or something..."

"Yeah, glad you were there with me though" Luke recalled.

"I know the ice is thin Robert..." Miss King began "But we could walk over it to save time, I mean we'd have to go all the way round otherwise and we don't know what walkers are lurking in the tree's..."

She paused there, seeing on how everyone was looking at her.

"We're taking the safer way Cristina" Robert muttered "It might take us a hell of a lot longer to go round, but I'm not going over that death-trap. I mean what sorts of idiots would walk across an icy lake when there's a safer alternative!?"

This was met with a pause.

"In our defence" Nick piped up "We had no desire to cross the lake in the first place, but we had to get Vince out of the way and he couldn't just run off into the tree's or dodge bullets if he was stuck out on..." he paused there, seeing on how everyone was looking at him now.

"Okay, okay I get it!" Miss King snapped "I'm an idiot for suggesting it, we should just take the safe way..."

"Hell, you're free to express an opinion" Robert said "It's just if we fall in, we die of hypothermia. That hut might not be too warm and we don't have many spare clothes on us and we could always get trapped under the ice as well".

"Well we made it, but barely" Nick recalled "Me and Stef found this car, the others found a house, but it was mostly body warmth that kept us alive..."

"Regardless of body heat, some of you still died on this Lake" Robert recalled looking over at Mike's skeleton once again "If he hadn't had acted and got you out, I imagine many of you would have drowned or gone into shock and froze, you got lucky, very lucky. I don't want to take that risk, just to spare us a few minutes of walking and the threat of walkers. Besides we're immune now, so what exactly is the threat here?"

The group was silent once again, he did have a point.

"Well their bites still sting" Miss King protested feebly "and people in Wellington had their necks bitten out, immunity didn't save them from that, or save the walls from falling..."

"That was more Schulz fault" Robert muttered "If that bastard wasn't so concerned about size, those walls would have been sturdier and we could have gotten to work on them before they fell".

"We're here to ensure you don't become walker mush anyway" Terri informed her former teacher "and we haven't failed so far".

Miss King sighed.

"Fair enough" she finally muttered "But I'm standing between you and Ethan..."

"Melanie needs to stand close, as she can't call out for help..."

"Oh I want to stand next to you Robert senpai!"

"Knock it off Luis!"

"Maybe I'll just stand at the back then..."

Clementine looked over at the new group as they bickered amongst each other, out of everyone they could have been travelling with from Wellington. These guys weren't such a bad bunch after all, of course Clementine wished the likes of Brandon, Scott and Gertrude were still around but these were the people who were here now.

They just had to make the best of it.

* * *

"Anyone, want to say a few words?"

Nick asked this of the group who surrounded Mike's grave, which consisted of a lump of frozen dirt and a few pretty flowers, plucked from the nearby undergrowth.

"Thanks for saving us Mike" Luke muttered "You deserved better, you didn't deserve to die because of my mistake"

He paused there, the group around him reflecting on his sacrifice.

"Thanks" Nick muttered.

"You can rest easy now Mike" Stephanie said.

"Thanks for saving this group" Molly muttered "I didn't know you, but y'know thanks for saving em all and Luke... you know saving him and having him all lubed up for me at the ready..."

"Molly!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist..."

"You were true and true firefighter Mike" Clementine said, remembering there conservations back at Howe's "You saved us all, I hope you're with Bonnie and Rebecca, AJ and Wyatt now and you're old family and friends, we won't forget you, or anyone we've lost".

She finished there, after what she had said there wasn't much more to say, so the group proceeded back to the small hut, where they were welcomed inside by the rest of the group, before long dark had fallen and the group settled into their sleeping bags once again.

"You know, when we wake up tomorrow it's the 1st Feburary" Robert pointed out.

"Another month down, we survived January" Luke muttered in optimism.

"It's my birthday on the 7th" Luis pointed out.

"Mine's on the 28th" James added quietly, "I was close to being a leap year kid"

"We're getting old" Molly said.

The group continued to discuss matters amongst each other, glad to have a roof over their head once again as one by one, they drifted into a welcome sleep after the exhausting trek that day. As per usual, Ethan and Terri remained some of the last people awake, as they gazed over the dozing group. Tonight they were on guard with Melanie, who was silent as per usual. Usually James or Melanie would join them for this task, James was always silent, although Ethan thought something was weighing heavily on his mind. Melanie was silent for obvious reasons and was still adjusting to her injury and a lifetime of being a mute woman, the incident and deaths that had occurred seemed to make her more timid yet determined of the world around her.

"You can't really blame them" Terri was telling Ethan "They've been sheltered from this for a long time, it will take some time to adjust"

"I see" Ethan said.

"I was going to suggest" Terri said "With JJ still out there, we could go hunt him down. Finish him once and for all and bring his head back to the group. So the likes of Robert and Miss King don't have to worry about him anymore".

"He'd be getting weaker anyway by this point" Ethan told her "He is focused on survival that eventually he'll come to us and we'll deal with him easily. We could hunt him down, it would be easy. But we don't want to separate the group, remember he has taken down several grown adults and used the environment to his advantage several times. He is not stupid, he's hoping we'll come to him, if we don't by the time he'll come to us. He'll be too weak to be considered a threat and we'll take care of him, we can't give into anger or personal hatred, the fact we haven't shows why we're such efficient survivors".

"Well I guess when you put it like that..." Terri mused, feeling slightly proud of herself. With this compliment on her shoulders, her eyes wondered around the dark cabin and found a nearby sign.

"Monty Forest Summer Camp an all boy's camp, founded in 1886" Terri read from the sign.

"A boy's summer camp" Ethan muttered "Never been to one"

"My brother Brandon went to some when he was little" Terri recalled "Father always favoured him and ensured he got that sort of treatment. Never gave me the same, but..." she sighed there "Being the girl and the middle child, it wasn't all that fun".

"I was a middle child" Ethan informed her, as she looked up learning more about the infamous Wellington Wolf was a surprise "I had an older brother and younger brother"

"What happened to them?" Terri asked.

"Died before all of this" Ethan said "My real family, I lost them a long time ago".

There was a silence between the pair of them for a short while, Terri wondering what she would ask him next.

"So what was your real name, if you remember?" she added quickly.

"Zeljko" he replied instantly.

"Zeljko" she repeated "That's strange, did you ever tell anyone else your real name".

"Only one person" Ethan said "I travelled with her for a while during all of this, as she lay dying I thought it would be best to tell her then. I... haven't told anyone else, it's not healthy to form attachments at a time like this".

"Why are you telling me then?" Terri asked.

"Because you're telling me about yourself" Ethan said "Considering we're very alike and both are committed to protecting the group above all else. I think it would be beneficial to our survival if we have good relations to each other. Seeing as the group have fallen out in the past, it's essential me and you keep things stable".

"I can see the logic in that" Terri said "It's weird though, serial killers like us, I didn't think I'd ever be having a conversation like this again, there are times I don't even feel human, like I'm just frozen when I remember all the stuff I've done. But then I look at the group laughing and joking and dreaming about the future and gives me a drive to go on, to do something to ensure their safe. I couldn't give them a cure like you could, but I can try and give them everything I have..."

"You're doing a good job" Ethan said "As for the cure, I don't regret discovering it and ultimately letting it be used. But... it came at a heavy cost, people fought and killed each other to get it. Ultimately this group in front of us is all that remains of a community who had a cure, if we were to discover a new community, a bigger community then maybe we'd have to make a few more sacrifices to save humanity..."

"Who said we'd find a bigger community?" Terri inquired "They can't have survived the airborne strain by this point and I can't imagine a community as big as this group. I feel this group is probably all that's left of humanity at this point. It sounds crazy but it could be true and that just makes me want to protect them even more".

"I was dreaming up a fictional scenario" Ethan said to cover for his slip up regarding the true nature of the "airborne" strain "I know there are no communities out there that can still be ongoing, hence why this group is so essential to be saved".

"Yep" Terri muttered "It can be difficult to do this alone, but I'm glad I have a friend to help me".

"Likewise" Ethan replied with a smile.

* * *

Nick rolled over in his sleeping bag, he was having trouble sleeping tonight as he thought about the future and everything it entailed, he had his one room wrapped around his wife, as he slowly brushed his nose against her's and pulled her sleeping form closer to his own form. He used Stephanie's body warmth to warm himself up, as he kissed her forehead and began to play with her long black hair, his fingers trailing through the strands of hair as he watched over his sleeping wife. He looked down at her stomach and realised the weight of everything that was currently in his grip (with both his normal arm and his stump, which curled around Stephanie's back).

In his grip, right now we're his wife and child. His own family in his arms. He gripped onto them tighter, he couldn't lose them... after everything. But Sarah had been in his arms like this, as had Lilly and both them of we're dead and gone now, he remembered how hard he fought to keep Stephanie in this group and this was the payoff. He couldn't lose her now, he couldn't lose his child, but the thoughts of them dying like Sarah and Lilly kept replaying in his mind keeping him awake at night. He thought if he'd lose Sarah and Lilly he'd end up killing himself and he got stuck in prison and lost all reason to live, he couldn't go through all that again, it would destroy him.

"She's not going to evaporate, you can lessen your grip on her"

Nick looked up, Luis single eye was trained on his form, the mexican teenager was sat up and looking at an old photograph.

"I'm worried" Nick admitted honestly, as he looked down at his own stump of an arm and then back at Stephanie "We're not invincible, our luck will run out eventually I can't lose her and the baby. I..." he sighed there "I keep thinking it's going to happen, it's happened to so many others Eddie tried to protect Violet, Rebecca and AJ and he failed. Kenny tried to protect his family and he failed, then he couldn't protect Sarita. I... I tried to protect Lilly and Sarah but I failed as well. We're meant to be the men here, the one's who are supposed to give their lives, their bodies to protect those they care about. Every other dad figure I've heard about has lost their family, I meant to be the dad here Luis, the one who takes all the punches... but I'm still alive, while those I supposed to be protecting are dead and it feels like it's just gonna happen all over again".

"It probably will"

Nick looked up at Luis, had he really just said that?

"What?" Nick enquired.

"I fucked up big time on the vote to save JJ, now people are dead because of me" Luis muttered "I blamed myself, fuck up's happen all the time. People you love are gonna die and we're gonna blame ourselves because we could have done more. That's just something we've got to live with, hell I even considered off-ing myself a few days back, but I didn't".

"Why?" Nick asked.

"Because it's selfish" Luis replied honestly "For whatever reason, Clem sitting with me in that basement for hours made me realise she does care about me. That I had someone other than my mother who looked out for me, it was a nice feeling. But as long as I'm surviving and fighting for someone, that makes life worth living. If Stef and the baby did die, then Luke would still be there, I'd still be there, Clem would still be there. You'd hurt us if you decided to off yourself, so life's a bitch, so just be a bitch back to it".

"You've turned sentimental" Nick pointed out with a small smile.

"I was just thinking about stuff" Luis said, as he turned around the picture to see Luis was looking at a photo of his late father "I wonder a lot about this bastard you know? What he was like, if he was here now, would he tell me off like Mum, was his spanish very good, what was his religion? What was his favourite colour, what did he like to do as a kid? What was his hobby, what's the most embarrassing thing he ever did? I'd have liked to have known him as a person, but I won't and it kinda sucks to be honest".

"But he died protecting you and your mother from what Maria told me" Nick said "He left his life of crime behind to raise you..."

"He can't have been perfect" Luis muttered "If the way I turned out is any indicator of what he was like, then I know that much. But I can't deny he died protecting his family and I have to admire that. That point aside I know either you or Stef over there would die to protect those you care about, but try and stick around for a while longer and not die on us. Seriously, I'm sick of people dying at this point..."

"You and me both" Nick said, "But thanks for the reassurance Luis".

"Tell Clem I got soppy with you, I'll rip off your other arm" was Luis only reply.

"Too late for that" came a voice from across the room.

"For fuck's sake Clem, do you ever sleep!?" Luis snapped.

"You're not the only one who can listen to things in secret you know..."

"Well I thought it was beautiful Luis dear..."

"MUM!" Luis yelped, going red, as Nick laughed into sleeping bag.

"Seriously how many goddamn people are awake!?" Luis inquired.

"Well, we're on guard , so..." Terri pointed out from across the small hut, as Melanie smiled at Luis from a point beside him.

"Oh, I'm not living this down..." Luis groaned.

Nick looked over to see Stephanie (despite many other people being awake) was still flat out, kissing her forehead again Nick pulled her closer.

_"I'll protect you" _he vowed, Luis was right in a sense. He was fed up of people dying, maybe he needed to stop worrying about it and put forward steps to ensure it simply wouldn't happen at all.

* * *

February 7th 2010.

Luis' 20th birthday, suffice to say despite a few grumbles of "Happy Birthday" there was no cake for the mexican survivor who could now proudly state he was no longer a teenager, but a fully grown man. It had been 6 days since they had left the lake behind and now they were finally back near the ski lodge, the surrounding mountains certainly cast bad memories for the remaining members of Luke's original group. Especially because there seemed to be a swarm of walkers near to the lodge, which Luke quickly pointed out.

"On top of that slope!" he muttered, the slope looking more like a mountain, with the little ski lodge near the top.

"I went past that lodge" Ethan muttered "When I was travelling towards Wellington, didn't go inside because of the sick of course..."

"Despite more bad memories for you people, it's looks like another place we can call home with a roof over our heads" Robert muttered "Because it's been near enough a week since we last had a roof and some warmth".

"Plus, we have to be getting closer to this Howe's place now!" Miss King squeaked in excitement.

"From the lodge, it's about three, maybe two days walk" Luke predicted.

"I swear, if we've come this far and Howe's is just a ruin..." Nick piped up.

"If that burning house still stood tall, then Howe's should be fine" Luke reassured him "Lilly only burnt the trucks remember? Not the store itself, so even if it is a ruin. It's another place we can hole up for a while and then decide to get to an island"

"There's an air base near to Howe's" Robert pointed out.

"We scouted from there a few times" Luke said "It was mostly covered with walkers so we didn't get to explore it that much, but I'm sure there are a few hangers that were still locked, that may have planes in".

"You still up for piloting?" Robert asked of James.

The former marine didn't seem to hear him.

"James!" he snapped.

"What?" the young man responded, lifting his head up.

"You're still a pilot, are you not. Are you going to get us to a desert island, should Howe's be a waste".

"Sure" James replied.

"That settles it then, we'll head to the air-base if Howe's is a waste" Robert said "and if we don't find any planes, we'll head further south. Reach the coast and find a boat and get to an island"

"It might be harder than it looks to find a boat" Clementine observed, remembering Savannah bitterly.

"I wish we had a truck" Stephanie pointed out "Maybe we should have stayed at Wellington to try and find some vehicles with gas. The fire can't have burnt them all and some were reinforced, like the cult's trucks..."

"We could have done that" Robert muttered "But we're here now, so there's no point in going back for that we're days away from our first goal people! We've lost people along the way but just for the last stretch then we can rest for a couple of days when we reach Howe's"

"Thank God, my legs are killing me!" Miss King exclaimed.

"Birthday's boy wish for the best bed in the lodge and at Howe's!" Luis exclaimed.

"It won't be your birthday when we reach Howe's" Clementine pointed out.

"So, I'm making a birthday wish it has to be seen too" Luis muttered, as it was his day of special privileges he wasn't letting it go to waste and Clementine wondered should they all still be around on her 16th Birthday in October, how she was going to get her dearest revenge on him.

But the birthday wishes had to be pushed aside, as with the swarm of walkers around they had cover themselves in walker guts and traverse their way up the rocky slopes.

"I hate climbing" Nick groaned.

"My expertise" Molly pointed out proudly, however she stuck close to Luke to ensure she didn't fly off the edge of the steep slopes, Miss King could be heard moaning about heights the further up they got and the guts plastered over their clothes to get past the initial hordes below, froze them to the bone. But despite their aching limbs, they soldiered on as they always did...

Until they heard it.

It came from nowhere, one minute the wind breezed in their ears and the next minute their was distant sound of helicopter blades and a loud, air raid like siren rang across the valley. Molly jumped in surprise, as many heads whipped around at the site of a helicopter simply flying there, a few miles away from where the group were. The sounds of the siren emitted from the thing as the group simply stopped and stared, wondering if what they were seeing was actually real, after thinking they were the last people on earth after Wellington. Encountering, not only people again, but people with advanced technology such as a helicopter was a shocking site for them indeed.

"This isn't for real, is it?" Robert muttered at last.

"But... how!?" Stephanie exclaimed "They... the airborne strain of the virus...!"

"They must be wearing masks" Ethan said quickly.

"Where the hell have they come from!?" Nick inquired "Have they been watching us? They've just come out of nowhere..."

"Well the siren from that plane is drawing a fucking massive herd of walkers below it, it will draw them in for miles" he observed.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing" Maria muttered in awe "Is this the Government or something...?"

"LOOK!" Miss King exclaimed "There's more of them coming in!"

Sure enough, around two or three more helicopters zoomed towards the stationary one that was hovering in place a few miles away.

"Should we get their attention!" Miss King asked of Robert.

"We don't know whose these people are" Robert said "They've got tech alright, but they can't be from around this area. They could be from another country doing some sort of scouting mission, or have a base at the other side of the states. If they were close here we'd have heard of them... but what the hell are they..."

"We could be rescued by these people, if they are some sort of rescuing squad!" Luis pointed out.

"What about Howe's!?" Clementine protested.

"Your broken little store, compared to some Government compound? I'm sorry Clem I know which one I'd prefer" Luis told her bluntly "I guess the birthday boy has gotten his present" he mused to himself.

"This certainly complicates things" Robert said "But we have a solid plan, let's not throw our hat in with these people yet, we don't know who they are or what they are doing...?"

"They're drawing in walkers" James said "Seems strange, but why gather them all in one place?"

This sentence hit home for Robert who gasped and muttered "I fucking knew it, they've got to be military"

"What, why?" Clementine asked "The military was gone years ago"

"No, their military alright, this isn't a scouting mission, it's a bombing run" Robert said "Their gathering all the walkers together to blow them up in one, rather than simply a drop a bomb somewhere".

"Why didn't they do something like this before then!" Luis shouted.

"I don't know, but I don't like the look of these people" Robert said "Maybe we should just move on..."

"Move on!?" Miss King shrieked "We're out here and they could have a community with comfortable homes and beds, we can't just pass this up..."

"and what if they're a group of military asshats, who'll kill us and rape the women? They could be rogues and savages just with this tech at their disposal"

"You don't know that!" James piped up.

"Well neither do you!" Robert responded "It's best to be safe here and..."

"Too late" Luke muttered, he was looking up at a fifth helicopter that had appeared over the slope they were on, it had stopped at a point directly above them.

"They've spotted us" Clementine said, as she looked around at the panicked and confused group around her, they had such a simple plan to move on by themselves, now this had come in and complicated things completely, it wasn't something to be avoided, but something none of them really wanted to run too and trust one hundred per cent.

What were they going to do now?

* * *

"You're not gonna believe this Olivia"

Olivia had been told they were five minutes from the destination, so she wondered what Robinson had to tell her now, he had a large smile on his face as he said these words.

"What is it Robinson?" she asked.

"Well you were wrong" he replied.

"About what?"

"People" Robinson said "Williams has just been in touch, they've seen a group of people near the site. Living people".

Olivia sat up, alarmed at this news.

"What? How many?" she asked rapidly.

"13" Robinson replied.

Olivia fell back in her seat.

This certainly was an interesting development.


	40. Sad Reality

**A/N: Sorry this author's note is so short, but this chapter is an absolute mammoth of one, (my longest chapter ever) reviews for this chapter will be answered in PM's (if you have any questions or extra thoughts on this big bad chapter) anyway, brace yourselves for the very worst because here it comes, the conclusion to Episode 4... Sad Reality, I hope this entertains and lives up to the hype!**

* * *

_"Got ya!"_

_Clementine's face became splattered with snow in an instance, sputtering the frozen water from her mouth and wiping it from her eyes, she rubbed down her numb face, with her gloved hands, as Sarah stood a few meters away from the 13 year old, laughing to high heavens on the snowball she had projected in Clementine's direction that had landed directly on her friend's face._

_"NICE SHOT SARAH!" Eddie encouraged her from a distance._

_"Thanks!" Sarah shouted back to him._

_Clementine smiled, deciding that Sarah was distracted she quickly scooped up a ball of snow on the ground and threw it towards Sarah, however at the last moment her one armed friend, saw the snowball incoming and quickly ducked to avoid it._

_"You'll have to do harder than that, too hit me!" she yelled in victory._

_"I'll get you next time!" Clementine exclaimed, she barely had a second to breathe before another snowball narrowly missed her._

_"Are you blind Molly, that was an easy shot!" Luke informed her, they were currently flanked to Clementine's left, ducking behind their fortress of massed snow._

_"Better than your attempts!" she retorted, before she grabbed a fistful of snow and yanked the collar of Luke's coat open, so much so that she was able to shovel the snow down the front of his clothes. He yelped in surprise and gasped "AH!" as the freezing snow made contact with his bare skin._

_"MOLLY!" he roared, as he tried to shake the snow out from under his clothing, the blonde woman simply laughed at his struggle, her eyes watering with tears of mirth, before he managed to do the same to her, which certainly wiped the smile off her face. While two wrestled in the snow, Clementine, Sarah and Eddie decided to check on where Nick, Stephanie, Rebecca, AJ and Lilly were building a snowman at the foot of the hill at the back of their house. As Wellington was coated in a layer of thick, north-western winter snow, there was more than enough of it to build snowmen and to sleigh down hills. The hill at the back of their house had become something of a tourist attraction for the past couple of days, due it's popularity as a sleighing hotspot. Many families, groups of friends and locals had converged on the hill to trudge to the top and then slide down it's slopes. It was one of the few times the community had come together in the earlier days of Wellington, while the threat of Wellington Wolf wasn't as big as it was going to become, but people still enjoyed having their own houses at this point and the community was somewhat divided still._

_Except in this festive season._

_Just over a year after staying in Wellington, this had to be the best time for Clementine. She approached where Nick was was picking up Lilly with his arms, as the infant babbled and eventually (with her small fingers) managed to put the carrot she was holding, into the face of the snowman, giving it a nose._

_"Nice job, Lilly" Nick said, as the infant smiled up at her father figure._

_"MUM! I want to add the eyes! I want to add the eyes!" AJ squealed, as he had started speaking he hadn't shut up, a cosy looking Rebecca merely patted her son on the shoulders._

_"Yes, yes okay Alvin honey... okay... just wait for Lilly too..."_

_"I WANT TO DO IT NOW!" AJ persisted._

_"Wait your turn Alvin...!" Rebecca chastised, her patience growing thinner._

_"Don't worry dude" Eddie said, sweeping in, for what he thought was the rescue "I'm sure when you get to add the eyes, they'll be as realistic as they can be, eyes like... well not stones. But eyes that look... look like your gorked..."_

_"What's gorked?" AJ inquired of him._

_"Well um..." Eddie hummed, aware of Rebecca's disapproving glare on him "Well, erm... realistic eyes, not like stones you know?"_

_"What's reel-lis-tc?" AJ asked again._

_"Something that looks pretty" Eddie muttered off the top of his head._

_"Oh... okay" AJ muttered, still slightly confused, as Eddie scratched the back of his ear, Rebecca rolled her eyes and smiled at the dorky guy in front of her, who simply shrugged his shoulders._

_"Nice one" Clementine interjected "You should really write a thesaurus one day Eddie..."_

_"At least I know how to write well and don't need help" Eddie mused, flashing a smug grin in Clementine's direction. Clementine felt herself turn pink (not just because of the cold) she guessed Eddie knew and had remembered about the lessons Sarah had given Clementine to help her read and write. These were currently ongoing, Clementine hoped to return to school one day with the knowledge and skills of any academic 13 year old._

_"It looks so cool!" Sarah emphasised to Stephanie, who was working on giving the snowman a smile._

_"Well, we did promise we'd make a snowman when we got here" Stephanie mused, as she completed her artwork and turned to her boyfriend "Right Nick?"_

_"Yeah, I'm glad we have now" Nick mused, as he placed one arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and pulled her closer to him "Almost finished, just gotta add the eyes now..."_

_"I'LL DO IT, I'LL DO IT, I'LL DO IT...!" AJ began like a broken alarm._

_"Alvin, don't push in front of people!" Rebecca snapped, as he had trodden on Stephanie's foot in order to get to snowman._

_"Lift me up!" he demanded of Eddie._

_"Say please!" Rebecca insisted._

_"PLEASE!" AJ exclaimed a little too loudly, to a blank looking Eddie._

_"Um okay... whatever dude" he muttered "Just erm... settle down a bit..."_

_"Hey Clem!" Sarah said to her friend suddenly, "Want to go sleighing while they finish up here, I brought my sleigh and I just saw Molly and Luke go up there with Gertrude..."_

_"Sure" Clementine replied, she liked the group behind her, but she'd like being the company of Luke, Molly, Gertrude and Sarah even more. So leaving a squealing AJ behind them, Sarah and Clementine trudged up the hill, where many other residents of Wellington were currently sliding down the hill. _

_"Hey Clem, Sarah!" came a shout from Edith, who was surrounded by a large group of her friends._

_"Hey Edith!" Sarah waved back to her, as the guide smiled and returned to her activities, from around them many other residents of Wellington were also enjoying the luxury the snow provided them. Melanie was with her husband Greg and her newborn son, as she laughed fondly at her husband who was sledding down the hill, while holding her son in layers upon layers of clothing to keep him warm. Robert Allen was present with his young son as well, helping the young boy climb up the slippery slope of a hill. Violet, Trevor and Stacy Moore were present with Violet's friend Cristina King, as the four of them had a humorous discussion on whether or not to build a snowman or sleigh race each other. James was present with Frank and a group of friends, as they laughed loudly and tried to knock each other from down the hill, while Edward Frye and his parents were certainly making the most of the day as well, while Father Jordan watched over them all and smiled, wishing he could live for more happy times like these. _

_"Clem, Sarah, fancy some hot chocolate when we're done here?" were the first words Gertrude said to them, when they reached her._

_"Oh yes please" Clementine muttered, "It's freezing out here"_

_"Believe me, this is nothing compared to some winters I've been through" Gertrude informed the girls, as Luke set down his sleigh and gestured for Molly to get on._

_"Ladies first" he mused._

_"Oh thank you, dear husband" Molly said, as she took her seat and turned to where Sarah and Clementine were setting up their on sleigh "Hey!" she called over to them "Wanna race? Me and Luke versus you and Clem?"_

_"You're on!" Sarah yelled, getting excited at the prospect of a friendly competition._

_"Ready to have your ass whupped Clem!?" Luke yelled over at her._

_"Are you!? Cause you should be!" Clementine replied with just as much smug confidence as Luke had._

_"First one to the bottom of the hill wins then" Gertrude said, as she set up her own sleigh._

_"Wait, you're sleighing as well!?" Luke asked with widened eyes._

_"Luke, I'm not 90 just yet, these old bones have some fight in them!" Gertrude insisted, as she prepared herself and counted down "Okay people...3...2...1... GO!"_

_Clementine remembered the rush of snow, she remembered falling off the sleigh at the halfway point, as she rolled in the freezing snow, her and Sarah became tangled in a web, as they laughed themselves hoarse at what had happened. Luke and Molly thought they'd won, until their smiles were wiped off their face as Gertrude sailed ahead of them and claimed victory, making it a day Clementine and Sarah would fondly remember. She remembered watching the others trying to sleigh down the hill, laughing as Eddie went flying off his sleigh in a similar manner as she did, Nick and Stephanie's fierce sleighing competition and who would eventually claim victory after ten races down the hill (Nick was ultimately successful) the laughs and cheers of the children around them..._

_Those were the days._

_The good old days, the days Clementine thought of in these dark-times as she felt herself get dragged back to the present by a rough voice..._

* * *

"WEAPONS TO THE GROUND!"

It had happened far too fast, one minute the helicopter was hovering above them and the next moment there were two and then three... before ropes descended from the choppers and a dozen men, adorned in camo, military, attire slid down the ropes, surrounding the stunned group within seconds and holding a lethal array of large rifles and snipers in their direction.

"WEAPONS TO THE GODDAMN GROUND!" A voice in a loudspeaker repeated aggressively.

"No point in trying to fight this folks" Robert muttered to the group behind him "They'll want to talk to us I'm sure... but you need to listen to me" he was lowering his voice now "Whatever I say to them, just play along, you need too..."

"WEAPONS NOW OR WE'LL SHOOT!" came the voice once again.

Sighing, Robert cut off whatever it was he needed to say and threw the group's only gun to the ground, he gestured at the rest of the group to do the same, as an mass index of melee weapons, blunt pipes, axes, hatchets, throwing knives, bows and arrows, a lone sword, machetes (and with much reluctance from Molly) an icepick finally hit the rocky ground of this slope.

"HANDS IN THE AIR!"

This order was met, as Robert's group all put their hands in the air to show they had nothing in their hands to attack these people with. Clementine stood close to Luke, who was managing to maintain his balance, thanks to leg Nick had made him, yet she could see how nervous he looked. The same could be said about everyone really, Stephanie was clinging to Nick while his brave face was faltering, Robert himself despite looking the most calm, was quickly rolling his eyes in every direction, Clementine knew he was looking for any form of escape or way out of this, by analysing his surroundings.

The men approached them, one of them stopped a few feet short of Robert, his beady little eyes locked upon the weapons on the ground.

"One gun!?" he boomed.

"That's it" Robert told them truthful.

"Bullshit" The soldier snapped "Search them all!" he ordered harshly of the men around him, before they could utter a word of protest, the group found themselves being searched thoroughly. It took every fibre of Clementine's being not to resist to the rough hands scaling over her clothes and patting her down checking for any sort of weapon. This sort of contact made her very uncomfortable and she doubted the others were very happy about it either, Miss King looked close to tears for whatever reason... while Nick looked like he wanted to tear the head off the overzealous soldier who was taking a little bit longer than his comrades to "search" Stephanie. However no one reacted, holding in their emotions and instant negative impressions of this new group, they kept silent and followed Robert's solemn example, when the soldiers were finished they backed off, taking the group's weapons with them.

"Okay no more weapons!" the soldier who had spoken earlier, didn't even apologise for his wrongful assumption that the group had more weapons, instead he pulled out some sort of walkie talkie and barked into it... "Miss President, we got em' all here! Strange group of folk that's for damn sure"

Something inaudible was muttered back to him from the other end of the device.

"No, they're all adults" the man responded, having heard his leader's inquiry, before the man looked back at the group. Clementine knew what was coming the minute her eyes and the man's connected.

"Except for this one girl, looks like she could be in her early teens" he said.

Now Clementine could hear the curious "Hmmm..." from the other side of the device that didn't help with her racing heart. However the "Hmmm..." ing stopped as another question was given to the soldier.

"ANY OF YOU GOT ANY USEFUL OCCUPATIONS!?" He exclaimed over to the frozen group in front of him.

There was only silence, which built on the shoulders of the group.

"HEY!" He exclaimed again "ANYONE GOT ANY USEFUL SKILLS, SAY SOMETHIN'!"

Everyone was panicking slightly now, unsure of whether to follow Robert's example, or try and pacify this annoyed soldier.

"I was in Marines!" James piped up, before anyone could stop him "I'm a pretty good pilot on certain planes as well"

His face looked white, as the soldier scanned his profile however he eventually nodded and muttered back to his leader "One of em says he was marine once, could be a useful pilot. By the look of him I don't think his bullshittin' but you never know..."

There was a sigh from the walkie talkie.

"My helicopter is scheduled to be there in less than a minute" now Clementine could hear the cold and curt voice of a woman, fly over to her eardrums "Is there anywhere to take this group to be questioned?"

"There's a lodge in sight" the soldier said "Can't miss it"

"Excellent" the woman said "Take them there, I'll be with them in a minute".

The device went dead, as the soldier pocketed it and raised his gun to the group once again.

"RIGHT YOU HEARD HER! ON YOUR FEET PEOPLE! UP TO THAT LODGE, MOVE... MOVE...!" He barked.

As the group made their last trek together.

* * *

The ski lodge looked like it was miles away, but the group seemed to glide there within minutes under the company of aggressive, seemingly alien soldiers who had popped up out of nowhere with their weapons and helicopters. During the short, yet awkward walk to the ski lodge no one said anything to each other, the only sounds that could be heard were the clanking of the guns from the soldiers, the roar of the winds, the distant rumble and groans of the mass herd of walkers building from below them and the rushed breaths from Clementine's fellow allies. She could only look at the soldiers around her who didn't seem special in her eyes, they seemed like so many other soldiers she had seen beforehand, but her eyes locked on Robert's back, hoping their leader had some way out of this mess. Wherever this community was, Clementine wanted no part in going there despite their advanced tech, they had a plan already to get to Howe's and then go further than that, as a small but stable group. With JJ gone from their company, they were a group that could make it on it's own, they didn't need all of this.

Besides, Clem had a feeling she _had_ to get back to Howe's... to solve whatever it was that was going on. It still sounded crazy in her head and was a crazy argument to mutter out loud, but that was her main reason for wanting to get back to where it had all started.

Whatever was going on here, couldn't get in the way.

They entered the lodge once again, as the soldiers filed in from behind them, Clementine remembered this place being littered with the bodies of the sick last time they were here. So looking around it now, if felt like an completely different place. Although she swore if she looked hard enough, she could make out damp spots of blood and other fluids on the ground and the lodge had a certain creepy stillness about it, that hinted the fact it was place where many people had died and suffered. The cold drafts of the wind blew through the large building, gave the building it's unique howls of agony, probably reminiscent of the last moments of it's former inhabitants screaming as the cult slaughtered them mercilessly. Clementine shivered, if the group were meant to be sleeping here tonight she could certainly say she'd have trouble closing her eyes and drifting into a peaceful slumber.

The door to the lodge opened behind them.

"WEAPONS DOWN MEN!" The woman barked.

The group turned to face her, she was flanked by two soldiers on her sides and Clementine knew instantly she had that cold aura of a leader around her, her hair was short and iron grey, her attire was formal and polished, she had to be quite old, judging by her hair and wrinkles lining her face and hands. But she didn't look like any sort of pushover- old lady, she stood upright, with her nose in the air and her cold blue eyes quickly scanning over her soldiers, she walked briskly, her eyes betraying no emotion as she looked (at the first time) at the new group in front of her. She stopped a few feet from them and paused to think.

"Whose leader here!?" she barked with as much love as her soldiers did.

"That would be me" Robert said, stepping forward and extending his hand.

The woman looked at it and coldly declined his greetings, Robert withdrew his arm, as Clementine felt sweat beads roll down her face. This woman was taking no-nonsense or sweet talk then, surviving this long in the apocalypse probably made her this way, as well as having all these soldiers to keep in line. But this only made things more difficult, was she was going to just drag them off to her community? Or give them a free choice? The way they were being held at gunpoint now wasn't exactly a good omen.

"Not much for formalities then?" Robert tried to ask causally.

"Not one for bullshit" she replied briskly "What's your name?"

"Robert?"

"What did you do? Where are you from?"

"Used to be a Journalist, worked in Wellington"

"Wellington?" the woman asked her eyes widening, "Wellington fell weeks back according to my reports"

"Yeah well, we barely escaped" Robert muttered, before his eyes widened as well "Wait, were you monitoring Wellington?"

"I'll ask the questions, you'll respond" the woman told him fiercely, the guns pointing in their direction and her general no-bullshit attitude told them exactly who was in power here.

"Okay" Robert muttered, rather defeated at this point.

"I will tell you the basics however" the woman said "I'm Olivia, I lead a city of survivors called Utopia out in the Nevada desert, we have a massive population and no tolerance for any bullshit or nutjobs in our city, do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah" Robert said, as the group had to digest this information, there was a city of survivors!? A city!? That sounded insane to Clementine, but how the hell could a city exist with the airborne strain around? Why was nobody here wearing any masks, yet they hadn't brought up the airborne strain of the virus yet, so the group kept quiet on that matter.

"Any questions?" Olivia inquired.

Everyone was silent, they knew how this worked.

"Good" Olivia muttered "You're learning fast. Now I'm sure you're as curious as I am to how we're both still alive and functioning, you're the first people we've seen alive in years... it's very unusual and you don't seem like bandits at all, that's if you really are from Wellington..." she muttered tapping her polished boot on the wooden ground of the lodge, she looked around the place, before she turned to face Robert again.

"Anyway, I'm done with you Robert I don't want to ask you anymore" she said.

Robert looked slightly stunned.

"But, I'm leader I can..." Robert began.

"No. I want to speak to the girl. Alone"

Clementine felt her heart rate accelerate then, as every eye in the lodge turned towards where she was stood next to Luke, her head felt light, Olivia seemed to be looking into her soul now as she tried to keep herself from looking too panicked.

"But, I can give you information you need" Robert protested feebly.

"I don't want your side of the story, Journalist" Olivia snapped "Knowing what I know, you probably have a lot of secrets in this group you don't want me knowing about. You've probably told everyone to just follow your example and if you give your version of events in front of them all, they're all going to follow suite. No. I want the truth, it will determine a lot of things..."

This clear threat left the group trembling, Robert was sunk this woman was very smart and had outsmarted him already.

"Now don't keep me waiting" she snapped, before she turned to a soldier to her left "Garcia, keep Squad 3 in line, your request to hold the perimeter has been met, make sure the walkers don't sneak up on the lodge, surround it while I get through questioning these people".

"Yes Miss President" one of the men said, as he took off outside with a squad of his men.

"Squad 2, detain this group, I don't want to standing next to each other. Passing secret messages, anything from so much so as a nod, a cough, eye contact, nodding, whispering... question them about it. Thoroughly" she added dangerously "and if any of them do try and escape or run, then we know they are a threat. Shoot them and don't hesitate".

"Aye, Miss President" one of the soldiers responded, as the group remained as frozen as could be.

"Squad 1, keep drawing the walkers in, we've got enough men here to handle this situation, you can get back to the choppers gentlemen, I'll keep you updated if any situation arises"

"Yes, Miss President" another soldier said as a small trickle of men left the building.

"Well come on then girl, don't keep me waiting" Olivia snapped looking over at Clementine, as she gulped, she shared a very quick glance with Luke before walking up to this intimidating woman and preparing for the interview... Clementine knew full well not to reveal everything about this group, she had to keep it vague, make it out as though they hadn't come across many nutjobs, or had nutjobs within their groups. Hence erasing any trace of Tom, JJ, even Eddie had to be kept silent, she was preparing for all the questions Olivia would ask her. But she knew her story would collapse instantly as the rest of the group would have different ideas on what to tell her and no doubt she'd take them all of alone to interview.

This wasn't going to end well.

* * *

Olivia led her to a small room, opposite to the one, Marisol and Anne had lead her into a lifetime ago she could tell because that was the room where the door had been busted down by the panicked sick people trying to get in, the room she was lead into was dark, with a desk and two chairs either side of the desk, Olivia took one seat and Clementine took the other, a soldier closed the door behind them and was no doubt, standing right outside the door to keep guard.

"What's your name?" Olivia asked, the second Clementine had sat down.

"Clementine" she muttered quickly.

"Pretty name" Olivia said, her cold eyes scanning over Clementine's form "How old are you girl?"

"15"

"You'd have been either 8 or 9 when this started then" Olivia said, doing the maths instantly "Any of the people family of your's?"

"No. My family died at the start"

"Pity" Olivia said with no real meaning "So that group took you in?"

"I was taken in by a few groups, before I found this one" Clementine said "Some of them when I was on my way to Wellington, some we joined up with after Wellington fell".

"So who have you been with for the longest".

"Well the blind woman, Molly. I knew from a while back after my old group encountered her in Savannah, we met up again on the road to Wellington. We were on the run from a cult and a lot of people were..."

"Yeah we heard a lot about that cult who were causing trouble around this area" Olivia said "It kept us away, now what about the rest?"

"I've been with Nick, Stephanie, Luke and Molly since we fled from our old settlement of Howe's to get to Wellington" Clementine answered honestly, before she elaborated "Nick and Stephanie are the black haired couple, Molly's the blind woman I mentioned, Luke was the man next to me".

Olivia nodded "and the rest" she inquired.

"We joined with everyone else in Wellington" Clementine muttered honestly "We lost people along the way, because walkers broke in and..."

"Those injures" Olivia cut through her "How did that Luke end up with one leg? I noticed he was wearing some sort of prosthetic..."

"Walkers" Clementine answered quickly "We had to cut it off, same with Nick and his arm"

"I see. All this happened when Wellington fell, right?"

"Yeah"

"The blind woman, she can't have been bitten what happened there?"

"Bandits" Clementine muttered quickly, omitting Ana from the story "She used to be on a scouting team, some bandits got the jump on her and yeah... it was messy I don't know all the details though".

"Okay and how exactly did Wellington fall? It had pretty big walls apparently" Olivia asked.

"They fell down" Clementine responded simply "and the walkers swarmed in"

"Elaborate further" Olivia insisted "Walls can't just fall down, surely they had maintenance teams watching over them?"

Clementine was sunk now, she could have either admitted people could have been kept away from the walls due to the airborne strain of the virus, yet if she revealed that she would have to reveal they were immune as well. If they revealed their immunity and if there really was a massive city of people who had no knowledge (or felt no effect) of the airborne strain of the virus, regardless they'd be crying for an immunity and now Clementine knew what it was like to be Oscar's shoes... it wasn't the fact she wanted to save herself and her group from being sacrificial lambs to potentially save a city of unknown people, but the destruction the cure would cause all over again. Even if they were all turned into cure fodder it wouldn't be enough to cover an entire city and people would have to be sacrificed and that would lead to riots and maybe the downfall of this Utopia itself.

So not revealing this information, wasn't selfish on Clementine's part, but more or less for Olivia's own good.

At least, that's what she told herself.

At least, that's what she hoped the rest of her silent group had figured out as well.

"There was a lot of snow this winter" Clementine answered "Too much of it piled on the weak section of the wall, it just collapsed, I guess the maintenance team were lacking there or something... I dunno I didn't work on the walls, so I don't know too much about it".

"Interesting" Olivia muttered "Is there anyone left alive, say anyone else you know who escaped Wellington?"

"No, it was pretty bad" Clementine muttered "Wellington started burning, a walker must have blew up a gas station or something, because the fire spread fast and covered the fields, we escaped by climbing up a crane, the wall collapsed with us, some of us died in the fall. Some of us got lucky, but from there we limped out of Wellington and kept on moving since then"

"Okay" Olivia said "Final question Clementine, where were you going before we turned up?"

"Erm... the coast" Clementine answered vaguely "We were going to try and find a boat and make it too an island, which would be walker-free"

She deliberately omitted Howe's, because if they somehow escaped and this group wasn't done with them, they'd know where to find them if they mentioned Howe's Hardware. If Olivia had her group had already been scouting out Wellington, a mention of Howe's was something they could find in minutes and if they could track the group down again there was no point in leaving this lodge and feeling free from this oppressive group, they had to mislead this group.

Once again Clementine wished the rest of the group had figured this out... of everything they had done, why hadn't they made a secret code or something? Maybe because (due to the airborne strain) they weren't expecting to be held hostage by bandits or massive groups like this.

"Okay, that will be all" Olivia said "Off you go Clementine"

Without looking behind her, Clementine quickly exited the room to find the mixed race soldier standing outside the door, just as she had predicted earlier.

"She can be inquisitive, but it's for the greater good" he told the 15 year old, as Olivia poked her head out of the room again.

"I WANT TO SPEAK TO LUKE NOW!" She yelled.

* * *

It was an unbearable wait.

One by one Olivia would call each one of their group towards the small room, being left in nothing but silence with the watchful eye of the soldiers ever trained on their forms, Clementine (and the others) were able to draw up chairs to sit down on, but other than that, she couldn't even risk looking at the others. She kept her head bowed and her gaze locked on the floor below her, only looking up probably once at every 15 minute interval, when a white-faced and guilty looking member of their group exited the room that Olivia was in, she'd then call for the next member and the cycle seemingly dragged on for hours, the creaking of the floorboards, distant gunshots, the sounds of the helicopters, the ever present siren in the distance and the wailing winds funneling through the lodge, were the only noises Clementine heard during that tension filled wait. It couldn't end here... yet she was praying everyone else matched her answers, but that didn't seem likely at all, everyone was bound to add their own variation to events and Olivia would catch out what she had been lying about. She had no idea why Olivia had chosen her to be questioned first, but maybe she thought as the youngest member of the group, she'd be the most likely to slip up and make an obvious lie and the adults would condriact what she had said. She wished now she'd simply stuck to a more "I was a little girl, they didn't tell me all that much..." angle to release some pressure from her shoulders, but there was no going back now...

Finally for what seemed like hours, the final member of the group (Robert) was released from the room and Olivia coughed as every eye from her group of soldiers and the group sat nervously on chairs looked up at her.

"Well that was interesting" she muttered "Right off the bat, you seem honest about some things, you've all given me the version that the wall collapsed because of some maintenance failure and some of you picked up on the fact the snow may of caused it. When I say some of you, it's strange how the little girl Clementine picked up on it, as well as Stephanie and Robert, while the rest of you were quite blunt and unhelpful in that area" her eyes rolled towards Nick at this point "Regardless I'll let it slide, the story holds up pretty well and I'm pretty sure that's what happened, also you all escaped by climbing a crane, so I'll accept that".

This was a massive breath of relief for Clementine, the rest of the group had made the link then, that the airborne strain of the virus wasn't meant to be discussed, following Robert's example in holding their own curiosity back.

"Also, you all seem to be heading towards the coast apparently" Olivia said (another breath of relief for Clementine) "Except James here instead stated you were going too..." (Clementine held her breath at this point) "... an air base 3 or 4 days walk from here".

"I knew it well" James interjected quickly "and it was an alternative plan I had, of course we were heading to the coast if the thing didn't have any planes to get us to an island".

Olivia glared at him, he shut up instantly.

"Well this dream island, seems to be where all you're all going, so I'll let that slide as well" Olivia said "You two" she muttered gesturing at Luke and Nick "You both lost your limbs in Wellington from I've been told due to walker bites and nothing else, so yes, it happens. Everyone was a bit vague on it, simply stating you'd been bit, or that the memory was difficult, regardless your story is pretty believable and I can accept you were from Wellington and seem like people trying to get to this island of yours. So you seem pretty genuine to me, but I want to clear up the obvious lies here".

Clementine gulped, she knew this was coming.

"Some of you have straight up lied to my face" Olivia snapped "I won't have that if you're coming to my city, firstly the state of Melanie and Molly here with their injures, I've had many amusing different recollections of this...as Melanie here can't speak she wasn't much help but the accounts varied... from some people simply knowing her to be without a tongue in Wellington, to others saying she'd had it ripped out by a wild animal or a group of bandits you apparently came across a week ago, and whose this JJ who is apparently on your tail? People have been telling me he did it, while others say a girl called Jessica who died in your group were responsible..."

Clementine groaned, someone had decided to include their bad pasts in this tale then.

"and for you Molly, you said some woman called Ana sliced out your eyes, well Luke over there tells me a potential rapist did it when Wellington fell, Nick told me you'd been attacked by a wolf that scooped out your eyes, Luis said it was infection, Stephanie said it was caused by a riot in Wellington, while Clementine over there came up with some far fetched tale about you being on a scouting team and having lost your eyes by bandits, Maria said they'd found you like that after being attacked, Robert stuck to the Ana story that happened during this riot, so is that the true story?"

"Yeah, that's what happened" Molly muttered, as Clementine sat there feeling like an idiot, Olivia calling out her story as "far fetched" didn't help.

"So why did you guys lie to me? Well it seems like you were trying to hide your bad pasts, which failed miserably" Olivia snarled "This JJ fellow, Ana, they were all in your group" she snapped pointing directly at Maria "I didn't want your's or your son's vague and light impression of things, they were two riots in Wellington. Caused by a number of reasons Robert, Terri and Ethan over here were glad enough to tell me about. That cult infiltrating you, the president being power mad and this rubbish about an airborne strain of the infection..."

"It was just a rumour" Robert muttered "Turned out to be false..."

"Yes but that doesn't change this so called, Domesday Report" Olivia said, as she pulled out a copy of the old newspaper Robert kept on him, Clementine was suddenly filled with dread, realising that the soldiers had their hands on their personal possessions, she hoped no one kept a diary or anything like that or the game really was up...

"Guide Edith Jules is confirmed to have died of this strain..." Olivia read from the paper "What crap is this? Who'd have thought the virus would be airborne?"

"She was bitten, she hid it, we found out later but added more fuel to the fire to the riot at the time" Robert quickly explained.

"I see, well this should make for some light reading on all of you" she said "The cult kept track of you then, this serial killer, this Wellington Wolf and this immune survivor Oscar being revealed, who was part of your group once again..." she said towards a shaken looking Maria.

"We didn't know, we only found out when..." Maria began.

"Yes. Yes I've heard it" she snapped "Pity Ethan over there was telling me, this so called Immune survivor was killed before anyone could take any blood samples or anything like that, yes it's a shame indeed..."

So even Ethan had committed to the fact they weren't immune and that the airborne strain was fictional, but Olivia had basically confirmed to them all which raised a hell of a lot of questions. How had those people at the wall died then? It had to be an airborne strain unless... unless something else had happened. Something was wrong here...

"Your group seems to have a shady past in particular" Olivia snapped in Maria's direction "Immune survivor, crazy guy following you, is there anything else I should know about? This Tom died heroically apparently in the escape of Wellington and you all have spotless records, well I'm sure this will clear it up when I read it" she muttered gazing down at the Domesday Report "Regardless I'm not here to chastise to much, I don't like the lying but I can understand it, from what I've gathered you all seem mentally healthy and you may have done bad things but we all have. So I'm willing to let it slide at the moment".

There was a sigh of relief from the group.

"Now here is the situation" Olivia said "As Robert here correctly predicted we are bombing the high hell out of these walkers, but to try and save the land we're drawing them all to one place and frying them all as one. As a big city we attract a lot of walkers at the gates and due to recent circumstances..." she sighed there "We've seen our population go down drastically and I decided we fought back against the walkers, we'd thin out their numbers and keep pressure of our lawn. We can gun them down, but more keep coming, if they stop coming it makes it easier on us" Olivia was telling them "Look, I'm sure you have many questions and I wouldn't blame you but for now just keep listening to me".

The group allowed her more time to speak, as she continued.

"Firstly three issues in this group need addressing" she muttered "First off this JJ character, he is insane but only one boy, correct? We're not dealing with a group of bandits here right?"

"Yeah" Robert muttered.

"and this Eddie I've heard about, he took off on his own? You don't know where he is now?"

"No, we don't" Luke said "But he is a good guy, honestly"

"Very well" Olivia said "The second issue concerns two of the group here, Ethan here has a drug problem he has been hiding from you. He admitted to me, that he has syringes in his bag..."

Clementine clocked up instantly why Ethan had lied about this, the syringes in his bag were vaccines to the infection, by lying and saying he had a problem with drugs would be something of a good cover up story. Unless one of Olivia's group got curious and injected themselves and discovered walker bites no longer affected them, so Ethan's quick thinking had saved them again and knowing him, he'd come up with a good explanation to how he attained the drugs and kept them secret from the group.

"What!?" Robert shouted (feigning shock very well) "We could have stopped JJ from killing! You were our man! How could you have kept this from us...!"

"I'm sorry" Ethan sounded genuinely upset at this point "I didn't want people to see my as a liability, I thought I could control it"

"Well, I suppose you did for most part" Robert snapped, before he turned to Olivia again "and what else have you uncovered then!?"

"Cristina can explain it better than I can" Olivia said as all eyes rolled towards Miss King, who looked as white as a sheet as she began to splutter "Well I... I d-don't w-w-want an-any of you guys to h-h-hate me for it, but... I was in the cult at one point. I wasn't in the Domesday Report, because I paid a fellow cult member sexual favours to keep me out of it... I... don't hate me!" she pleaded.

"She crumbled when I asked her about the Domesday Report and why she wasn't on it" Olivia explained "The lines Don't Lie to me, or they'll be consequences seems to work wonders..."

"Cristina is this for real!" Robert said, he knew that question was much deeper than what it appeared to the soldiers around them.

"It's real, real Robert, I-I'm sorry" Cristina King was now sobbing as she had revealed this information, but while Clementine and the rest of the group had to digest this news a soldier spoke up first.

"The fucking cult..."

"Quiet, Perkins...!" Olivia began.

"But they...!" he began.

"I said, quiet!" Olivia snapped.

The soldier was silent, but shot daggers at Miss King all the same.

"I didn't kill anyone when I was in the cult!" Miss King babbled "Me and my boyfriend at the time... we were just... we... well... I... I just stayed in my tent most days and..."

"They put us through hell!" Nick snapped before he could stop himself, genuine anger coursing through him "and you're telling us now!? After you've clung to us for this long, that you were once with those scumbags!"

"We weren't all bad!" Miss King exclaimed "and I ran away eventually, I..."

"That's enough!" Maria snapped "She's been through a lot, we shouldn't be judging people on their pasts here"

Another silence followed Maria's comment, as Olivia coughed and spoke up once again.

"Now that drama has been cleared up" Olivia said "I've gathered you're decent enough people, with no hidden agenda or group under your sleeve so I don't have to shoot you on the spot and be done with it. I know I've been a bit extensive and intimidating with you all, but I wouldn't have done it if we're just your typical group of dictatorship like assholes, we want you in Utopia. We need people like you to help us, I'll go with the soldiers and give you guys about 15 minutes to come up with a decision on whether or not you want to leave now and continue to your island, or come with us. If you chose to leave us then I won't like it, but I'll allow it. We are a democracy after all. But I want to learn more about how you people have survived and I'm sure you have many more questions for me, but I promise you, you won't regret coming to Utopia, I'll leave you too it then".

"Thank you" Robert said, as Olivia gestured at her men to leave the lodge, one by one they filed out, eventually she did, she took a look back at the group and closed the door behind her.

* * *

The 13 of them were left in the now silent lodge, the tension finally dispersing with the absence of the soldiers, this mood shift was summarised by Molly's sigh of relief.

"Thank God" she muttered "Feels like I can breathe again"

All eyes automatically found Robert.

"So... what's the plan now?" Luis said looking over at him.

"Before I say so" Robert said, looking up and scratching the scarred half of his face "Cristina, was all of that true?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry" Miss King said once again "I was worried about what people would think and I..."

"Yeah, yeah it's okay, it's fine" Robert said "We have a bigger fish to fry at the moment" and with that he instantly rounded on Ethan who had long since been expecting Robert to lash out the minute the soldiers gave them a second to breathe.

"You lied to us" Robert snarled "There was no airborne strain was there? It was a lie you conducted with the president to keep people away from the walls, wasn't it?"

"That's incorrect. I made it up on my own" Ethan responded, as the angry group around Ethan paused for a moment as he explained himself "President Schulz was arrogant after what he achieved by eliminating the cult. He didn't put any funds, or effort on researching the cure, I had to act as a lone wolf and remind him that there was an airborne strain apparently, by using tiny needles of mine to inject Edith and that schoolboy with walker blood into their feet while they slept. They were both by the wall, Edith worked there and the boy had been dared to go near it, the story added up and made the president give us the cure".

"But at the cost of Wellington!" Miss King snapped.

"You chose to give us a cure, over fucking Wellington!" Nick snapped "What fucking good has the cure done for us!? It's nearly got us killed! If they find out we're immune they'll cut us up like they did with Oscar and Gertrude..."

"Your wife would be dead right now, if there wasn't a cure" Ethan said, referencing the forgotten bite on Stephanie's ankle.

"I wouldn't have been in that situation, if the walls hadn't collapsed in the first place!" Stephanie decided to remind him.

"YEAH!" Nick backed her up with.

"What if it had become airborne in the future, it still can!" Ethan exclaimed "My mission was simple, regardless of the moral coast, we have a cure, we're immune. It was risk I was willing to take".

"Walkers never were the biggest threat though" Clementine muttered, angry herself after hearing all of this "People always were, this cure is pointless! We would have lost Stef and Miss King, or at least had them lose their arms and legs, but we've moved through the woods avoiding walkers anyway..."

"Yeah, Clem's got a point" Luke backed her up with "We didn't need a cure, we can look after ourselves, our group comes first".

"I'm starting to think maybe you don't appreciate what I did" Ethan muttered darkly "Maybe I made a mistake, but if you're planning on killing or exiling me, then those soldiers and Olivia are still outside and I can change my story, or they'll at least be suspicious of why I suddenly seem beaten up or very dead on the ground".

"We're not planning on doing that" Robert snapped "Especially since we're not out of the woods just yet, but I want you Mr. Fucking Wellington Wolf, to show some fucking emotion for once! You've pissed us all the fuck off! and it was fucking miracle we all managed to cover each other's asses!"

"I get you" Ethan said "But you covered for me being the Wolf and I covered for this group, while my mission was to gain the cure and distribute it too as many people as possible. For better or for worse, I've chosen this group at the moment, for all I know Olivia's group could be fictional. I have no belief this city is out there despite what she says".

"Don't get me wrong" Terri said entering the discussion, Ethan cast a nervous glance at her wondering what she made of all this "I'm disappointed in you Ethan, very disappointed you lied to me when we were supposed to be working together" she said bluntly, causing Ethan to frown slightly, before she spoke up again "But in some way, you have saved us. You covered for us, lied about the vaccines being drugs, so I'm still with you and I agree with you on this Olivia character, somethings off".

"Yep" Robert muttered "The whole soldiers and bombing nonsense doesn't strike a good code with me, you can't just blanket bomb the United states of walkers, it doesn't work like that. The walkers will still take several years too die off naturally you can't rush this process, the world doesn't need saving from walkers it can save it's self".

"So. we're not going with them?" Miss King asked.

"After that, would you?" Robert asked of her.

"Well, not really" Miss King replied "I get they wanted to check us, but they didn't leave a good impression on us".

"That attempt to guilt trip us into going with them didn't strike well with me" Luke muttered, offering his opinion.

"While I'm curious about them, she certainly had me by the balls" Robert muttered, "But if they're so democratic, why hold us at gunpoint? I get they were wary of us, but the fact we couldn't even ask them any questions back. Makes me think this so called perfect city isn't all it's made out to be... I mean Utopia? Really? I don't like this, I don't trust this at all... maybe I could be wrong. But always safe rather than sorry".

"She'd seem shocked if we'd refuse" Stephanie said "Maybe she's been cut off from this outside world for too long she thinks it's all horrible out there and that her city is the only paradise left on earth, when in reality it's not as bad as she thinks it as out here".

"Well it is pretty bad" Luis said "and what if she ain't lying! I mean if we go on ahead, we've just missed out on the chance to find shelter at a big ass city! What if their is no boat or no plane? If Howe's is a ruin? What happens if we run out of food and supplies? What happens when they blanket bomb wherever we are! Anyone think of that? Even if we don't want to go there, we could be caught up in an explosion if we refuse..."

"They can't physically bomb everywhere Luis!" Robert exclaimed to him "They'll be areas they'll miss and if their tactic of bombing stays the same, we'll have plenty time to flee before they stop dropping them"

"and what if they just decide to bomb us huh? They aren't going to know where we are..."

"No and considering the fact you told them and everyone else told them we're going to the coast, proves that this group as a whole, don't want those fuckers tracking us. We leave now and we don't look back, we don't have worry about them following us, maybe that's Olivia's plan, she'll search islands or the coast. Making me sure maybe when we reach Howe's we should stay there a little longer than planned, because they may use helicopters and small planes to check the coast and nearby islands looking for us and forcing us to join them. I just want out of this deal... it reeks of something awful".

"I guess you're right" Maria mumbled "But they tracked Wellington, maybe they'll find us anyway..."

"I'm pretty sure they must have used small planes or maybe a small scouting team, to check on Wellington in secret" Robert muttered "They don't want their precious little city ruined by bandit groups or cults, hence that's probably the reason they didn't come to us, knowing the cult was around here. They are in Nevada, quite the drive away so that's why we haven't heard about them either... I have loads of questions for them, but... I think it's better for everyone if we just move on".

Luis sighed.

"Fine, not my birthday wish, but I get it" he said.

"Okay, now we're all on the same page, let's make Oli..." Robert began before he was cut off by the sound of the lodge door crashing open...

* * *

Food...

Noise...

JJ's stomach growled emptily, he could see helicopters above him, he had to be dreaming as he followed that endless siren that played out over and over again and approach the swarm of helicopters standing over the lodge, the gunshots and the siren... it sounded like a bomb was coming, like danger was coming...

Food...

Noise...

JJ nearly tripped over his feet, his ribcage now nearly bursting out from under his skin he had become that skinny and weak, he was barely able to hold his weapon, his dry mouth longed for blood or any form of human flesh, his head was light, his breathing was deep and irregular, his heart beat in his ears, only one thought propelled him onwards...

"Don't break... Don't break... Don't break..."

People were there, soldiers maybe? JJ didn't care why they were there, or what they were doing? But they were food, if he could get one of them alone, he could continue to live as he ate them, maybe there was food in the lodge.

The siren kept on going, getting louder and louder as vibrated around the alley.

It was almost like a warning, telling him to stay away, yet in drew the walkers and the people in.

So it drew him in as well.

Regardless of the danger JJ needed to eat, he held onto the knife in his hands... ready for his next meal.

Survival the only thing on his mind now, no more JJ and TT, he had become simply a vessel to survive for no point or purpose.

Just there to survive.

* * *

"WALKERS!" Olivia snapped, bursting into the lodge gazing around at the stunned group "Apparently a group of them ignored the siren and were attracted by the sounds of the helicopter blades around the lodge, they're heading this way!"

"Olivia we..." Robert began.

"Save it till later!" Olivia snapped "We'll deal with this now, Squad 3 have offered to watch over some of you and keep you safe, seeing as you don't have any weapons on you..."

"We'll take you three, come on!" One soldier snapped, pointing at James, Melanie and Miss King, as they sprinted into a nearby room for safety.

"You, I want you with me!" Olivia snapped pointing at Robert.

"I'll take some of the others!" Robinson shouted over to her, pointing at a large chunk of the group, who remained standing there in the sudden chaos. As they tried to get to grips on what to do, a few walkers crashed into the windows and door of the lodge, while the screaming and gunfire of the soldiers came from outside.

"Fuck! How did they get the jump on us like this!?" Olivia snapped "This ain't happened before..."

"Must be more walkers than their are usually around..." Robinson said, as he did a window got smashed open and around 5 walkers poured into the lodge.

"MOVE! KEEP AN EYE ON...!" Olivia began, before two more windows smashed open, rather than wait Clementine was already sprinting for the room with the secret escape, hidden under the carpet, despite Robinson's yell of "STAY IN SIGHT!" it seems like he had only managed to detain a few people, while Clementine sprinted on, a quick glance behind her told her that only Luke and Luis were following her, walkers and soldiers blocked her sight of anyone else, without thinking she reached the room and opened the hatch she knew lead to the basement.

"Get in Clem!" Luke encouraged of her, as she squeezed in after Luis, Luke took a last look up and slammed it shut behind him as the three of them sat there in the darkness for a few moments, listening to the chaos above.

* * *

"Jesus Christ! Nick snapped, who was both holding onto Stephanie and a blind Molly at the same time, as walkers poured in from all sides as Robinson next to them was trying to shoot them all down one by one, while keeping the trio in his sights. Ethan and Terri were taking down walkers using their bare hands, the soldiers (rather than seem suspicious) seemed thankful for the help in dealing with the walkers. Maria had ran out of sight and was looking for her son, yelling his name in the madness while Robert and Olivia had disappeared at a point outside.

It was chaos, but nothing could have been worse than the situation James, Melanie and Miss King landed themselves into.

* * *

Around 8 soldiers crammed into the room along with the trio, Miss King panicking and openly asking of James "James, they are gonna be alright aren't they?"

"They'll be fine, they've come through worse" James replied, before he took a breath and muttered "Oh and about the whole cult thing Cristina, I don't hold it against you, just thought you should know".

"Thanks" Miss King beamed.

"It took a lot of courage to admit that, more than I have anyway" James said, as he sighed to himself, the questioning had mentally drained him and he needed to tell anyone now, to get it off his chest.

"What do you mean?" Miss King said.

"I... I killed Jasper" James admitted quietly.

"W-what!?" Miss King exclaimed, shocked at this news.

"I... I d-d-didn't... well the guilt of it all has got to me. Everything that happened with JJ was triggered because he found Jasper dead and Frank accused him of that, my best friend and others died because of something I did" James muttered in disbelief himself "I... thought you'd understand, as you made mistakes too".

"But... James... why!?" Miss King spluttered, Melanie next to her also looked shocked at this revelation as well, but couldn't put her thoughts into words for obvious reasons.

"We got into an argument, I just lost my cool and...!" James sighed there.

"But you shot him! You stole Robert's gun before! Did you plan to kill him!?"

"It wasn't like that! I just... I might have threatened him but I never..." James muttered.

"Threatened him over what!?" Miss King snapped "What could be so important to threaten him with a gun over!?"

"It was..." James began to justify himself, before he was silenced by a cough from one the soldiers, James suddenly blushed deeply in embarrassment, he completely forgot they were in a room with soldiers and had been so absorbed in their own drama, they forgot about them and the walkers outside. Yet the soldier turned to face them and muttered "Hey, sorry to cut though your chit-chat but you were the lady that was in the cult, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not anymore. I hated them!" Miss King exclaimed "Listen, I'm not like them, you don't hate me do you?"

"No, don't worry about that" The soldier mused with a smile.

Miss King smiled.

"I fucking despise you" he snapped.

He pulled out a gun and shot Miss King right between the eyes.

* * *

"Damn, they're are a lot of them!" Robert pointed out to Olivia, as she used a pistol in her hands to take down an approaching walker.

"Nice shot" Robert complimented her.

"Again, with the bullshit" she snapped.

"Right, sorry" Robert said.

"You're not coming with us are you" Olivia said, not even looking at Robert but focusing on the walkers ahead of her.

"No, we're not" Robert admitted honestly.

Olivia exhaled deeply, trying hard to hide her disappointment, she tried to control her anger and didn't want to end up doing something stupid like forcing them to stay, she couldn't see the logic in why they'd rather be out here than in a Utopia, but she had to accept it.

"Why?" was all she asked.

"I don't think this city is all as it seems" Robert admitted honestly "We had a solid plan and we're sticking to it, I'm sorry but I can understand you Olivia, just try and understand where I'm coming from with my group".

"I don't understand you" Olivia snapped, before she sighed "But I'll accept your choice, when this dies down we'll give you your stuff back and send you on your way. Be sure to clear this area though, as fast as you fucking can, we'll be here for another few hours rounding up the walkers before we drop the bomb and it is pretty powerful".

"Understood" Robert said "and just so you know, thank you Olivia, really. It's not often you find reasonable people out here anymore".

"Again with the bullshit" Olivia said, yet she couldn't help but smile at this comment.

It was a nice feeling to be complimented.

* * *

Miss King fell to the floor in slow motion apparently, because that's what it felt like to James and Melanie who were watching her fall in horrified slow motion, the red indent in the middle of her head indicating her death very clearly to the two stunned onlookers, she hit the ground with a crash that made both survivors flinch in horror. The man that had shot her stood there still, with his pistol smoking lightly and the blood from a now dead Cristina King staining his clothes.

"B-but... what...!?" James managed to mumble "You... Olivia she wants us alive!"

"Well we didn't want her alive" The man snapped harshly, before James could scream for help or run, someone to his side whacked him across the face and he felt the world turn black.

* * *

"LUIS! LUIS!" Maria was roaring desperately looking for her son, she fled from the walkers and the soldiers at the front of the lodge , as she scaled the side and caught her breath as she reached back of the lodge and panted desperately to herself.

"Please, let him be okay... let him be okay... please Jorge..." she begged of her late husband as she held onto her crucifix tighter and imagined her son being shot up or having his neck ripped open by walkers... she gasped, hopefully they'd all be okay, she just had to find the others and...

She looked forward and gasped, as a familiar face came stumbling into her line of sight.

* * *

"Ugh..."

James groaned, he became aware of hands pressing down viciously on his arms and legs making it impossible for him to move, a strap of some sorts had been placed around his head, so when he could barely move his head an inch, yet out of the corner of his eye he could make out where Melanie was being restrained and she looked horrified as she looked down at the former marine, Miss King's dead body still lay on the ground next to him, the expanding puddle of blood had drenched the back of his hairs.

"Glad you're awake" someone said, it was the same voice of the man who had shot Miss King, James tried to resist again the soldiers, yet this worked to no avail.

"What do you want!?" he snapped, hoping he sounded brave, but he was probably failing.

"For you to shut up" The man said "Try and scream for help, for one they won't hear you because of the chaos outside and if you do, we'll shoot this bitch here, like we shot little Miss King over here" he said pointing down at the British teacher's corpse laying next to him.

"But Olivia..." he muttered.

"In case you haven't got the message" The man said "Not all of us agree with what she's doing or handling things. A straight out assassination though? No, that's not viable, she's has the majority of popularity in Utopia you see. She dies out here it will come across as too suspicious, we'll get the blame, hell we barely got into Utopia in the first place, we're lucky to be here now..."

"It was you" James concluded "You're squad 3, you were meant to be defending the lodge against the walkers, but you let them past to cause this diversion"

"You're not a complete idiot then" the man said.

"But If I can figure that out, Robert and Olivia probably already know it" James mused "and if you've just killed one of us, you're game is up. You can't hide this".

"She wondered off looking for the group and got shot by a stray bullet, we took care you two in here for the whole duration of this battle" the man explained "That's the story you and I will be sticking too".

"That story will fall apart, because no one saw her in front of the lodge" James explained to them.

"No, but Olivia will believe you anyway, because from what she discussed with us, or what we've learnt so far, she's taken a liking to you the most".

"Me?" James muttered sounding dumbstruck "I'm... I'm nothing special compared to everyone else..."

"You were a marine, a pilot, easy on the eyes. Apparently she likes that..." the man listed off "Regardless you've come at the perfect time boy, she's just starting to reform Utopia. She can't wait to show new people what she's doing with the place. You gush over her about how amazing the city is, you'll rise in her ranks faster than you can believe. You have more valuable skills than the rest of the group combined, we want you to get close to her".

"We're not going to Utopia" James snapped "No way in hell I am doing your dirty work in helping you take over from her, or whatever you want to do... just kill me and be done with it".

"We knew you'd say that" The man said "We could threaten to tell Olivia and the group all the shit you've hidden..."

"I don't care about that, tell them then!" James snapped in defiance.

"We figured you'd have that unbearable attitude" the man said "But you and Melanie here are useful too us" he said as he stroked Melanie on the cheek, the blonde woman jerked away from him, as he sighed "Before you're wondering why you're alive and Miss King there is dead, it's simple. We knew she was with the cult, the cult gave us trouble, we can't forgive them and if it wasn't for them, we'd have been able to grow into a massive community..."

"She wasn't one of them!" James snapped "Her life wasn't just some expendable tool you could use to intimidate us!"

"Wow, you really are a genius in figuring things out before we explain them" the man said "I mean did you see how we grabbed you three in particular and took us with you. Yeah, we planned this out, any new members to the group who could help us get close to Olivia we would use them. We get access to info and better weapons we can begin the slow and steady process of turning Utopia into what we want it to be... but you're not going to lie for us or work for us are you?"

"I made that clear" James snarled "No fucking way"

"and you are a marine, or you were" the man said "You'll be a tough cookie to break, I could try blackmailing you, I could threaten to kill Melaine over here if you carry on with this attitude. That would get you to obey me, for now at least. Then when you two were free, or in front of Olivia you blurt out what we did and that would be the end of us... I need you under my complete control" the man said as he bent down and looked the young former marine in the eyes, neither of the men blinked, staring each other down.

"I'll have you, whatever I have to do" he snarled, before he placed a cloth above James head.

* * *

"Molly's up there Clem!" Luke protested, as he heard another gunshot go off above him and the yell of a soldier in the distance.

"Nick and Stef are by her Luke, she'll be okay! The soldiers seem capable of defending us and Ethan and Terri are on the case...!"

"Then why are we down here if he have so much faith in these soldiers!? Luis snapped.

Clementine paused, he had a point there.

"Let's try and find others and bring em' down here" Luke said "We'll be safe that way..."

"Their are either soldiers or walkers up there" Luis said referencing the trap-door above him "How the hell do we get out now? How did you even know this was here?"

"Long story" Luke informed him "But there is a second way out that will lead to us the back of the lodge, follow us we can see the opening here..."

Crawling through the small space, the trio eventually reached the opening to the outside world and poked their heads outside and slowly began to emerge from the building, ready to find their loved one's.

* * *

"Now, don't fucking move" the man above James snapped, he could make out the man's blurry figure from inbetween the stitches on the red cloth, as he began to unscrew a large water bottle he had on him. James felt himself hesitate slightly, he heard many things about this torture method... water-boarding as he recalled. Apparently used to interrogate many terrorists, he recalled what this method entailed and it involved pouring water onto his head, with a cloth over it. Maybe he was underestimating this torture method but this didn't involve any physical pain from what he understood about it and didn't seem all that horrifying to read or hear about. He was once a marine, he had been trained to deal with the worst of the worst, yes sometimes his emotions had got the better of him as he was still young and inexperienced in life. But his temper aside, when faced with pain or torture like this he was going to prove to them he wasn't going to break. He was a freaking marine for God's sake! He'd spent half his life swimming or under the water, if they thought this was going to work on him they were mistaken.

"Just bear with it until someone gets here" James thought to himself, the walker attack couldn't go on forever, eventually it would stop and someone would find this insane clump of Soldiers here torturing him and with Miss King's body at their feet. Their would be causalities alright, a gunfight, maybe him and Melanie would die anyway, but that was a reality James had already accepted and that was why he had a thick skin right now, accepting his death as someone who was loyal to the group and wouldn't betray them. The guilt of what he did to Jasper had eaten up for weeks and maybe dying for the group would be his way of making it up to them, he wasn't worried he was resigned for this, yet he braced himself anyway.

"Now, you're going to answer a few questions, how did Cristina King here die?"

"You shot her" James spat back in defiance.

"Wrong answer" The man said, pouring water over the cloth over James' head.

James clenched his eyes shut, it would just be like someone splashing water on his face... that was all.

The water hit the cloth, the first thing James realised is that yes... for the first mini-second it felt like someone was simply splashing water on him. Then the water soaked into the cloth and James felt his mouth and nose get filled with water that seeped through the cloth, he tried to breathe but found that he couldn't, water was trickling down his throat and up his nose making it difficult for him to breathe. Trying to calm himself he expelled the water from these areas, with a few coughs and tiny nods of his head.

"How did Cristina King die?" The man repeated.

"You shot her" James repeated, coughing up water from his mouth.

Again, more water was poured onto the cloth, which splashed all over the floor and onto the cloth itself, it grew damper as more of the clear liquid found it's way into James' mouth and nose, it was becoming even more difficult to breathe. The cloth was being held in place and was glued to his face anyway, he could barely move his head although he desperately wanted too, he gasped and retched, trying to draw any fresh breath but only being met with the damp warmth above him. Slowly suffocating him as he tried to breathe and expel water from his mouth and nose at the same time, which was proving an impossible task.

"How did Cristina King die!?" The man snapped.

"You shot her!" James gasped, sounding much less determined than he did beforehand.

The largest splash of water came this time, James felt himself instantly choke on the cloth this time, he couldn't breathe! The pressure on his lungs was building, he tried to thrash his head but it stayed firmly in place, he tried to thrash his arm and legs, yet the men above him were much stronger and held him in place, as he looked up at the red haze above him, his eyelids stinging from the water entering them. He could feel more of the liquid clogging his respiratory system causing his lungs to become filled with it he tried his hardest to try and expel this stuff from his system...

"HOW DID CRISTINA KING DIE!" The man roared.

"Y-you shot her!" James gasped, struggling for air.

No words from the man, other than even more water, the weight of it was too much now, he couldn't cough it out anymore he had to breathe it in along without air he could or he was going to choke, but this caused the H20 become clogged in his system, his lungs couldn't get rid of it anymore. He was drowning! He was dying! Panic seeped in faster than young man could have believed he thrashed even more wildly now, the tiniest movements the only escape he had from this water torture. The men were strong but the force James used to try and expel himself from their grip was maddening, they were struggling to hold him down and this thought only made James struggle harder.

"How did Cristina King die!?" The man insisted.

James didn't say anything, but continued to thrash.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that" the man said, crouching next to him "Want some water to clear your throat?"

"S-s-sh..." James began to mumble.

"Ah seems like you do" the man said, from close range there was less splashing and more water directly entering James' system, it was too much for the young man, his body was now thrashing for freedom without his control, he was panicking because he had lost all control... his body... his breathing, his heart was beating erratically, he was gasping for air that wasn't there, he felt vomit force it's way up his throat but nothing came out... his throat was blocked... he couldn't... he was dying, his vision was going dark.

"GET UP!" came a roar merely seconds later, James realised he must have fell unconscious briefly but the slap to his face had woken him up, he tried gasping for air that wasn't there, he felt sick, his head was light, the pressure on his lungs was immense he couldn't get a damn break! His heart was beating so fast and erratically against his strained lungs that he felt like it was going to blow at any second... he couldn't control anything!

"How did Cristina King die?" came the same question.

"SSSSShhhhh..." James hummed into the cloth.

"When will you get... THE FUCKING MESSAGE!" The man suddenly roared, this time his temper was unrestrained, he poured the rest of his bottle all over the cloth and James knew he was dying or dead, his body was acting of it's own accord. For whatever reason his left arm suddenly stopped protesting and a sharp pain shot up from there, for what reason he didn't know or care, he just needed to breathe, which was impossible task right now.

"Well I've got more you know" the man said, as he unscrewed another bottle, handed over to him from one of the other soldiers in the room "So what's your answer this time? Who killed Cristina King?"

James couldn't formulate a reply.

"More water then" The man said, pouring more over James' cloth, his body reached a breaking point, he was going to die if this didn't stop, his mind had broken in panic and sheer fear he opened his water logged mouth and screamed "STOP!" but from what he heard only an "OP...!" and choking noises made his voice.

"Oh, what was that?" the man said, he finally lifted the cloth and James took a massive breath of fresh air as he clawed desperately for Oxygen and to clear air from his lungs.

"Stop!" James gasped, more clearly this time.

"Who killed Cristina King?" the man asked "You answer right and we'll stop this"

"I..." James felt something bubble out of his mouth as he expelled it all over the floor, but the force of which it had welled up in his throat had made him squeeze tears from his eyes and the whole room became a blur.

"Please... stop..." James whimpered.

"Wrong answer" the man said, stuffing the cloth over James head again, the instant panic and feeling of drowning returned to him, James was near enough hysterical now as a water splashed all over him again, his lungs were near enough about to burst, his heart was aching due to how fast in beat in his system. His mind was focused on nothing but escaping this hell, every other thought had left him...

"GET UP!" The man snapped again.

James couldn't see! He couldn't draw breathe, he was dizzy and sick and his chest was about to explode, so much pressure had been built there that he was about to burst... very painfully.

"Who killed Cristina King?" The man repeated.

"STOP!" James screamed now able to have his voice heard "PLEASE STOP! STOP! STOP!" He screamed, choking and panicking and...

The cloth was lifted off him, James took welcome gasps of breaths as he felt the dizziness and nausea hit him...

"Who killed Cristina King?" the man asked simply.

James looked up at him and the red cloth balled up in his hand, he felt his whole body shake just thinking about being put under it again.

"S-she w-w-was o-outside" James finally sobbed, the words numbly tumbling from his mouth.

"Excellent" the man mused "Now, where were you and Melanie?"

"In- In- Ins-inside" James stuttered.

"Yes you were" The man smiled, he gestured at his men to lift themselves from James' arms and legs, the young man didn't move a muscle, despite the fact that all restraints were now off him. Melanie was horrified at the use of Psychological and physical torture she had just seen used on another human being, if they could make James like that then... she didn't want to think about what else they were capable of. The man stood up proudly as James curled up into himself and began retching out water from his system, but he could taste it everywhere now... his face was soaking wet, he was still drowning... his lungs were still full, he couldn't came down... not when he could see that red cloth in his vision, which the man held threateningly in his hand, he was aware of James looking at it. This is exactly what he wanted.

"Now, you're working for us aren't you, or this is going back on your face" The man said lifting the red cloth, as James recoiled instantly, his heart rate accelerating again.

"No! Please... don't! Please!" James pleaded his voice breaking.

"You see, this is who we are and you're going to help us do what we need" the man said, James was transfixed on the damp cloth in his hand, but he noticed a swinging dog-tag hanging from this man's collar, he faintly read the name there...

_David Garcia_

"We are New Frontier James" David told him, pulling down his collar and revealing a brand on his neck.

"and we're going to bring Utopia forwards" he mused.

* * *

"Okay come on!" Luke said beginning to run forwards, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a horrible sight, that made bile rise instantly in his throat and him gasp "Oh no... no... no... no..."

"Luke was is it?" Clementine inquired, until she too turned a corner and she saw it too, her heart leapt into her mouth and she felt her gut sink instantly.

JJ was just removed Maria's leg from her body and was stuffing into his backpack, her detached arms and another leg lay in the bag as well, as an endless pool of blood surrounded her form, the mexican mother's death was confirmed by the knife wound in the centre of her head, leaking out a few chunks of her brain and going cleanly through her skull. JJ's knife was covered in blood, as was the teenager himself, he had to smile to himself as he saw her again.

"JJ" she uttered in disbelief.

JJ smiled, she was alone, he saw her eyes widen in panic as she roared at him "STAY AWAY FROM ME! STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!" she began to run, but JJ was much faster, his need for food making him sprint faster than he had done in weeks, before she could defend himself he had caught up with her and stabbed her in torso, she raised her hands to defend herself, as she bent over due to the pain of the wound.

"God help your soul" she whimpered up at him "But I think Satan will have his say, in where you're going..."

JJ remembered fiercely stabbing her after that, she was defenseless and without a weapon as her dying screams filled his ears, eventually she stopped moving when he stabbed her in the head and instantly set to work on detaching the limbs from her body. He wasn't going to break, he wasn't going to break...

"NO!" Luke had roared, just as Luis saw the site with his single eye, of his old friend cutting up his mother into tiny pieces, his world went numb, as Luke's cry had alerted them of their presence. He didn't even look back at them, but simply sprinted off instantly (he had all the food he needed now, as Maria had some meat on her) for a moment Clementine, Luke and Luis could only gaze at Maria's body and the rapidly retreating form of JJ.

_**"J-J!"**_ Luis suddenly roared, with so much inhuman hate his voice, it caused Clementine and Luke to jump as Luis instantly set off after the murderous teenager, running as fast as Clementine had even seen him run. Luke was on his case though, snapping out of his own shock he managed to jump on Luis (seeing how he couldn't run very far with his one leg.

_**"GET OFF ME!"**_ Luis bellowed, spraying Luke with his spit.

"IT WHAT HE WANTS!" Luke roared "I KNOW YOU'RE UPSET NOW! BUT FOR FUCK'S SAKE YOU HAVEN'T GOT A WEAPON, DON'T BE STUPID...!"

_**"I DON'T CARE!"**_ Luis screeched "MY MUM'S DEAD BECAUSE OF THAT FUCKING ASSHOLE! I... I...!" he paused there, realising it was his fault his mother was dead, he had voted to keep JJ alive, the guilt was too much. He wanted to destroy himself right there and then, his hand was balled up into a fist, nothing but murder was on his mind. He was reminded of Juan and how his old friend had betrayed him, it was similar with JJ now. He wanted to slaughter JJ like he slaughtered Juan, but he wanted to hear JJ suffer, he wanted to hear JJ scream, like JJ had probably heard his mother scream...

"GET THE FUCK-OFF!" Luis screamed, he thrashed wildly and with a furious punch that clipped Luke's cheek, the young man sprawled to the rocky floor, lights out and with blood leaking from his nose. But while he had been holding Luis back, Clementine had caught up with him and had clasped her arms around Luis' waist, trying to tug him back to the lodge and not after the now distant form of JJ.

"CLEM! GET OFF!" He bellowed.

"NO! I'M NOT LOSING YOU TOO!" She screamed back at him.

"GET THE HELL OFF..."!" Luis was screeching in hysteria finally breaking free of Clementine's grip but the force their grip was too strong, so Luis stumbled forwards and tripped over, as Clementine fell backwards. Luis looked up frantically, his lip bleeding having clipped it off the sharp ground, yet he didn't care as he couldn't see JJ anymore.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!" He screamed out to the valley.

"WHERE THE FUCK HAS HE GONE!?" He screamed back at Clementine who got to her shaky feet.

"I-I don't know... he... he got away" Clementine muttered, barely able to believe JJ had got the jump on them and had taken the life of Luis' mother, before she could process everything however, Luis' rage seemed to get the better of him, as he rounded on Clementine.

"WE WERE RIGHT HERE, BARELY 30 SECONDS AWAY FROM WHERE SHE WAS! WE COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS!" He bellowed, he was now getting to his feet and walking directly towards Clementine was, his didn't stop stomping towards her, his face lined with rage as Clementine felt fear seize her entire being, as she took a few anxious step backwards, she was suddenly aware of how much bigger and stronger he was then her.

"Luis..." she squeaked.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Luis roared "IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN, YOU DIRECTED US TOWARDS THAT BASEMENT, IF I WAS WITH MUM, THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"Luis don't...!" Clem screamed, panicking now.

"YOU'VE MADE ME THINK LIKE THIS!" Luis bellowed "MAKING ME SOFT! YOU INFLUENCED ME TO LET JJ LIVE! IT'S YOUR FUCKING FAULT, I'M FED UP WITH YOU CLEM!" he screamed, before Clementine could stop him, he swung his arm towards her and plucked her from the ground as if she was a twig. She was smashed against the wall of the lodge as the felt steel fingers begin to crush her throat.

"Luis..." she wheezed, already feel her throat being crushed.

"FUCKING DIE!" He spat in blind rage "IF YOU HADN'T HAVE STOPPED ME, I COULD HAVE AVENGED MUM! YOU LET JJ GET AWAY, YOU'VE BEEN FUCKING ME OVER SINCE DAY ONE!"

"Luis..." she begged, but he simply inserted more pressure Clementine was trying to breathe but it was near enough impossible her tiny neck already straining, due to the force of which Luis was squeezing it, a few more seconds and... yeah her world was going black... her head was light, her drooping eyes connected with Luis' rage filled face for the final time, before she felt herself pass into a black oblivion.

Choked to death by Luis.

* * *

"I've got additional bullets and supplies in these bags!" a young Soldier yelled over to Robinson from where he had just closed the door to the room behind him, hauling two large black bags in his wake, which outlined many chunky looking objects.

"GREAT!" Robinson yelled, busy dealing with three walkers all at once.

"I'LL MOVE THEM OUTSIDE! FOR THE OTHERS! COVER ME WILL YOU!" The young soldier yelled in his direction.

"I'M A BIT BUSY, JUST MOVE IT GABE!" Robinson yelled over at the surly teenager who fashioned himself as a soldier, the boy was 15 or 16, Robinson didn't know nor care in this mad scenario. But if his father was involved in the army, he was insistent his son come along with him to see the outside world and Gabe wasn't all that bad of a soldier, a bit of a whiner, but when he shut up and locked down he was something of a useful ally to them.

"Okay then" Gabe muttered, seemingly gliding through the battle, as he dragged the two bags along with him.

They all contained weapons and ammo alright, yet hidden among the mess was the body of Cristina King, her body was quickly cleaned by some water, so the blood leaking from her head, or already plastered onto her hairs and head was washed away or sealed up. So the blood didn't leak through the bag and leave a trail in Gabe's wake, yet in the madness of the battle he doubted anyone would notice anyway. Yet it always better to be safe rather than sorry, so he quickly moved on. He felt glad his father had entrusted him with such a task, he'd prove he'd pull it off and make sure the new frontier would rule over Utopia.

Olivia couldn't lead them, they had to take power... it was best for everyone.

Gabriel Garcia had once been a sweet, innocent boy, too much influence under his father however, he had become the cold-hearted monster that was able to watch someone being water-boarded without feeling uncomfortable about it. He had seen and done many things he could no longer regret, being a real man was about doing these things for the greater good, it's what his father had taught him and a task he was determined to prove to adults around him. He could do this and he would do this, regardless of the cost or what he felt deep down.

Reaching outside, he went unnoticed in the battle and was able to get to the side of the lodge and out of sight instantly, holding his gun tightly in his fingers, he used it too shoot a few walkers and proceeded to the anonymity of well hidden foliage nearby, without wasting any time he opened the bag with Cristina's King body in and removed it from the bag, as dozens of bullets and guns fell onto the ground next to her, Gabe frantically picked them up, aware of the time restraint on the task of hiding this body and making sure it wasn't surrounded by supplies, drawing suspicions back to himself. He sighed...

He could do this... he could do this...

* * *

"MOVE!"

In the madness and while Robinson was distracted Nick had managed to drag himself Molly and Stephanie towards a smashed window, which signalled their escape from the lodge itself. However before they could get there, a walker cut between them, hearing it's rotten breath Molly reached out to punch it, but it grabbed her wrist and instantly shoved her to the ground.

"MOLLY!" Stephanie screamed, as she reacted before her husband and bent down to punch the walker that was closing in Molly's neck, it stopped the walker from killing Molly, but it diverted it's attention on Stephanie and dug it's teeth down into her arm, as blood poured from the wound as Stephanie yelped in pain.

"GET OFF!" She screamed in pain "SOMEONE HELP!" She yelled over to the pre-occupied soldiers who were certainly no help whatsoever, and Ethan and Terri had moved outside to deal with the threat so they weren't available. So Nick bent down and using all his strength (and with a ripping of Stephanie's sleeve) tug the walker off her, he fell backwards as walkers closed in on the three of them, separating them. Nick looked behind him to see an another window behind him.

"GET OUTSIDE, WE'LL MEET UP THERE!" He exclaimed towards Stephanie and Molly, the pair of them understood the situation instantly and bounded towards the window in front of them, while Nick ran from the walkers and threw himself out of the window, to find himself at the side of the lodge, he instantly turned to run to the front of the lodge, when a rustling noise stopped him and he diverted his attention towards a clump of bushes nearby.

"Hello?" he called out "Luke, is that you?"

The rustling stopped for a second, Nick was convinced it was Luke, he ran forward and peered forwards to see two black bags, a young soldier crouched in the dirt.

and the clearly dead body of Cristina King in front of him.

"What the fuck?" Nick spat before he could help himself, causing the boy to look up at him, Gabe had been caught his heart rate accelerated in those moments as Nick eyes connected the dots, the gun wound on Miss King's head, the gun in his hand and Gabe's own face. Gabe's heart was racing he couldn't let the New Frontier down there and then...

He had to finish this.

"Wait... no!" Nick suddenly panicked, as Gabe raised his gun, Nick turned to run...

Too little too late.

The first shot was in the stomach that sent Nick to the ground, the next three got him in the back, the chest and one directly in the heart, Nick's vital arteries were cut, the blood wouldn't stop flowing this time, he had been shot many times and gotten lucky...

Now his luck had finally ran out.

"NICK!" Came a distant call, as Nick fell onto his back and faced the midday sky, it was clear and blue and he was glad for that at least, as the pain started to engulf him and he felt blood rise up his throat, this is what dying felt like then... he stang and it hurt... but he had been in worse pain. This was somewhat peaceful as he knew there would be no more struggle after this, his struggle was drawing to an end, every breath was becoming laboured and ragged.

"Shit" he heard Gabe swear at the calls, he dragged his bags and himself under the cover of more bushes and quickly fled the scene, as Stephanie screamed upon seeing the state of her husband, lay spreadeagled on the ground covered in his bullet holes, she collapsed next to him as Molly called out "Stef!? What's happened!? What's wrong!?"

"Nick! Oh My God Nick! Stay with me!" she begged, "MOLLY! NICK'S BEEN SHOT, GO GET SOMEONE... QUICKLY!" She screamed in hysteria, tears already sliding down her face. Seeing his wife react like this, made the tears fall from Nick's eyes as well, however peaceful his death was he fought for every breath in those moments to keep his eyes open so he could stay with her, even if he knew his struggle was fruitless.

"Shot... they shot... Cristina... in the bushes... over there..." Nick managed to gasp, pointing a bloodied finger towards where her body was.

"Who did this too you, Nick please" Stephanie pleaded, her hands shaking terribly as she held onto her husband's head and tried using her bloodied arm, to wipe strands of his black hairs out of his eyes and trying desperately to keep him awake and his eyes open.

"Soldiers..." he managed to gasp between coughs of blood "Don't go... to Utopia..."

"Nick, no. It's okay someone's coming!" Stephanie mused with a delusional smile, as more tears poured down her cheeks, before she shot her head up to see Molly was still just standing there "MOLLY GO FUCKING GET SOMEONE!" she screamed in rage.

"I don't... I don't know where...!" Molly began, panicking and crying herself as she desperately and blindly made her way forwards calling "Help! Help! We need help! We need a medic...!" she screamed, unheard over the ruckus of the battle, as Stephanie clung onto Nick tighter her hope dying as Nick did.

"Come on baby, don't do this too me, don't do this too me, don't do this too me..." she repeated like a broken alarm, her voice a jumbled, shaky mess.

"Stef... I'm... I'm sorry..."

"No!" Stephanie gasped "Nick, don't you dare! Don't you fucking leave me!" she screamed.

"I don't want to!" Nick sobbed "I want... I want to stay..."

"Stay then! PLEASE!" Stephanie screamed, rocking his head in her hands and trying to somehow shake life into him, as his breaths grew forever weaker.

"I... love you" Nick muttered.

"No. No. No. No. No... I... love you too baby..." Stephanie's voice cracked there before a fresh round of tears consumed her and she crouched over so she could brushed her nose against her dying husband's face. As she did Nick looked her in the eyes and placed a weak hand on her stomach.

"I'm sorry" he wept "But daddy's got to go now... Sarah... or Nick Jr... I'm sorry, daddy doesn't want to go but..." he couldn't finish the sentence, his hand fell from her stomach as he felt himself get rapidly weaker in those moments.

"D-don't go" he muttered up at Stephanie.

"I'm right here Nick" Stephanie sobbed "I'll always be here" she said taking his single bloodied hand and resting it in her own hand, both husband and wife applied pressure.

Nick smiled.

"Don't go" he muttered again.

"I'm here"

He was smiling as his eyes closed.

"Don't go"

Stephanie continued to sob onwards.

"Don't..."

His stopped breathing in those moments, his limp hand slid out of Stephanie's as his eyes slipped shut for the final time, thinking of his unborn child, Stephanie, Luke, Clementine, Eddie and all his friends who were alive and dead in his final moments, he wished he could have seen them all, just one last time.

However the world was cruel, but he'd always be there watching over them now.

"Nick..." Stephanie dared to mutter, looking down at her deceased husband, bled out white and she knew in those moments, the man she had followed and loved for so long. The love of her life, the father of her unborn child was laying dead in her hands, he had been murdered by those soldiers, everything she had loved had been taken from her.

"Noooooo..." she wailed before she let out a whimper and wept openly into his still warm chest, unable to accept this reality, as Molly could only crouch next to the grieving woman and hug her openly, unable to offer any words of comfort at this horrible, horrible time.

* * *

_"Ugh..."_

_Clementine groaned, she was in somebody's house, it was a dark, yet sweet scented house and rosemary beads and religious pictures littered this room, candles lit the side of a bed and an old woman with crystal white hairs and familiar dark eyes was laying in the bed. Clementine became aware that she was able to control her own body, she was a grown woman once again as she blinked and muttered openly "What?"_

_"What do you mean by what!?" the old woman snapped in her direction, "Finally have the decency to speak, do you!?" _

_Her mean words didn't match her kindly appearance, because looking at her closely, Clementine could clearly see she was... she was simply an elderly..._

_"Maria!" she gasped._

_"Yes, I'm glad you're able to remember your mother in law" Maria snapped "First time you visit me this month and this is all you have to say..."_

_"Jamie's my friend in this world" Clementine began unable to stop herself "I was never at the lodge, this is Wellington in the future, where the cult never existed. You never died at the lodge at JJ's hands and Luis..." she gasped there remembering what Luis had done to her._

_"Cult?" Maria said, before she looked at Clementine in a great deal of surprise "I've never heard anyone mention a cult before, or know about the cult. Or the fact that JJ killed me at the lodge and that's... that's..." she paused there and gasped, a few tears sliding down her cheeks as something to hit the old woman._

_"Maria?" Clementine inquired._

_"No one could have known about the visions I have! The dreams!" she exclaimed "Everything you just mentioned, I've never told anyone! But I remember it all, in the dreams I have, a world where we got to Wellington, the real Wellington. A world where there was A Domesday Report and riots and I knew your group Clementine, I knew Luke, Nick, Sarah, Stephanie, Rebecca and AJ and Eddie. I saw the walkers break into Wellington. I remembered the jokes and good and the bad times we shared while travelling. I remember learning about the second chance and how you and Luke have been granted that power. But most importantly of all I saw my son change... change for the better and even if I died painfully I died happily knowing he was safe... and I thought I was just dreaming but..." she sobbed there._

_"You... have memories of my world!" Clementine exclaimed unable to stop herself._

_"You're the other Clementine" Maria exclaimed "God's sent you too me on my deathbed, to confirm I won't die this way, alone and hating what life has done to me"._

_"You just died in my world and now I'm here" Clementine informed her "Look Maria I haven't got a lot of time, I need to know about this world. I have a few memories of this world I can take back to my own world..."_

_"Different worlds" Maria said "It sounds crazy Clementine, but I know you're the other Clementine and if you can do anything to stop this world from ever happening, or prevent it. Do it. I want no memories of this world, no life in this world, I'll die as I did in your world, in pain but happy and in single spirit reunited with our Lord and my Jorge once again..."_

_"How do you remember what happened in my world though?" Clementine asked of her._

_"I doubt we'll ever get the real answer" Maria informed her "But we both have memories of different worlds and different timelines, my theory is that they are colliding Clementine. All these timelines created, only one can ultimately succeeded and be what we all remember and if you were granted the first ever second chance, then the weight of the world will eventually fall on your shoulders and I think you'll have to make a choice..."_

_"But why not choose this world!?" Clementine inquired "Luis is alive here, isn't he? I'm married and have kids with him"._

_"My son died years ago" Maria noted sadly "He is still physically here Clementine, but to suggest he is alive is stupid"._

_"What does that mean!?" Clementine snapped._

_"The things they do in this city" Maria muttered in horror "You and Luis fell in love after you both joined those rebels, but while you got away, he got caught on one of your missions, these rebellions lasted years and I was so worried. When it finally happened to my Luis... I was shocked, I lost my resolve to live..."_

_"What's wrong with him!" Clementine snapped._

_"Lobotomized" Maria finally informed her as Clementine gasped "You, your friend Jamie and her mother Jane..."_

_"So I came here with Jane and Jamie then!?" Clementine inquired._

_Maria nodded._

_"Yes, Jamie eventually took a shine to Brandon and they married in the future. Your little rebellion after years of warfare finally won this place to your control. Those of you who are surviving members live in luxury... but it's an illusion Clementine. The atrocities committed to achieve this peace are unjustifiable... and you, Brandon, Terri, Jamie, Jane, you all joined them. So did Luis, I tried to stop him but he didn't listen and..." she sobbed there "Yes you have kids with him, but my Luis is a vegetable, the current you is clinging onto him out of delusion. I can't stand you in this timeline, yet you visit me once every month to keep yourself convinced that you're a good person, ha!" she spat on the ground at this point "The stuff you've done here and the hypocrisy of living like the saints you think you are sickens me"_

_"You said this is a city and... we're not in the real Wellington"._

_"No Clem, this is the part of the city named after Wellington" Maria told her "This city you've been seeing, where we are now, this is Utopia Clementine and it's anything but a Utopia..." she sighed there, as Clementine felt herself begin to fade. She couldn't explain it, but she knew she didn't have much time left in this world._

_"Maria! I haven't got much time, tell me what rebels did I join!? Why did I join them!?"_

_"I don't know why you did, guess you just wanted change" Maria muttered "But it's on your arm Clementine, everyone knows you and your group, everyone fears you"._

_Clementine rolled up her arm and saw a brand burned into her skin, it was a capricorn sign._

_"The New Frontier" Maria told her, before Clementine felt herself get pulled back from this world... she heard some last words from Maria._

_"Look after my son Clementine"_

_and with that she was gone from this world and sent back..._

_Into another Sad Reality._

* * *

Ugh..."

Clementine groaned massaging her neck, swallowing was already painful at this early stage so she dreaded what it was going to be like later but one thing that caught her attention was the scuffle taking place in front of her, Luke was bellowing something as he smashed a rock down at Luis' face.

"YOU KILLED HER! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Luke screamed, preparing to strike Luis with another blow from the bloodied rock he held in his hands. Clementine took a moment to see this, before she managed to get a grip and screamed "LUKE NO! I'M OKAY!"

Luke looked up, his eyes dilating in shock, as the rock limply hit the ground at his side and gasped "Clem! I thought... you weren't breathing... I..." a few happy tears of relief fell from his cheeks "Thank God I..." he looked down at Luis who crawled away from him, refusing Luke's hand to help him up.

"Luis, I know this don't mean shit, but I'm sorry..."

"You shouldn't be, I deserved every hit" Luis wept openly to himself, as he crawled over to the corpse of his mother and looked down at it "I killed her, after everything she did for me, I... I killed her... I..."

"JJ did Luis, not you" Clementine called over to him, massaging her neck as she did so.

"I almost killed you as well" Luis muttered in horror "All because I lost my fucking temper, I... panicked when you stopped breathing I thought I..." he sobbed there "I'm fucking pathetic! I can't take the blame for anything!" and with that he wept openly on the corpse of his mother. Luke and Clementine could only stare at him before Luke hobbled over to Clementine and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry, I lost it too, after I thought he killed you I..." Luke began.

"It's okay... it's okay..." Clementine reassured him, trying to digest everything she'd learnt in her dream compared to what was happening now, Maria was dead, her last request ringing in Clementine's ears. "Look after my son..." but how could she? He had just proved he had the potential to kill her if under extreme stress and anger, even if she could learn to forgive him for that, she knew Luis would never forgive himself and distance himself from her, for as long as he could possibly could.

"LUKE!" came a sudden yell.

"Molly!" he suddenly yelled recognising her voice and rising up, however his stomach failed when he instantly caught sight of his best friend's clearly dead and bled out white body, being carried by the two women.

"I'm... I'm sorry Luke, I'm so sorry!" Molly shouted over to him, knowing full well his sudden silence had been caused by the site of his friend's corpse.

"NO! NO! NO!** NO! FUCKING NO! NICK!"** Luke roared, his voice getting louder with every passing word, as he ran towards his best friend, as Molly and Stephanie set him down on the ground, Stephanie seemed to collapse next to him, in a clearly catatonic state. Molly had no idea how she managed to convince Stephanie to carry the body of her husband away from here, but she had said some crap about burying him properly had convinced her to move. Molly could only listen on sadly as Luke collapsed next to Nick.

"NICK! WAKE UP MAN! WAKE UP! FUCK! WAKE UP!" Luke wept, knowing full well shaking his friend's shoulders wasn't going to answer his demands and new tears of grief poured from his eyes. As Clementine sat digesting the scene, feeling like part of her stomach had just been scooped away at Nick's death after everything she had done to save him for him to die like this... once again Clementine felt as empty and as shocked as she did in the aftermath of Sarah's death. Both of them had come back to Howe's, both of them she had helped to survive, both of them she grew extremely close to, both of them... now gone. The only comforting thought Clementine could think of is that Nick and Sarah were together again, but that didn't help the world from spinning from around her, the empty feeling spreading through her gut, all the tears and the repeated "No's" that emitted from her mouth as she eventually fell to her knees.

The other world, the Utopia however bad it was there, could it be worse than here? This pain was too raw and real and Clementine didn't know how she was going to get up, or move again. She needed time and space, which she knew she didn't have.

"W-what...?" Luke wept to Molly.

"I think he got shot, I don't know!" Molly exclaimed back to him "Luke I am so sorry, I didn't... I didn't know what to do...!"

But Luke didn't hear much after that, like Stephanie he entered a catatonic state, unable to believe Nick was dead, unable to process this cruelty, the news that Miss King was also laying dead and shot from Molly was another dull blow to the stomach's of Luke and Clementine, Luis was lost in grief as well and seeing Nick dead (his friend) only caused him further grief and upset as he wailed louder onto his mother's corpse. But she wouldn't comfort him or the group at this time, she was gone, Nick was gone, Miss King was gone.

"What-The-Actual-Fuck?!" came a new, sudden exclamation.

Eddie stood there, a returning face amidst all this loss.

* * *

The walkers were thinning out at the front of the lodge, Robert was helping with Olivia, while the rest of Squad 3 had come out of the room they had left James and Melanie within to help with the effort. Gabe was carrying the two black bags he had held earlier, with all the ammo and guns inside.

"Did you dispose of the bodies son?" David asked of him out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah, but one of them saw me, I had to shoot them" Gabe informed his father.

"Good job son, I'm proud of you" David said "We got James in there to back us up about Miss King, we'll do the same to whoever it was you shot".

Gabe beamed with pride, despite how evil it may have seemed, the New Frontier were doing this for the greater good, that was their justification for this behaviour.

"Almost done here, Ethan, Terri go inside and gather the others!" Robert called, as Terri nodded, as she went off however Robert quickly went up to Ethan and whispered something in his ears.

"Get everyone out of here, don't look back and just keep running" he ordered harshly.

"What about you?" Ethan hissed back.

"I'll buy you time, someone has too. Now find everyone, get to the back and fucking run!" Robert hissed to him looking at his leader one more time, Ethan took off without another word. Whatever Robert had picked up on, it was enough to force a retreat, Ethan quickly scanned the lodge with Terri, quickly telling her what Robert had told him, the lodge seemed empty from their quick search, only finding a silent and still James and Melanie in one of the smaller rooms.

"We need to go and we can't look back" was all Ethan said, as he escorted the numb James and silent Melanie towards the back of the lodge and through a nearby window to avoid going back out of the front. The others must have been around the back then or by the sides of the lodge, James was traumatized thinking back to his torture and unable to keep his mind on anything else, not even aware that he was currently escaping them, while Melanie couldn't say a word but had seen it all. After James had been tortured, she learnt he'd broken his arm because of the sheer force of how he had tried to escape his restraints, and David had told her (quite simply) if she told anyone they'd both be killed and she had to keep a close eye on the "Golden Boy" when they weren't around to make sure he didn't kill himself due to the trauma or guilt of what they wanted him to do for them. If she failed and he died, then she died as well, but if they could escape this sick "New Frontier" here and now, that threat would no longer be there, the mental scars wouldn't fade, but it was something...

They ran onwards, Terri carrying a large bag which Ethan had to pride her on, seems like she'd snuck back all their supplies under everyone's nose in the distraction of the battle.

They reached the back of the lodge...

* * *

"Robert's not coming...!" Ethan informed them instantly "But we need too..."

He paused there, seeing Eddie standing there looked stunned, Nick and Maria's dead bodies and grieving and traumatized group around them.

"Well... damn it" was all Terri could say in genuine shock.

"Guys erm... I don't know what to say, but what is going on!?" Eddie exclaimed "Nick and Maria and fuck, Miss King as well! Robert!? Where's he... what's...!"

"Eddie" Terri muttered "How did you get here?"

"Siren and fucking helicopters are impossible to miss" Eddie said "I was driving down this road, in the direction of Howe's when I saw them helicopters I wasn't going to come and investigate, but then I swore I saw Clem's cap from a distance and I stopped on the road and climbed on up here to get a peek and then I see all this and I...!" he paused there clearly overwhelmed by everything that was happening.

"You have a truck or sorts, where did you get it!?" Terri inquired.

"Well I..." Eddie began.

"Never mind how, can it fit everyone in here inside?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, it's parked down by the highway just down from here" Eddie said "If you guys are trying to get away from something, then we can run to it fast and play catch up later..."

"That's a good idea, we haven't much time, we need to move" Ethan said "EVERYONE COME ON!"

The grieving group was barely responsive.

Then a single gunshot rang out from behind them.

* * *

Robert knew what would change Olivia's mind, the soldiers she lost during this walker attack, around 10 of them had been killed altogether and these were good men that couldn't be replaced, she was already on the fence about them leaving. She had the power to keep them here, she knew that and Robert knew this would be the thing that would tip her over the edge and take his much needed group, regardless of her moral code, she lost men, she needed some in return, she needed this mission not to be a failure, so that's why Robert sent Ethan and Terri off, he couldn't flee with the group. Olivia had her eyes on him, but the others... he had given them a small time window to escape.

He hoped it was enough.

"We need your group Robert" Olivia said predictably as she gazed around at the walkers and her dead men.

"Figured you'd say that" Robert said "Guess you finally realised you can just take us, regardless of morals or not. You've lost too many men, you need more".

"This isn't an evil choice" Olivia convinced herself more than him "This is necessary and it's for their safety".

"Well as long as I'm leader of the group, I'll never let them go with you" Robert stated clearly "Reasoning or not, you've become a dictator if you kill me and take my group regardless".

"Than it's an evil I'm willing to commit" Olivia said as she raised her gun at the defenceless Journalist.

"Nothing I can say to save us then, is there?" Robert inquired.

"No Bullshit" was all Olivia said back to him.

"Ha... figures..." Robert muttered, trying to cover his growing panic with a smile, he was going out laughing, whether they wanted him too or not.

"I'm not gonna back down" Robert informed her.

"I know that"

"and all you guys here, you're all just fine with this?" Robert said gazing around at them all, these soldiers of Olivia's.

"If it has to be done, than so be it" one of the soldiers spoke up, defending his leader.

"See, we're not the only one's son" David whispered into Gabe's ear.

"Hmm... sheep" Robert muttered assessing Olivia's soldiers "Anyway you better just get it done with..."

"Stop talking" Olivia snapped, "You're just stalling time for your group, I noticed how you sent off Terri and Ethan and now it's dawning on me"

"They'll be long gone by now" Robert told her.

"We'll find them, don't worry" Olivia reassured them, "Whatever depths we've had to sink too here, they'll live in comfort in Utopia. I promise you that, I'm giving you one last chance to surrender here Robert".

"You know I'm a smart man, the answer's no" Robert said in defiance.

"Very well, I'll tell the group you got bitten on the shoulder and asked to be put down" Olivia told him, as he began to laugh at the irony of her lie, the second she told it, the group (if they were caught) would see right through it, for a reason she couldn't understand.

"That's funny!" Robert chuckled, as Olivia frowned at him, before she pulled the trigger.

Robert Allen fell to the ground, dead for real this time, his games finally over. The last act the smart man had committed being to protect his group, as his brains splattered over the rocky terrain on the ground.

"Find the group, tell them the situation and that they have to come with us, due to another walker herd" Olivia told her soldiers "Just so you understand, he had to die. He had too much influence over them and was too smart for his own good, we have to keep it between us. I know that may be difficult..."

"We've done worse" Robinson backed her up with "We know this is for the best"

"Thank you" Olivia said "Now, let's find the group...!"

* * *

They were approaching.

But Clementine couldn't move, no one could, Eddie was asking if anyone was moving, if they wanted to leave. Molly had grasped the situation but was unable to physically move a catatonic Luke and Stephanie, despite her constant pleas to them. Ethan and Terri were trying as well without much avail...

"Luis, come on we need to go!" Terri begged of him, yet he didn't move at all.

"Clem! Clem! Look at me there isn't much time!" Eddie was saying to her face, as (with whatever strength she had) she felt herself stand up and stumble towards Luke. They couldn't end up in Utopia, they had to move, if Robert had given his life for this group and if the soldiers had shot Nick and Miss King, then they had to get out of here and get to Howe's...

"LUKE!" Clementine begged of him, still crying herself, as Luke was still gazing down at Nick's body.

"LUKE PLEASE! WE HAVE TO MOVE!" Clementine begged of him "If we don't then Nick died for nothing...!"

"I can't..." Luke sobbed.

"NO! LUKE YOU CAN, YOU HAVE A CHANCE HERE...!"

"No!" Luke snapped "I can't Clem! I can't do this anymore..." his voice broke off there "Just let them take us... I don't care anymore..."

"Luke I..." but his words made Clementine lose hope as well, all of the shit that had happened to her today, Luke's words were the final nail in the coffin to make her collapse next to him and simply give up as well. She couldn't muster anymore strength, all these combining worlds, all the deaths, it was too much for her to deal with.

"I'm not leaving you" she sobbed "No matter where we end up"

Luke acknowledged this with a small nod, despite more protests, Olivia's group rounded the corner and found the remainder of the grieving there in their current unmoving states. Too broken to simply carry on, despite Robert's sacrifice. Ethan had quickly informed Eddie (when he realised they weren't escaping) of what to say to Olivia if she started asking him questions.

It was blur to Clementine, they were grabbed by Soldiers, they were told Robert had been bit and asked to be put down. A story the group knew was bullshit within seconds, but couldn't protest against now. Members of the New Frontier eyed James evilly, having nearly lost their toy they were relieved to have him and Melanie back. The mute woman clung onto the former Marine, he was as out of it as could be, his unnoticed broken arm hanging limply at his side, he didn't register the pain or did he seem to have any motive, not to escape, not to be back with them. Melanie wanted to escape but couldn't go alone, not without the group, now she was stuck with them, through hell and all that was coming their way...

BANG!

Stephanie and Luke mutely looked up at where Olivia had coldly shot Nick in the head, covering his face in his blood.

"He'll turn if you don't shoot him, surely you know that?" she informed them "Now come on, get on the choppers the herd's on it's way"

Luke was dragged along with Clementine, Stephanie was too grief stricken to even protest, she knew what these people had done to her husband and felt her anger ebb back into her being. It wasn't explosive but was a developing deep hatred for Olivia and all these soldiers. She wasn't going to scream at them now, or scream bloody insults at them, she was going to bide her time, but she knew her only purpose now would be to make them suffer, for taking the love of her life from her.

Molly was planted next to Luke and Eddie, Eddie had to explain himself to Olivia about how he got here and he was unsure of what was happening. Due to past information on him, Olivia accepted him with the rest. Eddie was completely out of his depth here, his group didn't even seem to recognise him or react to his return, they were the most broken he had ever seen them, where was he going to go from here?

Luis, Terri and Ethan were silent and numb, wondering what on earth the future had in stall for them, as the choppers lifted off from the ground and began to escort them all back towards Utopia. What was left of the group, was about to experience the sad reality that was Utopia once and for all.

Except for one member of the group.

* * *

"You did it!" JJ prided himself, nestled deep in the woods hours after Maria's death he feasted on her legs hungrily, he had enough meat on these to last him for days! He had beat them! He had beaten the survivors, now here he was, nestled up in a tree to avoid the wolves, as swarms of walkers past him. This gave him a great view of the massive swarm below that siren like helicopter. JJ was drawn to watching them all, he had never seen so many in his life.

"It's awesome!" JJ muttered to himself in glee, enjoying the spectacle, as blood from Maria's flesh dribbled down his chin, all emotionless, flesh eating monsters had been drawn to this spot.

and they would die here.

The siren was soon gone, the helicopter flew away all of a sudden, JJ waited for about fifteen minutes before there was another WHOOSH he looked up to see a package of some sorts dropping to the vast amount of walkers still gathered below where the siren had once been. The fighter plane that had dropped the package looked awesome as well! It was... it looked like it was military style...

and that package looked like a bomb.

JJ gulped all of a sudden, his stomach sinking as the bomb hit the ground.

There was a flash or bright light, that burnt out JJ's eye sockets within seconds, blinded, he feebly thought "Don't break... Don't break..."

WHOOSH

A shockwave erupted outwards, the heat hit the teenager instantly burning away his skin and melting his bones in seconds, he opened his mouth to scream as the agonizing sensation stung at every pore in his body, he had never known pain like this... he... he...

HE WAS BURNING!

"ARRRGGHHHH!" He squealed in agony, as fires engulfed him.

"DON'T BREAK! DON'T...!" He screamed out loud.

Barely a second later his head exploded, as did his body, becoming nothing more than mere scorch in the destroyed forest within 2 seconds.

JJ had broken.

He had been obliterated along with thousands of other walkers.

It was a Sad Reality for everyone.


	41. Retrograde

**A/N: Okay, I know said I'd answer reviews in PM's but as this chapter will be shorter than the previous one (as it can't really be any longer than last chapter) I'll leave all my answers in this mass author's note before the final episode of this trilogy begins.**

**AquaDestinysEmbrace- Thank you for calling my chapter fantastic and being shocked by it, as it was the angle I was going for, as for Olivia being the main antagonist, yes and no. It's confusing but will make sense later on, in that too many she is an antagonist but there are worse evils (The New Frontier).**

**TWDRUNNER37-Thank you for your review, will Stef get her revenge on Gabe? You will have to wait and see, mainly the reason the pair of them are going to be hated in this fic is because (I guess I'm biased here) I just really can't grow to like them in game, so here they are established to be hated and will continue to be so. **

**TheDomDotCom- Thanks for your long review and I know what you meant at the end by it looking like a chapter from Going To Ruin, as I read it back and then read Ruin to Redemption and I realise the intensity had dropped. Mostly because the majority of No Going Back, gave everyone a plot arc and as almost all of the characters you knew from the game. Hence the shock and intensity when they died in such brutal, shocking ways during the relentless chapters that was "Going To Ruin". With only a few of the group left from GTR, I couldn't spend chapter after chapter killing them off or there would be no one left to care about and the story would be too bleak. So the deaths have been spaced out in a way (Sarah in Chapter 10, Rebecca and AJ in 30 and now Nick in 40) RTR has been more about building plots and characters for the audience to care about because with the expectation of the 2000 days group, most of the OC's that made up the majority of characters were introduced in the fic to die chapters later. I'm still proud of RTR but I wished now I'd made 2000 days a little longer so more of Wellington's residents could be known before they were introduced. Regardless I'm now back at the point where I have Season 3's characters to play with, most of the surviving group aren't OC's or have been around for a long while now so the audience are familiar with them (Luis and Terri) so I hope the intensity of GTR will come into play in this final episode. Anyway sorry for going off on an analysis of my own fics, but heading into the final chapter I like to look back and see everything that's happened so far, thanks again for reading and reviewing!**

**Chameishida- Fair enough, last chapter was something that would upset anyone I guess, but thanks for reading and I'm glad Robert was MVP indeed, he started off as no one's submitted OC but I made him anyway and he just grew on me as a character and he got this far... so yep. Also causally checked your tumblr to see your reaction to last chapter and I was amused by it, I also noticed you're an Overwatch fan and JJ being play of the game made me laugh (I'm a complete psycho aren't I?) but yeah JJ did kill a lot of people looking back at it.**

**Protocol115- Glad you liked the chapter, yes originally JJ was meant to kill Nick and Maria but I thought to build up animosity between the New Frontier and the readers, having Gabe kill Nick would trigger that. Nick's end was sad and because he was liked by readers, I originally wanted to give him something more of "giving his life for his wife and child" angle to save them from JJ. But as I wrote the chapter it didn't seem to work at all, as JJ killing Maria I can understand but killing both Maria and a grown man (even without a weapon) was far beyond his current abilities. The scene I wrote was cheesy and seemed fan-service like, so I changed it resulting in Nick's death which seemed more fitting and tragic considering the speech Luis gave him last chapter. Also for your other inquires...**

**About the sex and relationships things... as I rewrote some parts of the last chapter a lot of that stuff was taken out as It felt unnecessary, in the waterboarding scene, Melanie was supposed to raped and James was forced to watch. When James refused to lose his resolve even then, that's when David decided to water-board him. However reading it I cut out that scene to shorten the chapter (as it was already long enough) and too really emphasise the horror of the water torture on it's own without any other form of torture being used. I did some research on the method hence why the segment with James getting tortured was drawn out, long and didn't let you come up for air (a bit like the tone of the chapter itself). But also will be a changing point for how James and Melanie (the only two remaining, less know OC's) will become more relevant in the fic. There was also a scene in which Molly got separated from the others and was molested by a soldier, but I never finished writing that as it seemed likely someone (despite the chaos) would spot them, seeing as Molly was in the lodge and not hidden in a room or at the back of the lodge. Anyway I appreciate what you're saying and I will use it during this episode when it needs to be used and isn't just there for the hell of it...**

**About your fic idea on Season 1 go for it. A New Day is probably the best walking dead fic of all time and follows something similar to your synopsis, it will be a great exercise to improve your writing also, so yeah...go ahead.**

**Now your final question. Yep. What happened last chapter will has set in stone how this fic is going to end and I have a very clear idea on what shall happen when we get to chapter 52 and what the ending(s) will be. I can't say anymore than that as I think it will be a fitting conclusion for everything that has happened.**

**Okay, thanks for your reviews, have a nice day!**

**PetulantOctopus- Thank you!**

**ffapathy- another mammoth review and I'm glad you enjoyed it as depressing as it was.**

**Also just a warning to you and others reading, the next episode is going to be depressing and as dark as hell (at least what I have planned for it) but rest assured everything that happens will happen for a reason in order for the ending(s) to occur. In other words no matter how dark and bleak things seem to get, hold onto the fic and don't give up hope as It will eventually have a payoff (although I'm not promising a happy ending) but the ending(s) I have planned is meant to have a moral message behind it or at least cause some discussion, but other than that I won't say anymore just that the end is in sight and I know where it's going, just the path to get there may change slightly during the next couple of chapters.**

**Also you once again picked up on some things I didn't consider, Stef's bite... well I remembered that and that will come into play this chapter (you'll see why) but things like Clem being shot and maybe not being able to have children, Luis and Terri's reactions to the other world Clem visits, Ethan not knowing about the russians at Utopia... I'm glad you analyse my fics better than I do sometimes because they really give me ideas that won't rapidly change the plot, but certainly add a sense of grim realism and character development to the fic. Anyway keep your suggestions and theories rolling in as you really make me consider a lot of things as I write and this fic wouldn't be half as good if you weren't pointing out things I sometimes miss.**

**Also about me getting the readers to hate the New Frontier... in the past (despite how evil they are) many of the antagonists are shown to be somewhat complex, but the New Frontier (David and Gabe) maybe I'm just getting lazy this far in, but I'm going to be honest here, they are going to be despised and I'm not going to change on that angle, it will serve a reason regarding the ending I have planned. Maybe some readers will understand why they have sunk to the depths they have done (against Olivia) but I don't think they'll be winning any popularity polls anytime soon. Let's just say what they did to James, Miss King and Nick is just the tip of the iceberg...**

**For Robert and Miss King's deaths, Robert... was tragic. Miss King's might have been a cheap shock death looking back at it, but (like you said) I wanted it to be the first death to establish the shocking events that would occur later, also thank you Paradoxilla for your OC and your review! She was a blast to write but ultimately I thought her connection back to the cult would be her final downfall (which also linked back to the past). Also it showed the flaws in the New Frontier's previous beef with the cult, made them act impulsively showing they aren't perfect villains. Clearing Miss King's body lead to Nick's death and shows they are as bad as Olivia's group in trying to hide a death and covering for it (NF with Nick, and Olivia's group with Robert). Anyway mass response aside thanks once again for your continued reviews and support!**

**and for the guest, your update is here! **

**Okay... mass author's note finally coming to an end, this chapter is called Retrograde and yes that is the song from Tales from The Borderlands Episode 5 and I feel that scene from the opening of Episode 5 of tales and the song itself match the theme of this chapter perfectly, so the song shall be in this chapter.**

**So here we go, the beginning of the very end... Chapter 41! **

* * *

_"You're on your own"_

That's what it felt like to Clementine, she was surrounded by her friends and unfamiliar soldiers, crammed into this small space of a helicopter, breathing was somewhat difficult and her throat was still sore due to the near strangulation caused by Luis. She closed her eyes and tried to blot out everything at this current moment in time, the accusing glares of Olivia and her soldiers, the whimpering from Molly nearby, the swishing of the helicopter blades above her. It was all proving difficult, she was on her own...

_"In a world you've grown"_

"So how exactly did you find this group?" came a question that snapped Clementine from her dazed state and back into the grim reality she was partially responsible for.

"Me?" came Eddie's voice.

"Yes, you" Olivia snapped.

Clementine looked up, James, Melanie, Stephanie, Molly, Eddie, her and Luke had been taken to this helicopter, while Luis, Terri and Ethan must have been residing within the other one, out of everybody present however Eddie looked the least dazed or troubled, considering he missed the majority of the horrors that had befell the group at the lodge that was understandable.

"Well I found a truck" Eddie recalled "and I was driving along the highway going back to H... I meant the coast..." Eddie quickly corrected himself, remembering what Ethan had told him.

"Yes" Olivia said, gesturing at Eddie to continue.

"Well... I was driving and I heard the siren and saw the helicopters. I recognised the old lodge as we'd been past it before, then I swore I saw people at the back. It sounds crazy, but I recognised Clem's hat from a distance"

"This thing?" Olivia muttered and before Clementine could even stop her or realise what was happening, the old hat had been scooped from her head and placed into Olivia's wrinkled hands as she looked down upon it and turned over the old thing in her fingers.

"Yeah, I think it was a pretty awesome hat, used to obsess over it actually..." Eddie recalled to himself, smiling lightly before his eyes found Clementine's "Ain't that right Clem?"

"Yeah" Clementine responded, seeing that old spark of life back in his eyes along with his smile caused Clementine to faintly smile as well. Wherever he had been, the alone time must have been his own sort of therapy as he now seemed a lot better than he previously was.

"I've heard all the gritty details about how you ran from the group" Olivia informed him.

"Oh yeah" Eddie muttered in shame "There was that, but listen... I was in a dark place and..."

"I don't really care and don't have time for all that" Olivia snarled "Are you mentally healthy now? Not like JJ who snuck up on us while the herd was present, and killed that Maria woman..."

"No. I'm sane. Crazy people don't drive trucks" Eddie said "Well I dunno, maybe they do but..."

"Where exactly did you find the truck in question?" Olivia said, cutting right through him.

"I... I went back to Wellington and found it" Eddie said, now Clementine was pulling herself out of her grieving pit, trying hard not to think about Nick and how and why Eddie had trekked (mostly likely for weeks) to get back to the place they had just left, but then again it explained how JJ hadn't found him, or why he hadn't returned to the group if he was heading back to Wellington itself.

"Back to Wellington!?" Molly piped up before Olivia or Clementine could mutter the same thing (the blind woman was also clearly listening in).

"Why!?" Molly continued to inquire "Eddie that place is a ruin by now..."

"I just... I knew I just needed to get away from the group, as far away as possible" Eddie said, as his gaze found the steel floor of the helicopter "I just... I kept on running and walking for days and days... I thought JJ or the wolves or anything would get me. Or I'd die of starvation or thirst, I drank from streams and all and caught a few squirrels, but other than that I was dead on my feet. I heard wolves trailing me, but I kept on moving and slept up in tree's and... well then I followed the path we took and I ended up back in Wellington"

There was a dramatic pause around the helicopter at this point, Melanie now seemed to tear her gaze from James and focus it back onto Eddie, even some of the soldiers around them seemed to be listening in on Eddie's tale. Clementine knew this wasn't a fabricated story, she had known Eddie for so long, she knew when he was lying or being dishonest, but here his voice was firm and steady and although his eyes weren't locked on any of them, they reeked of truthful conviction.

"I thought that was it" Eddie said "I didn't know what the plan was, but despite the fire I wandered back into Wellington, past the moat and all and believe it or not. The fire didn't destroy everything, by the eastern part of town, the church we were at and a few houses by there, they are still standing guys! I went inside the church and I wanted to find Violet but..." he paused there.

"It's okay, we get it" Molly said "You don't have say anymore, what happened to her was my fault... so I..."

Eddie smiled at her before stopping her.

"No, it's okay" Eddie said "The walkers must have made work of her, but there were still pieces left, I... I buried them next to Sarah..."

"Eddie" was all Clementine was able to say, that must have been an awful experience for him.

"No it's okay, honestly" Eddie said to her, with a small smile of his own "I wanted to find AJ and Becca too, but I never found their bodies, but I made a little gravestones with their names on with Violet's. I know it sounds sad as shit but... it kinda hit me while I was standing there. How lucky I was to be alive and I felt like fighting again".

He finally looked up at this point, every eye (other than the pilots and the spaced out Luke, Stef and James) was locked upon him.

"I just saw all the graves around me, the buildings still standing but they were all empty, it just hit me then how many people lived in Wellington before and how many of them must have died, while I was standing there still alive. I was lucky and I just thought what Rebecca, AJ or Violet would have wanted me to do in those moments. So I just remember moving, I found food, drink and supplies that people had left behind and I explored the houses for these things and I found... well I found a lot of personal stuff too, for you James and you Mel and Cristina and Robert but..."

"You got our personal stuff!" James piped up suddenly, a renewed interest snapping him from his stupor, while Melanie looked up in rising hope, her face practically glowing.

"I _had_ it dude" Eddie said "I packed it all into the truck and I was meant to give it too you guys when we got to Ho... The coast, I mean" (James and Melanie's faces fell at this point) "But I had photos and all that! Mel I had loads with your family in it and your parents I think it was and James you had one with your parents... a girlfriend I think. One of you in the marines, a group of guys you were with and loads with you and a dog..."

"Toby..." James laughed duly to himself at this point "He was such a stupid dog"

"Yeah I had them, some with Miss King and Robert as well but considering what happened..." he sighed there "Anyway I found where they keep the trucks sealed, the fire did some damage to the place and most of the trucks. But two or three of them still had fuel inside. You know we kept them like that in case we ever needed an emergency escape from Wellington. I got into one of the trucks, revved her up and have been driving for days since then. I knew where I was going after all..."

"Those were the reinforced trucks the cult used" Olivia picked up on "Weren't they?" (Eddie nodded at this point) "Well it explains how some of them were able to survive the fire, but why didn't everyone just go to these trucks when the walkers broke in? Why didn't you use them after you escaped Wellington in the first place".

"We just wanted to get the hell out of there" Molly answered "Wouldn't you? I mean hell, trucks are the last thing on your mind when there's a giant herd of walkers you have to worry about and a damn fire..."

"There were barely any in Wellington when I got there" Eddie said "So I could focus more on getting the truck and..."

"Well it all adds up" Olivia concluded, "Must have been tough on you all though out there, but I swear In Utopia, we're going to make it better for you people..."

_"Few more years to go"_

_"Don't let the hurdle fall"_

"...I'm sure we'll all find occupations that suit you" Olivia was saying "You James, you used to be a marine and a pilot. I'm sure we'll have many jobs for you in Utopia. You'll be more useful than staying cooped up in the room like you were at the lodge"

James looked up at her to see the smile that lined her aged face, his eyes quickly stole a glance at where David Garcia was glaring at him from the corner of the chopper, he gulped and remembered the threats he had made, what the soldier had done to him and what Olivia was slyly asking him.

"Yeah, it was quiet in there" James muttered "Only disturbance we had was Cristina running off".

"Is that so?" Olivia inquired "Tell me James, what did she run off for?"

"Said she had to go looking for someone, didn't say who" James murmured, hoping his cover story would appease David, so he wouldn't be forced under that cloth again... he shuddered just thinking about it.

"Garcia!" Olivia suddenly snapped.

"Yes" David muttered, looking up and playing innocent.

"It's thanks to your squad's incompetence that a woman was able to run off on her own and get shot in the madness, along with another man from their group" she muttered referring to Nick "I can accept we all made some mistakes back there, but I think it's time you owed this group an apology".

"Yes, Miss President" David uttered shyly "Look folks..." David began "I don't know what to say, we're not used to finding people and you came as quite a surprise to us, but..."

"What about Robert?" Molly piped up, cutting David's apology short "How did he manage to get bitten? It wasn't just this Garcia's squad that was meant to be watching him, you all were..."

"I take personal responsibility for your leader" Olivia said, feigning a tone of sadness in her voice "Like I said we all make mistakes and I let my guard down and unfortunately it led to his end. Like Garcia just said, we're not used to finding people and the herd took us by surprise".

A cold tension began to seep into the helicopter at this point, now that Eddie had no more to say and nothing new to offer the obvious topics were coming to the surface. Robert's death was clearly caused by Olivia and her men and not a "tragic accident" like she was making it out to be. The remaining survivors all knew this, yet didn't say a word between them, other than Molly's words not another word of defiance was muttered. But Clementine knew Luke and Stephanie in particular weren't going to let this lie, for now they were still grieving, but soon that grief would turn to anger and Clementine was worried about what they would end up doing. Clementine was angry too, considering Nick was most likely killed at their hands as well but she didn't know what to do against this new and sudden threat. She guessed (for the time being) both group's were surprised by the other's existence and didn't know how to handle one another.

"Robert wanted you to leave" Olivia spoke up once again "I know taking you like this seems unjust. But truly it is for the best, you aren't going to a prison. We have luxurious apartments that we can house you in for at least a month while you recover from your trauma, then you can start contributing to our community and you'll see it is a great place to live..."

She was speaking into silence now, Clementine faintly remembered how the cold, silent treatment had gotten Bonnie to admit her guilt back at Howe's and right now Olivia seemed like she was in the same situation. She wanted to be liked, she wanted the approval of this new group, but considering all the shady circumstances surrounding her appearance and sudden deaths of her group members, Clementine just couldn't like her, or any of these soldiers. She didn't want this "Utopia" she wanted her small family back at Howe's or on an island somewhere, but right now with the speed and distance this helicopter was carrying her from Howe's made her current dream impossible. She remembered everything she had seen of Utopia in her visions, the grand city, but the dark underbelly of it all, the New Frontier and that brand on her arm... this wasn't the idealised city Olivia had made it out to be. But the world she had seen was the world where the cult didn't exist and where she was with Jane, so how different was the Utopia in that world, compared to the one in this world?

"We'll get you new clothes and showers... hell you all look as though you could use them" Olivia said, as she continued to trail her fingers over Clementine's old hat, her sharp nails poking through several old holes in the fabric.

"This thing looks as though it's about to fall apart" Olivia muttered, before the unthinkable happened right before Clementine's very own eyes.

Olivia briefly opened a small hatch in one of the windows to her side and flung her treasured possession out into the wilderness below.

Her hat.

The one thing that had been with her right from the very start.

The piece of clothing that had survived everything, being dunked in frozen lakes, falling from burning crane's, being tossed down mass cliffs and surviving rebellions at Hardware stores, the thing she had been wearing since she was 8.

Gone.

It was gone.

"...we can get you a better hat than that in Utopia..." Olivia was saying from somewhere at the end of a tunnel, as Clementine felt herself reeling more from the loss of her hat than she had done for the death of Nick. It was like a part of her was being ripped away.

_"So be the girl you loved"_

_"Be the girl you loved"_

"What's a matter?" Olivia was asking her, as Clementine felt herself get dragged back into reality "Did that old hat mean something to you? I'm sorry if it did but that thing was getting moldy, it would have been bad for your health..."

"That was my hat" were the only words that tumbled from Clementine's mouth, the rest of the group (or those that were currently aware of the situation) seemed as stunned as she did.

"Yes, it _was_ your hat" Olivia said "But we'll find you something better in Utopia..."

"That hat meant a lot to her" Eddie growled, his voice suddenly menacing, the light hearted man he had been minutes beforehand all but gone now. He was angry, just like Clementine had seen him before he had fled the group all those weeks ago. It seemed like some scars didn't heal and the longer Eddie was away from the group, the better he had become. But he had been dragged back into this hell, his old temperament was quickly returning now that was realising the shitty situation himself and his old group had been forced into.

"Well, I'm sorry" Olivia insisted, starting to shuffle uncomfortably in her seat and looking for anything else to change the subject, she found it as she gazed at Stephanie's arm "But we'll heal up your wounds, you look as though you could use it there Stephanie".

Her name being called didn't register with the grieving woman.

"Stephanie, how did you get that wound?" Olivia asked, peering closer at it.

Again, Stephanie didn't reply.

"Holy shit!" David Garcia suddenly gasped, "You guys, she's been bitten!"

This was met with surprised gasps by the soldiers surrounding her, everyone other than Luke seemed to react in those moment, as Stephanie was pulled out of her grieving bubble to find a dozen soldiers gazing transfixed and horrified at the clear bite on show on her arm. Her sleeve had been ripped away from that walker earlier, so she couldn't hide her wound and she (and everybody else) had forgotten about it. But now it was coming back to bite her, quite literally.

"NO!" Stephanie boomed "It's... it's just a cut!"

"Yeah, she just hit some...!" Molly began to back her up, before David yelled over both women.

"Miss President, we have to cut it off now...!"

"I know that!" Olivia snapped.

"NO! IT'S JUST A CUT!" Eddie yelled in Stephanie's defense, not wanting her to lose an arm and they couldn't exactly tell them that she wouldn't turn regardless due to immunity. Or else they were all dead.

"IT'S A GODDAMN BITE! I'VE SEEN A MILLION LIKE IT!" Another soldier yelled.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Clementine screeched (directly to Olivia) "SHE'S PREGNANT! SHE COULD LOSE THE BABY!"

"I am aware of that!" Olivia snapped back "But we have to do this! Or else do you want to be stuck in this helicopter with a walker! We have to wipe them all out! Why do you think we were bombing them! Our goal is to stop them from existing at all and this is for the greater good..." Olivia said, as David Garcia pulled a lethal looking hatchet out of one of military bags lying underneath the chairs.

"Oh no.. please no..." Stephanie begged of him.

_"I'll wait"_

_"So show me while you're strong"_

"I'm so sorry" David muttered sadly.

"THIS IS ALL I HAVE LEFT OF NICK!" Stephanie screeched gesturing at her stomach, "YOU CAN'T TAKE MY CHILD FROM ME!"

"It might survive!" Olivia yelled "But we know both of you won't, if you refuse this amputation"

"WHAT'S GOIN' ON BACK THERE!?" The pilot yelled.

"KEEP GOING TERRENCE!" Olivia snapped back at him.

"I'VE GOT MEDS HERE DAD, WILL THEY HELP!?" Gabe yelled, spilling some white meds from another bag under the seats.

"No, th-this is crazy! St-stop!" James tried to stutter, to no avail in the madness as a bunch of soldiers grabbed Stephanie and pinned her down to her seat, stretching out her arm, as the panicked soldiers quickly tried to prepare bandages and meds for the amputation that was about to occur. They didn't think they'd need doctors on this mission as it was meant to be a simple bombing run, what had happened to them today had thrown them out their depth completely.

Melanie began to cry and buried her face in James chest, covering her ears so she wouldn't be able to hear the screams that would emit from Stephanie shortly. James himself could only sit there, as numb as could be, powerless to do anything as his voice reduced to a whimper watching as these soldiers and Olivia tore his group apart for their own selfish reasons. None of them wanting to save Stephanie out of genuine concern for her, James knew this, the New Frontier and Olivia... both of them evil in his own eyes. But he couldn't hate them more than he hated himself in those moments.

_"Do something!"_ he screamed at himself.

He could have said or done anything to stop was happening, but he was as still and silent as could be.

"JESUS CHRIST... FUCK!" Molly roared, as Clementine leapt up and tried to run over to disarm David himself, but a Soldier (whether by accident or purpose) elbowed her in the face and she fell to the ground with stars in her vision.

"It's okay baby, it's okay..." Stephanie was sobbing to herself, speaking to her unborn child, as she could only see the black leather of the helicopter seats in her vision.

"Daddy's watching over you, mummy's watching you, it's gonna be okay..." she wept.

_"Ignore everybody else"_

_"We're alone now"_

David's hand was shaking, the hatchet in his fingers as he looked down at the bloody wound on Stephanie's arm, he really didn't want to do this to a pregnant woman with the risk that she might lose the baby, but...

He had done worse things.

Besides, it was for the greater good after all.

He swung the hatchet down.

_"Suddenly I'm hit"_

Stephanie's screamed, as a spray of blood exploded from her arm, startling the nearby soldiers, as the hatchet now lay halfway through her arm, as she screamed, it felt as though molten liquid was leaking from her arm and pain shot through her entire being, make her shake uncontrollably as she tried to get out of this hell...

"STOP! STOP!" Stephanie's screamed.

Picking up the hatchet again, David used all of his force to bring it down once again, as droplets of Stephanie's blood landed on his clothes, she was turning white from the rapid blood loss and the strong bones in her arm still needed cutting through, as she continued to thrash in place and the Soldiers around her, were either losing their nerve or grip on her, so David knew he had to be keep swinging away without pause... his face beet red as he tried to cut through the difficult bone with this hatchet, as blood continued to drench his clothes and windows of the helicopter, as torrents of the stuff poured onto the ground...

Clementine was still lying there, feeling sick...groggy... her head about to explode from everything she had experienced today, she couldn't take this anymore... her hat... Nick... Maria... Miss King... Robert... what else could she possibly lose today?

At Stephanie's screams, Luke finally seemed to come to life he blinked and looked over at Stephanie, before he looked down at Clementine.

"Where's your hat Clem?" was all he said.

Clementine felt herself fall into a black oblivion.

_"It's the starkness of the dawn"_

_"And your friends are gone"_

_"And your friends won't come"_

* * *

Clementine felt herself drift back into conscious, as her eyes slowly fluttered open, the still hum of the air around her and the overpowering stench of sterilisation, reminded Clementine vidily of hospitals she visited when she was younger. She was aware that she was lying on something soft...

She opened her eyes to be met with a dizzyingly high ceiling, the room she was in was coated in sickly white.

She turned her head to the side, to find Molly there, her hair and clothes both considerably cleaner than they had been back in the helicopter.

"Clem, you're awake" Molly said, her tone somewhat subdued, the rustling of the bedsprings must have altered Molly to the fact the 15 year old was currently awake, Clementine rubbed her eyes and became aware she was in softer robes, someone had changed her while she had been passed out. She groaned to herself, feeling more vulnerable in these thin layers and wanting her heavy coats, jumpers and rough jeans back and she wanted her hat... her hat...

She absently minded trailed her hand over her head, just to be met with the strands of her own curly black hairs.

So it wasn't just a bad dream then, her hat really was gone.

"Clem" Molly muttered with a voice of fore-boarding dread.

"Yeah?"

"Stef lost the baby"

Clementine gulped to herself and felt the weight of the words hit her at full force, her head crashed back into the pillow, this day of bad news just never seemed to end.

"How long have we been here?" Clementine asked, trying to move the topic onwards.

"A couple of hours, Eddie and me helped change you and get you here. It's our new apartment complex, smells pretty nice". Molly muttered, as Clementine merely groaned.

"Clem, I thought I'd let you know about Stef first thing" Molly said "I know it's not easy to hear but sooner rather than..."

"It's fine" Clementine muttered.

"Clem, I only learnt about it an hour ago..."

"I said it's fine!" Clementine now snapped, as Molly felt rather taken aback, but Clementine didn't care in those moments she just wanted to be left alone, to lie in this bed and stop this consistent flow of bad news and bullshit that was constantly thrown in her direction. Why didn't they just run! Why was she getting mad with Luke now!? The blank look on his face was the last thing she remembered seeing, it was like he had truly given up and left her alone to deal with all this. If he had just snapped out of it, they could have convinced everyone to run towards Eddie's truck and they wouldn't be sleeping as comfortably as they were now, they'd still be grieving for their lost friends, but she would still have her hat, Stephanie would still have her baby and her arm and they wouldn't be surrounded by people Clementine knew she now hated.

"Where the others, are they okay?" Clementine snarled over to Molly.

"Fine, spread out over this building" Molly informed her "But... they're not doing so good, but I guess none of us are..."

"Yeah" Clementine muttered, before she sighed and quickly glanced out of the window.

"So this is it, this is Utopia?"

"Yep" Molly muttered "Eddie said, despite everything it looks awesome, hell I can't see it" Molly duly laughed to herself there, as Clementine strained her eyes and although she didn't want to admit it, she had to agree with Eddie there. The window to her side was massive and gave her a panorama over the city, which was covered in expensive looking skyscrapers, gleaming expensive blues and serious grey's, a cobweb of roads lined the streets below and blobs of green made up distant parks. People scurried by like ants below her, only in the very distance could Clementine make out an imposing wall that circled the city. Utopia was enormous and a lot bigger than Clementine had remembered in her vision, so what had happened here?

Or the more important question.

What was going to happen here?

_"So show me where you'll fit"_

_"Show me where you'll fit"_


	42. Alien

**A/N: Thanks for reviews, this chapter is going to be a bit of long-winded exposition dump unfortunately, so I hope this chapter isn't too terrible and you can make it onto the next one. Anyway answering some reviews (not so much individually but more so in points raised)**

**Thanks for remembering Luis' bite on the shoulder, however by this point I imagine that wound will have faded quite a bit and is covered by Luis' clothing, unlike Stephanie's bite which was recent and in plain site. So I don't think it will be a concern but it honours me how you pay great attention to a story this long winded, so thank you for you remembering that!**

**Now for those concerned about the New Frontier being in the story, originally I did just plan for Robinson and some new OC's to be the rebellious faction in Utopia, but the New Frontier made a perfect replacement for them and would relate more to the game. So yeah the plot should still play out pretty much the same, with maybe some things added or taken away, but all in all it should be okay (at least I hope it turns out okay) about the multiple endings theory, let's just say if I go down that route I won't let it be as disappointing as the forced and underwhelming ending we had with Life Is Strange, I have my ideas that's all I'll say...**

**and yep losing Clem's hat and the baby was the first sign of how fucked up things are going to get, I understand a lot of people were upset about the hat loss but it relates to Clementine losing a part of herself as she goes to Utopia.**

**Now onto this chapter, before anyone points it out the Russians Ethan was working for, will be brought up in future chapters, just not this one (as Ethan and Olivia interact this chapter but it's not mentioned between them) just want to clarify that rather than answer it in the next author's note sorry for the mild spoiler if you haven't read already. But regardless of that this chapter will bring up new plots, while hopefully not being too boring or lose you with it's complexity. **

**Also, fun fact the descriptions of Utopia in this chapter match the city in Mirror's Edge, or the style of the city in Stein's Gate, a walkthrough and anime I've recently watched which I thought would match the oppressive feel of Utopia itself. **

**Okay, now onto chapter 42!**

* * *

It hadn't been pretty for anyone.

Clementine knew that truth, she knew her fellow group members were suffering just as much as she was, she knew she could have simply gotten up out of her bed and tried to encourage them or whip them into shape. But once again, that crippling depression that had overcome her in the wake of Sarah's death had returned and she found herself barely able to move, she felt like her whole body was heavy, she didn't leave her room for those first couple of days, as some nameless, faceless soldiers would deliver food and drink to her room, she asked briefly why they were doing this.

"Olivia's orders" was the only response she got.

Whenever the soldiers entered her room, they always seemed to linger just a moment longer than what Clementine thought of as natural, Clementine guessed they were waiting for to ask more questions on how her friends were doing, how great the city was, who they were and God knows what else. They wanted to ask her some questions, they were curious by her and sure enough one day (after three days of solid nothingness) the 15 year old heard a muffled conversation from outside of her room, she placed her ear to the door.

"...she's still not speakin', think we should get a doctor to look at her?"

"Hell if I know, whole group been beaten down like that for fucking days now"

"Wonder why none of them ain't speakin', I mean there's a few of them that seem quite chatty, the guy with the beard and the blonde pair, but other than that you can't get a peep out of the rest of them. The girl in there worries me the most..."

"...What plannin' to make her you Waifu? Worried about her?" came a tease, as Clementine listened in closer, she hoped to whoever was listening to her silent prayers, that (despite everything)her luck wouldn't get any shitter and she'd end up stuck with a bunch of potentially rapist soldiers. She had that thought lingering the back of her mind since she arrived here, there certainly were a lot of Soldiers around and they had forced her and her group to come to this damn city. People and Soldiers in particular who were like that, had the potential to do a lot worse and Clementine had been mentally preparing herself for all the grim possibilities that ran through her mind. No doubt without her hat and heavy clothing she'd draw more male eyes than she usually did, it had happened to Sarah when she was near enough her age now, 15 or 16 and in this world that was lucky. The 15 year old had heard stories about some of the girls in Wellington high and couldn't imagine the trauma they went through at much younger ages at the hands of some bandit groups and rogue soldiers.

"...she's 15! I ain't interested in that!" the soldier snapped back, eliminating Clementine's fear for the moment.

"Well with the recent purge, I thought you would be, get it where you can" the other soldier said.

"Yeah with a woman, not a child!" the more decent soldier replied, "Besides, we don't have to keep worrying about purges if the New Frontier..."

This was followed by a rapid shushing sound, now Clementine's interest was peaked, as she strained her ears even further.

"You can't mention them here! Olivia could have this whole building surveyed!"

"Sorry, but shit they... you know... after the purge and all this self-righteous bullshit Olivia's been sprouting out, they could actually have a shot of taking this place".

The other soldier seemed to laugh at this.

"I've heard shady rumours about the New Frontier, man. I don't want to get involved in either side"

"Then what do you want?"

"Maybe to get the hell out of here if it all kicks off" he seemed to pause their before continuing "These people... they don't want to be here and you can see that plastered all over their faces. I don't one hundred per cent believe they were brought here peacefully, despite what Olivia says. Those folk were heading somewhere and that makes me curious, where the hell could they have been going that they wouldn't want to be here?"

"I don't fucking know" the other soldier said "So don't ask me, the one's that are speakin' though say they were heading for the coast or something like that, I dunno the full story".

"Nobody does" the other soldier muttered with a small sigh, before Clementine heard their footsteps retreating back into the distance, however before they were out of earshot she caught the last dregs of their informative conversation.

"...Maybe we should get Eleanor in too look at them tomorrow..."

"...whatever you say..."

* * *

Clementine spent the rest of the day nibbling of the food delivered to her and remembering everything the soldiers had said, as she laid in her bed and looked up at the high ceiling, trying to turn the numb cogs in her body and brain and focus on something over than Maria's corpse after JJ had done with it, the image of Miss King lying dead, the gaping hole that was Robert's absence or the sight of Nick's limp body on the rocky ground below her feet, or the image of a fetus with Nick's face, lying shrivelled and dead by Stephanie's bloodied form, just like it had done back at Howe's...

She shook her head and tried to remove these vile images from her brain and expel the grief that threatened to overcome her, for three whole days she had said or done nothing and since Molly left her room, she hadn't interacted with anyone. Becoming very familiar with her room but gazing out at the rest of the city as though she was on the surface of Mars, everything looked at sounded alien out there. Only a thin panel of glass separated her from this immense city but the longer she spent staring out at it, the stranger and more alien like it became. Buildings of rich blue and steel grey reflected off her yellow eyes, they were strange colours to see after the consistent assault of green and brown that made up the trek through the forest. The orange glow of fire was also a constant omen that haunted her and even in Wellington, the buildings had a consistent shade of peachy brown to them and had no where near the sophistication and plain cleanliness of these skyscrapers. The skyscrapers stretched up to dizzying heights that not even in wall in Wellington could suppress, she gathered whatever building she was in was also massive, as it was located next to these giants and if she strained her eyes she could make out how the building sizes decreased the further out from the centre of the city they were. Until they were at the base of the distant wall itself, the constant beeping of traffic, hum of chatter from the residents below and general racket of an urban area that Clementine hadn't been familiar with in over 6 years now, made this place very... uncomfortable to her. It sounded funny, the sterilisation of everything smelled funny, it looked funny and it wasn't just the unfamiliarity of it.

This city was too clean... to faceless to be natural. The sky in the February Nevada sky (in the day) was also a very deep blue, almost devoid of clouds completely but despite the sun's presence, it's warmth was never felt by Clementine. Even inside of her room the deep blue sky looked cold and unnatural, the ominous glow of the city and the way it reflected harsh sunlight into her eyes was another aspect of this place that she knew she already hated. The sunlight at times becoming so strong, that streets and buildings would simply fade into a white haze and buildings that were closer to her would leap out in her vision, their sharp sided edges jutting into the foreign sky as she tried to absorb the image of it all and how the hell this majestic city had been hidden for so long after her years spent wandering in the wilderness.

"I'd rather be out there though" she admitted to herself, as she snuggled into her bed and managing to tear her eyes from the city, she pondered further on the conversation she had overheard.

The New Frontier, the people in Clementine's vision. In an alternative world she was one of them, she had branded herself with that Capricorn sign, she remembered Maria's words on how horrible the New Frontier were, the fact the Soldier had just said he had heard shady things about them. But if they were up against Olivia herself than Clementine felt half tempted to join them despite the consequences. Maybe that's how she joined with Jane and Jamie, they would probably oppose Olivia's rule and after years and fighting they had taken over and lived in luxury...

_"In a city that's much smaller than it is now"_

That thought suddenly crossed her mind, as she felt herself gulp and wonder how many lives had been lost in these rebellions. Luis had been lobotomized and that was merely the tip of the iceberg. She tried to imagine a world without the cult, where Luis and herself had met in Wellington. Jane's grim attitude on survival probably made Clementine into Luis' pessimistic wet dream. Rebelling together and without Sarah or any of the positive outlook she had gained in life, she could see how Luis and her could have eventually gotten together. But at what cost? What terrible things had they done in the name of peace for the New Frontier? Maria had hated her, she lived as an apparently ditzy mother, clinging onto a husband that was already clearly dead to the world. But rather than do the right thing and put him out of his misery, she went and had kids with him! Who the hell had she become in that world!?

"I can't let that happen again" Clementine muttered to herself, feeling a pit of fire in her stomach she gazed at the city once again and caught sight of her own reflection. Both times she had ended up in this city without a hat, she felt like this city was already trying to turn her into the woman it wanted her to be. Not the woman she needed to be, this wasn't Jane's world, this was her world and she was going to get out of here and get back to Howe's despite the impossible odds.

But first she needed to know more... about the New Frontier and about what had happened in her other unknown life... the vision she had received. She had made the link that whenever she received a near death experience (falling from the crane and nearly being strangled by Luis) she saw visions of this other world. She tried to remember that her past visions (and Luke's) were more or less dreams that came at random that foreshadowed a near death experience they would face. Now she had faced these experiences, she had seen another world...

But why hadn't she had these visions when she was shot by Kenny? Or fell down the cliff? All the injuries and shots she had faced, why were these visions only starting now?

The answer seemed to hit her instantly and she knew there and then, it all made sense.

It was him.

It was Luis.

He was causing these visions, in both near death experiences he had been the last thing she had seen, on the crane she recalled looking at him before the crane had fallen and she plunged (into what she thought) was her death. Then there was back at the lodge, his rage filled face was the last thing she had seen before she had passed out into (again) she thought was her death.

She was making the links now, as her breaths grew more shallow and her heart rate increased.

The world Luke saw... of himself drowning. That must have been the same world... the world where Clementine had lived here and he had died and Luke's worst fear was coming true. He thought his best friend was going to die, the last thing he saw before he passed out was his best friend's face. It was fear, fear was propelling these visions, but not just the fear they experienced in this world...but the other world.

Clementine was trying to make sense of it,as she scratched at her hairs, she had bigger fears than of dying and leaving Luis behind. But... the other was what she feared the most in the other world, losing Luis. That's why she had clung onto him in the first place and refused to kill him, she couldn't leave him to die, she couldn't die on him. They couldn't be separated... separation was her worst fear in that world. Whereas when Luke drowned... that had to have been the world where he died and then Kenny and Jane fought on the child's play area... that was where this other world came into play. That's where Stephanie and Eddie had died at the Howe's, where Nick died on the fence, Rebecca died in the shoot-off... but something must have changed then. Something kept Luke alive long enough to drown later and lead Kenny and Jane to fight... but where did AJ, Mike or Bonnie fit into this? Maybe they could have provided her answers if they were still alive, but seeing how they weren't only made it more puzzling for her. Until she came to the obvious conclusion and gasped... It was Jane. She must have gotten to the gunfight in time and stopped Luke from dying...

"Okay" she muttered, "These are the timelines..."

Her first life, everyone except for her, Kenny and AJ died in the shootout, but they all died shortly afterwards. The stranger and his cult were still about, he found Clementine, seemed grief stricken. Was shot and killed by a even more heartbroken Jane, then Molly came along and killed Jane, before dying herself, end of that morbid timeline.

Then it diverged.

Her timeline, going back to Howe's and taking over, all went well until the cult took over, they got taken out on the road, fell apart and eventually herself and Luke were the only one's left, before they were both killed. With Stephanie being the only survivor in that timeline, until she experienced what happened to her the end of that timeline remained a mystery.

In (what she presumed) was Jane's timeline, she somehow took out the cult, she was able to get to the gunfight, save them, but Luke drowned anyway, she fought Kenny and won. Herself and Jane found Utopia (eventually) Jane had Jamie (most likely Luke's daughter) they grew up in the city. Met up with Luis' group who had gotten there as well. With no cult a lot more survivors would have been about and heading for Utopia, so the New Frontier must have been bigger, then again so must have Olivia's forces. The rebellions broke out, leading to years of destruction until the New Frontier (with herself, Jamie and Jane as members) won and took control of the now smaller city. She and Luis had gotten together at this point, but he had been lobotomized, while Jamie was with Brandon (a man now much older than her). Maria and Terri were present as well, and she had kids with Luis. That timeline didn't seem to have an ending at the moment and there's still more she wanted to know...

As for the current timeline, it was Luke's... he had managed to save the group from total extinction and had gotten them to Wellington and now here to Utopia. With the cult out of the way and with a cure in their systems, it was a mixed blessing of a timeline.

Clementine sighed, near death experiences seemed to link her with this other world. When she dreamed about Jane and Kenny fighting however, she must have been worried then about the group falling apart, just like she was in Wellington with her group separated and distant...

Now she was older in both worlds, her fear of losing Luis or dying at least had linked her to her other self in some way allowing her to experience these visions. Maybe in this world she feared losing Luis more than she would admit, she'd worry a lot more about losing Luke,but since the other her hadn't known Luke long enough to grow very attached to him, Luis was the key to this rule.

As she thought about earlier, Luke had experienced his death, drowning and terrified and feeling as if he failed his friends, in a similar way he was drowning his sorrows the night he thought Nick was going to die.

Maria in the other world, she had these dreams daily maybe because her worst fear had already come true and her son was already dead to her.

Fear. That raw emotion that connected them through timelines, if Stephanie's hypothesis on the group appreciating what she had done for them, made them able to see their ends in the other timelines, it seemed as if raw emotions triggered these visions themselves.

"But what's the point of it all?" she muttered to herself, as she pulled out her old photo of Lee, despite it's crinkled appearance and growing folds around the edges, his beaming face still shone out to her as she gazed at the old photo. Her hat was gone, but Lee was always with her, stapled into the back pocket of any clothing she had (and even though she had her clothes changed, Molly had brought the photo to her) she looked at his face for what must have been an hour as the sun outside slowly began to descend in the sky.

"Appreciation" she murmured to herself, as she turned on her side.

She remembered the soldier shushing the other Soldier at the mention of the New Frontier, the loathing in Maria's eyes in the other world, the brand on her arm, the unnatural aura of this city, it's imposing skyscrapers...

"Fear" she uttered.

She felt something flush in her chest then, maybe she didn't understand it all but she wasn't going to let fear conquer her to nothingness again. She didn't have Sarah's diary this time, she didn't even have the reassurance that at least Nick managed to leave a son or daughter behind. In this world however she had given them an opportunity to live, her second chance had mattered and it still did. It wasn't over yet.

"I'm going back to Howe's" she murmured aloud, she had taken over Howe's beforehand, it sounded cheesy but if she set her mind to it, she could do it. She had saved Nick's life beforehand, he had lived to get married, she could do great things when she had the confidence to do such things. Yes, the losses would always hurt, Nick, Sarah, Lee, her hat... but she was going to stumble onwards like she always had done.

"I'm going to beat you" she growled, looking over at the city, all of them, the soldiers, Olivia, this new frontier. Whatever she had to do to leave this hellhole of a city and get back on track, she would do. Robert's last act had been to get them away from this city, she had trusted his word and from everything she heard and knew about she was going to round her broken group together and get them the hell outta here.

* * *

Numb.

That's all Stephanie felt now.

Numb.

She lay in her bed, not feeling it's luxury, it's warmth, not admiring the city outside, she was still aching near to her privates she had been awake when blood had gushed from that area. A doctor had told her due to the blood loss she had experienced she had lost her child, the last remnant of her husband and she didn't even get to keep that.

She didn't say a word, staring at her stump in disbelief as she cried to herself on most days.

"I deserve this" she spat at herself "It's karma for the stuff I've done"

But no matter how much she tried to self-pity herself, how much she tried to blot out all the pain she felt it was still there, it was relentless and unforgiving. Sending her into fits of tears whenever it felt like it. Nick had warned her, his last words had been "Don't go" and here she was, he'd be disappointed in her. His child was gone because she didn't move, her arm was gone because she didn't move, she was pathetic she had clung onto him for so long and now without him she didn't know what to do. Stay here and just die of thirst or starvation? Make a noose out of something in this room and follow Nick to the afterlife. But he wouldn't want that, she was aware that doctor was here again, a nice asian lady that said words that meant nothing to her. But the woman fed and watered her and sometimes even changed her clothes, as Stephanie had become near enough catatonic for however many days had passed now. She was speaking and Stephanie didn't know what did it, but the slight hostility she managed to detect from the woman when Olivia's name was mentioned stirred something inside of Stephanie she didn't think was there anymore.

The woman left, Stephanie slowly began to think of things again, a way to blot out the endless grief.

A million plans and visions of Olivia dying, this city going up in flames, the screams of it's population... Nick, Robert, Miss King, Maria and now her child. Who the hell did these people think they were!? Taking all of their loved one's from them! How could they!? How dare they! Stephanie thought she could run away again, from all the pain she was going through, but leaving the group behind again? What sort of bitch did that make her?

Maybe she always had been a cold-hearted bitch, running away was the most selfish thing to do, but she was adamant that this time she was going to stay.

She was going to stay and give the city what it had given her.

_Nothing but loss and destruction._

* * *

"So now what?"

Terri asked this of the immobile Ethan, who was sprawled out on the bed on the centre of his room, Clementine, Melanie, James and Eddie were seated around the bed, as Ethan and Terri had arranged this meeting, however it was near enough impossible to get Luis to move, Luke couldn't be moved from his bed and Molly was clinging stubbornly to him while Stephanie...well Eddie had been the first one to visit her but reported that (for the time being) she was a lost cause, after the sheer losses she had gone through she looked right through him. He doubted she had even heard a word he had said. With all of that considered, the members of the group able to overcome their grief and shock were gathered here, to listen to what Ethan had to say.

"We are in a difficult situation" Ethan said, to the group who were listening in "Of course Robert's last wish was for us not to get to this city, we have to respect that. But in equal measures is anyone willing to give up, all the food, accomodation and luxury provided for us here, just to follow a pipe dream now half way across the country?"

"Well I'm not sure here is all that safe, dude" Eddie told him, whatever earlier beef or hatred he had for the former Wellington Wolf had long since dissolved at this point.

"These fuckers killed Nick and Miss King, we as good as know that!" Clementine exclaimed, having been awoken this morning, after she had made her vow to fight the night beforehand. She had been woken by Terri telling her about this meeting and so (leaving her room for the first time) she explored the narrow, featureless corridors in this building, after ascending stairwell, after stairwell she had reached Ethan's room and was now going to let her opinions be known.

"We don't know one hundred per cent" Terri muttered "Let's not jump to conclusions or do anything rash just yet"

"You're one to talk!" Clementine exclaimed.

"I had evidence, I saw it with my own eyes" Terri said "What's done is done, we can't change that. Now we need a plan of action and I think it's agreed we all should leave this place. I've heard Soldiers outside my room discussing this New Frontier..."

Clementine interest was peaked at this point, so much so that she missed James flinch horribly at the name. Melanie gave the young man a sympathetic look but she focused her interests back onto what Terri was saying. James himself had become rather talkative and angry towards the new frontier during the past couple of days. So much so it appeared some people overheard him and that resulted in a surprise visit by David himself and a band of his merry men. What happened next still replayed in Melanie's mind like some nightmare repeating itself over and over again... the same waterboarding technique was applied to James until he screamed for mercy. They didn't stop then, it wasn't until David was stood over the traumatized young man, with a smile lining his face, that he felt satisfied that James was now silenced for good.

"Now I don't want another peep out of you" David mused, as one of his men (who was roughly holding Melanie back) was groping her rather openly, he was squeezing so hard that Melanie had began to turn a beet red colour, the pain of what they were doing to her was becoming near-enough excruciating.

"Play your part like we told you too" David growled "Or Melanie over there... well... after our recent purge, our men could use the company of a good gal like herself. If you get my drift there, so anymore foul play you'll get another round of this and we'll go all the way with Melanie over there. We can't kill you of course, but just because we did it too you and Melanie, who says we'll stop there? You have a whole group we could use... better just you than all of them, right?"

Both James and Melanie therefore were completely silent, they knew exactly who the New Frontier were and what they were doing but couldn't help Terri in her analysis, or else she and the rest of the group would suffer similar fates to herself and James.

"They appear to be a rebellious faction here in Utopia from what I overheard" Terri said.

"What, when did you hear all of this!?" Eddie asked.

"Soldiers outside of my room were discussing it" Terri muttered "It shows that not everyone has faith in Olivia here and if trouble kicks off in a city of this size, it's better we be out of the way".

"I think they are capable of doing awful things" Clementine muttered (but not openly mentioning what she had seen in the other world) "This New Frontier and Olivia, they may be against each other but who says one is better than another?"

"Clem has a point" Eddie said.

"I've heard all of that and more" Ethan informed them "That's why I called you all here today. This recent purge, that the Soldiers keep mentioning and which Olivia told us briefly of back in the lodge, well... in order to deal with troublemakers in the past they lobotomized them..."

"WHAT!?" Eddie exploded "That's fucking insane, how did...!?"

"I'm coming to that" Ethan said "I was recently in the company of Olivia herself, I had to try and flatter her to ensure we weren't on her bad side. Whether or not she was sorry for us I couldn't tell. But I was able to gain a lot of information from her, so she eventually had the lobotomized citizens put down, under the knowledge that communities like Wellington had all fallen and that could soon be this city. So she felt as if she had to act, resulting in more effort being put into an offensive attack against the walkers and greater defences for the city itself, rather than continue to pander to the population who could no longer look after themselves. Hence that's how the bombing run started and how they eventually found us..."

"So Wellington falling, indirectly caused all of this!?" Eddie asked "Jesus, one shithole leads to another..."

"Olivia thought this would result in rebellion" Ethan said "But the move was much more popular than she anticipated and it appeared all is well, on the surface at least. Herself and her officers have corrupt and most likely dictatorship like tendencies, owing to the strange circumstances surrounding the group's deaths. Robert's in particular, because of this, I feel the New Frontier is an undercover rebellious group that had risen and attempts to take Olivia and her Government out and implant a new one. In other words, we as newcomers and outsiders have been dragged into a conflict that has nothing to do with us and we have little to no chance to escape".

"Well, that's all great news" Eddie droned in sarcasm "But did you just drag us here to inform us of that?"

"No, I have been thinking about a plan for our escape" Ethan said "This conflict should cause a distraction, but this is a city under heavy security, we can't just slip out. We need proper vehicles and in this case we have all sorts of facilities in this city, including an airstrip and planes..."

Every eye rolled towards James at this point, when he realised all eyes were resting on him (and when Melanie nudged his arm) who jolted up and muttered "What? Sorry, spaced out"

"James, you're important for getting us out of here and Olivia spoke most highly of you" Ethan said "I was thinking if you could try and charm her and gain us access to a plane. You could pilot it and get us out of the city".

"Charm her!?" James said, unable to believe that (ironically or not) both his own group and the New Frontier had asked for the very same thing from him.

"I know she's kinda old dude, but..." Eddie paused there, unable to think of anything else positive to say.

"Do you want me to sleep with her!?" James exclaimed in mad disbelief.

"If it comes down to it" was all Terri had to say on the matter.

James had to laugh, it wasn't exactly normal laughter either he sounded somewhat crazy and after everything he had been through, Melanie who was seated next to him could hardly blame him. Everyone else however didn't seem to anticipate that James was going to react in this way.

"I don't... I mean, I can't... I...!" James stuttered.

"Well think about it like this" Terri said "Do you want to stay here? If you manage to charm her it could be the difference between you getting access to a plane and not being able too. We can escape this place before anyone knew about it..."

Now James really was thinking about it, yes the New Frontier wanted information from Olivia and what she was up to. But if he didn't play it careful than she would know he was the traitor and probably kill him. But now his own group wanted him to do it (for the sole purpose of escaping) then all he had to do was get close to her and get into a plane he could pilot, he could gather the group together and then they'd fly off into the horizon not looking back once at the New Frontier or this dammed city. The New Frontier may have silenced him, but that didn't mean he wasn't still fighting them. He couldn't tell anyone about what they had done to him, nor he could he actually fight back with his fists, but the prospect of an escape was the one thought that burnt brightly in his mind, his only form of resistance against David and his group was what they wanted him to do anyway.

"Okay... okay... I'll try" James eventually said.

"That's all we can ask of you" Ethan said in pride "Now while James works on that, we should all try and be polite to the soldiers and Olivia here, regardless of how we feel. We have to try and get them on our good side and we have to try and get the others involved as well. They are in worse states than us and it's important we help them through this if we are to escape together. Also while we maybe focusing on Olivia, some of us should try and get more information on this New Frontier. Who the members are and what they're up to, so we can keep an eye on them if our escape is to go well..."

"We can try and do that" Clementine said (like James and Melanie she already knew a great deal about the New Frontier, however she needed to know more and she knew how she was going to do that). "I could play the little girl angle and ask about it..."

"You're 15" Terri reminded her, before she sighed "But I suppose you could pull it off, is everyone happy with what we're doing now?"

"I'm all aboard for this!" Eddie exclaimed to show his support.

"It's what Robert asked of me and my mission is to protect the group" Ethan said "I could save more people and fulfill our mission by giving up our own lives. But seeing what that resulted in Wellington's collapse, I'm doubtful on whether the cure is really worth it. So for the time being I will continue to protect the group to the best of my ability by getting us out of here".

"Let's just get it over with" James muttered.

Melanie nodded to show her support towards the cause as well.

"I'm glad we have a plan" Clementine admitted honestly "All right guys, let's get started!"

* * *

Getting started, meant many things. Eddie in particular seemed uplifted about the prospect that his group (or at least some of it) was back on it's feet again after days of endless brooding. After the meeting James had gone off to see Olivia (on his own, despite Melanie's silent instance that she come along with him).

"I'll be fine" was all he had to tell her with a weak smile (he had picked up the catchphrase from Luke).

Melanie had to let him go, even if she couldn't say a word on the matter she didn't want him getting involved anymore than he had done. Both the New Frontier and his own group had put him in a perilous position and Melanie felt grateful to simply be the silent observer in this case. She felt like the mother she once was, watching him march towards a dangerous scenario made her worry consistently, what was worse was that she didn't know whether or not she genuinely cared for him. Or was simply more worried about herself if she failed to care for him like the new frontier had instructed of her. The old her would have cared... but her kindness and naivety had led to her own condition, to JJ escaping and Maria's death. She couldn't be herself anymore and she could no longer express how she felt to anyone, she was closest to James who could understand her nods, smiles, or what she mouthed to him, but he had too much on his plate at the moment, so she was left alone to mope on her past and how useless she was to everyone.

"Why can't I do anything?" she thought to herself, Ethan's talk was meant to give them a new purpose but it only made her feel even more depressed. How was she going to learn more about the New Frontier? How was she going to help the group out? She was something of an outcast (like James) she got the impression her past blunder didn't make her very well respected, all she could do was make sure James didn't commit suicide but he wasn't here at the moment. So that left her with nothing to do... nothing at all...

"... Eddie I need to speak to you..."

An urgent whisper coming from a point outside of her room in the corridor, intrigued and wanting to blot out memories of her lack of purpose. She approached the door and strained her ears, she tore her eyes from the city. She didn't mourn her husband Greg or her baby boy as much as she should have done. But now she was here in this city without them, that grief had somehow become worse. Why couldn't she have been here with them? Then... everything would have been bad still... but she'd have him here and it wouldn't be soul crushing like it was now...

"...what about Clem?"

"...Something about you-know what, It's... it's gonna sound stupid but please believe me..."

"I'm all ears Clem" was all Eddie said.

"Can we go back to my room to talk about it? We might be overheard out here" Clementine said, having no idea on how right she was.

"Okay" Eddie replied.

So they went back towards Clementine's room, unaware that Melanie was silently creeping after them.

* * *

Eddie's mouth was wide open, Clementine's long winded explanation had left him reeling as he gazed at the sink that was full of water in front of him and then back at the determined face of the 15 year old in front of him.

"Clem... I'm sorry but these vision things you have... you're saying they're triggered by..."

"Fear" Clementine replied firmly "The other me was married to Luis, we share a fear of losing him. I think this is how these visions are triggered Eddie, I told you guys after we left Wellington about me dreaming of the city I thought was Wellington. It's here, I'm dreaming about a different world, if I get visions of that world..."

"I don't remember shit and I don't understand shit!" Eddie imploded "You, Luke, Stef, hell even Molly probably knows more about this than I do! Why not ask Luis! Hell if this is all true they're all the more capable of understanding this than I am!"

"They're in no state right now, you know that" Clementine persisted of him, but also omitting her annoyance on Luke refusing to move, she hadn't seen Molly so she assumed the blind woman was clinging to Luke and something about that annoyed her. Stephanie was in no state whatsoever and she heard that news from Eddie himself and as for Luis... yes he had lost his mother and his friend, the 20 year old mexican had lost all of that on his birthday as well, so that would be something he always remembered if he lived to see his next birthdays and there was Clementine's personal feelings towards him now. She didn't know how he'd react to this news or even seeing her again, he always had been volatile but without his mother to keep some sort of control on him... well he had nearly killed her and that made her fear him. But at the same time, he could have broken down, dismissed her completely, raged at her, she had no idea how he'd react and that scared her. She wanted a positive reaction from him even if she knew that was a selfish thing to want, so with that in mind she wanted to avoid the young man for as long as she could. Time could heal the wounds, at least she hoped that applied for him.

"If both of you worry so much about losing him, then he should be the one to do this" Eddie told her.

"No, I just need to think of him" Clementine said "Eddie, I know I'm asking a lot from you... but you need to hold my head under here and even when I struggle. Don't stop, not until I've gone still and then you need to perform CPR and..."

"Clem are you completely fucking nuts!" Eddie bellowed "I've told you! I'm not doing this! I could easily kill you! I don't know when the right point to stop is! What if I end up drowning you or something! How the hell do you think Luke would take it!?"

"Luke...!" Clementine began.

"No, Clem you didn't see it!" Eddie stressed "I saw him beating Luis with a rock to a bloody fucking pulp, I've never seen Luke lose his fucking cool like that and I've seen him mad a few times" he paused there before he sighed "I've had my bad patches too, you've seen that. If I do something like this Clem... I just... I'm not automatically in a better place just because I went back to Wellington! I told Luke before I ran off, that I needed space! I didn't come back to the group expecting all this shit thrown at me all over again! Just because I'm not grieving terribly at the moment doesn't mean I'm the one everyone suddenly has to turn too. These are the type of things I've always wanted to avoid...!"

"BUT YOU NEED TO HELP US!" Clementine begged "Eddie, you've done so much for us before, why is this any different!?"

"BECAUSE IT'S BASICALLY FUCKING KILLING YOU! OR ELSE... JUST TAKING A HUGE RISK, FOR WHAT!? SOME INFO ON THE NEW FRONTIER!? Eddie exploded "DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS CLEM, WHAT IS THE POINT!?"

"WE NEED THIS INFORMATION EDDIE!" Clementine insisted "The sooner the better! I have to think I'm going to die and nearly drowning is the perfect way to do that, you can't just knock me out or anything..."

"Or we could just go around and fucking ask for info!" Eddie said, offering a reasonable alternative.

"If the soldiers here aren't allowed to mention the New Frontier, then I doubt we'll learn or be told much anyway!" Clementine shouted "Eddie, maybe I am crazy! Maybe I am reckless, but I need to take this risk, because if we stay here I know we'll lose what little we have left!"

There was a pause in which Eddie's bark brown eyes gazed intensely into the burning yellow pits of Clementine's own eyes, the en-suite bathroom in Clementine's room was doused in familiar white that made Clementine's eyes sting, yet she refused to blink as she store him down. Eventually the bearded man inhaled deeply and sighed.

"I can't believe I'm going through with this shit" Eddie muttered.

"Thank you" Clementine murmured.

"I've got nothing left to lose, fuck it" Eddie said at last, before he store down at the sink, filled with water, Clementine stood next to him.

"Are you sure about this Clem?" he inquired.

"No" Clementine answered honestly "But I have to do this, please just understand that Eddie".

"I can't say I haven't done any crazy shit myself" Eddie said "But... fucking hell I hope you're right about this Clem"

"I hope so too"

Clementine exhaled some oxygen before she leant her head against the sink, she felt Eddie clamp a hand at the back of her curly black hairs, he gulped openly.

"Let's get it over with" Clementine muttered trying to summon up all her courage, as (with a sudden thrust) she felt her head get pulled under the water. She didn't try and breathe and allowed water to fill her lungs, instantly her body screamed for oxygen as she felt her arms and legs thrash by their own accord, by instinctive reaction she tried to lift her head to the surface, however this was too no avail as Eddie had kept her held down, as the hum of the water grew louder in her ears...

"NO! NO! I DON'T WANT THIS!" Clementine suddenly thought, as white hot panic soared through her body, she tried to thrash even harder, but felt her body going limp. So much so she almost forgot about Luis and how she would miss him as she was going to die... she was going to die... the world was turning black... the pain of drowning was immense indeed...

* * *

Melanie couldn't believe everything she had overheard.

Every word was alien to her, second chances, other worlds? What did it all mean? She had heard it before and something about it all seemed to link, but what was Clementine suggesting? What had her and Eddie been smoking? She can't have actually been considering drowning herself to gain these "visions" what could she do? Other than stand by the door to Clementine's room, looking like an idiot as she tried to process all this craziness thrown her way.

"Okay... ah shit this was a bad idea, this was a bad idea...!" she heard Eddie panic from some point in the room "Oh God... come on Clem... breathe, come on, fucking breathe... don't do this...!"

Now Melanie was panicking, she couldn't barge in there and help. She didn't actually think they'd do this, but if she had gone in and tried to tell them (without speech) that she could have given them the information they needed without this risky move (that David Garcia was leading the New Frontier) this tragedy could have been averted. But no, she had stood here like a coward, the New Frontier had gotten to her then. She had experienced unwanted molestation beforehand, but actual rape? No and she never wanted too, the thought of the men doing that too her sent shivers up her spine. She guessed Jason, Eddie, Aidan and Jessica were right, she wasn't ready for this world and it's cruelty, she was too sheltered.

But she couldn't just stand here, she had to do something! If what Eddie had said was correct than he and Clem weren't the only one's in on this, Luke and Molly were too as was Luis...

Luke.

Him and Clementine had always been closest, she needed to get him, despite his grieving state, she had to try and help.

* * *

Melanie found Luke's room rather quickly, (Ethan had shown her the location of all their rooms) she didn't have time to knock on the door, she simply burst into the darkened room (with it's blinds drawn) to see Molly was fast asleep on the bed. Luke was facing away from her and curled up into his own ball, weeping openly into the pillow beneath his head. Thankfully they were both fully clothed so no "hanky panky" had occurred between them just yet (or Melanie was glad she hadn't walked in on it). Luke seemed too much in a state over Nick to do anything it seemed, yet upon Melanie's surprise entrance, he shot up in his bed and gasped, no words came out of his system however.

Melanie wanted to scream "CLEM'S IN TROUBLE!" She mouthed it, but she didn't think Luke saw her (a side effect of losing one of his eyes), as she frantically waved her arms and pointed in the general direction of Clementine's room.

"What?" Luke droned, his voice sounding as flat, dead and emotionless as Melanie had ever heard it.

She tried repeating the process of waving her hands and shouting into nothingness, this came to no avail, as Luke slowly rose to his feet and wiped away a few tears still rolling down his cheek.

"I told Terri earlier, I ain't comin' to that meetin'... I don't care no more..."

Melanie rapidly shook her head, but before she could make a point, Luke had already pushed her out the door.

"Don't disturb me again, if it's bad news, I don't want to hear it... I don't care no more..."

He then closed the door in her face and a click informed her that she was locked out. She silently fumed to herself on how he was behaving, but she'd have to save her silent rant until later, not being able to speak... it was a pain. If she still could she could have informed Luke (rather clearly) that Clementine was in trouble and that would have most likely got him moving. But no, she was stuck out here now, with one last person to turn too...

* * *

"I said no" Luis groaned into his pillow, upon seeing Melanie enter his room "I'm not going to that fucking meeting, alright? Did Terri send you? Listen I know she's worried but I'm as fine as can be. Well I'm the reason Clem almost died and the reason my mum's dead, I get that okay!? I just need ti..."

Melanie ignored his speech and used her petite hands to slap him across the face, with his cheek stinging, Luis sat up in his bed.

"What the hell was that for!?" he spat.

Melanie had learnt (from the encounter with Luke) she couldn't be gentle with them, she had to be more forceful and she was going to make Luis listen to her, regardless of what he thought. With his single eye now trained on Melanie she mouthed the words she had wanted to scream at Luke earlier...

"CLEM IS IN DANGER!"

"What? Whose in danger?" Luis muttered, rubbing his eyes and looking over at Melanie again. Years of lip reading from Oscar had given him better skill of understanding Melanie than Luke did.

Melanie repeated her statement, she had to help... by whatever means she could.

* * *

_"Ugh..." _

_Clementine groaned, sunlight streaming directly into her eyes, as she became aware of her surroundings, she was on a street somewhere, shops were lined directly in front of her and one look down at her body informed her she was carrying a bundle of roses, she was also aware of a familiar voice chatting away next to her._

_"...I mean I'll get Brandon to come as well and Terri..."_

_"Jamie!" Clementine exclaimed turning to face Luke's daughter and sure enough, there was Jamie. She had wavy brown hair that reached her shoulders, she had Jane's narrow and pale face, as well as her slender figure. But everything else about the young woman reminded Clementine so strongly of Luke. The maple coloured eyes she had were the same shade as her late father's, her smile and her nose and her general demeanour reflected Luke's movements so thoroughly it was as if Clementine was looking at a female version of him._

_"Clem!" Jamie exclaimed back "Jesus, what's with that? Yes I'm Jamie, I know Maria's death is upsetting but..."_

_"Maria died!?" Clementine exclaimed before she could stop herself._

_"Yeah about a week ago, remember?" Jamie inquired, her eyebrows knotting together in suspicion "Are you alright Clem, you're acting funny...?"_

_So time was passing in this world, just as it was for her own. She quickly looked up at the deep blue sky of Utopia and quickly surveyed the city, yep, it was defiantly smaller. The streets were smaller, more devoid of people, there were much less skyscrapers, the walls of the city loomed closer to them than Clementine remembered. The city had defiantly reduced in size, but she was here now. She had to learn as much as she could._

_"Jamie, who led the New Frontier again?" Clementine asked from out of the blue._

_"Where's all this coming from Clem?" Jamie asked, looking very suspicious of her friend in those moments, "It was David remember? David Garcia? Bit of an ass, lives down the road from us? Has the hot brother? You know the baseball player all the girls spoke out? Still is quite a looker despite his age..."_

_"David Garcia" Clementine muttered, the name ringing in her head the name she would have to remember. _

_"Yeah, Clem are you feeling okay? This is the second time in a month you've gone weird on me" Jamie informed her._

_"I'm err..." Clementine groaned, trying to think of an excuse, "I don't feel to well, like I have a headache" _

_"Hopefully you're not experiencing amnesia or something" Jamie told her, "Here why don't I take the roses over to Mum's and you head on back to lie down for a bit?"_

_"Oh no, I'll come along..." Clementine muttered instantly, not knowing where her house was in this world anyway. She'd be lost on these streets and she had no time to kill, she had to learn as much as she could while she..._

_"No, you need to lie down Clem" Jamie said, cutting through her thoughts "You've gone really pale, you're making me worried, just head on back and I'll call you later" Jamie insisted as she grabbed the roses from Clementine's grip. Jamie was already walking away from the stunned Clementine who found herself watching her shrinking form, she realised then she was stuck in this alien city without a guide and with no idea on where to go._

_"WAIT! WHERE DO I...!?" Clementine began to exclaim to Jamie._

_"BAKER STREET! TWO BLOCKS FROM HERE! NUMBER 12!" Jamie shouted back to her "BRANDON'S BABYSITTING THE KIDS AND LUIS! TELL HIM NOT TO DISTURB YOU AND THAT YOU NEED REST! OH AND SEND HIM MY LOVE TOO!"_

_"OKAY!" Clementine shouted back, as she quickly tried to remember all that information, Baker street, two blocks away. Number 12. She felt her feet move by their own accord as she ventured into this unknown world. The city was alien enough in itself in her own world, in this one it was even stranger. She felt anxious as she avoided the eyes of many scruffy looking citizens, many of which seemed to be either glaring (or else cowering) at her as she walked past. She felt sweat develop on her forehead as she slowly lifted her sleeves to see that familiar brand on her arm... The New Frontier's brand. She wondered if this was what made her so feared or despised here in Utopia, in this distant future._

_She lowered her sleeve, only to discover then that an old man across the road was gazing at her, rather openly._

_"What!?" she snapped harshly._

_The effect was almost magical, the man almost tripped up trying to get out of her way of her sight and practically sprinted down the adjacent road to put as much distance between himself and her as possible._

_"...can't believe she's showing that? Do you think someone's been...?"_

_Clementine whipped around, a group of middle aged ladies on a nearby bench, quickly ducked their heads and became silent. Clementine (with no other option) proceeded to move onwards. The sweat on her skin falling at a faster rate, she wasn't despised, or maybe she was. In this world the only thing she could see in people's eyes was fear. They feared her, they were terrified of her, this made her feel very uneasy as she was playing a suburban mum in this world with a dark and violent past. She was scared for herself and what she had become in this world and what she could have become if she stayed in Utopia in her own world._

_She turned a corner and the welcoming sight of "Baker street" met her eyes, a huddle of people heading directly her way tried to cross the road rather suddenly (trying to make it look natural) trying to ignore them. Clementine quickly found number 12 and pushed lightly on the doorknob in front of her and it silently creaked open. She was relieved, she thought the door would be locked but seeing as Brandon was babysitting she guessed he had the keys. The house itself was nothing special, the outside reminded her of her old home and the inside seemed rather plain and dull, she crept through the corridor and into the living room, only to find someone sat on the sofa. She was about to yell "Brandon!" only to see it was Luis himself. _

_"Luis" she muttered in disbelief, sitting next to him, he was less bulky in this world, his face was thinner, his single eye was blankly gazing at the white ceiling above him, his mouth parted openly slightly with a trail of drool leaking from it. His face was still pretty much the same and he was still missing his arm. However a giant jagged scar ran across his scalp "Lobotomized" Clementine thought sadly to herself. Her husband in this world wore a similar gold ring to herself, and had grown out a rather impressive black beard, however age lines were starting to deepen on his face, his hairs were thinning, he was something of a skinhead as whatever hairs did grow were dry and straw like. Nothing like the wavy and dense black curls that made up Luis' hairs in her own world, he reeked of staleness. His clothes, his hair, his breath... while his limbs just hung there limply._

_He looked somewhat the same, but was completely different. An alien to her._

_"What did they do to you?" she questioned aloud "What have I done to you?" _

_Luis didn't even look at her, his eye moved slightly and he made a funny gurgling noise, why had she clung to him? Maria was right, he was basically dead already. How did that affect the kids she had with him? How did growing up with a daddy like that help them? Who the hell was she here!?_

_Speaking of her offspring, a group of photographs in front of her showed them clearly to her, rising up again and holding the dusty frames on the mantelpiece, she saw she had two daughters and a son. It appeared (due to the height) one daughter was the eldest, then the son, then the second daughter. Their ages (if she excluded the baby photos and judging by what looked like the most recent) showed their age range to be about 4 to 8. The eldest daughter had the look of her father, but Clementine's yellow eyes. The son was a spit of his father right down to the bone, while the youngest daughter resembled Clementine the greatest, with the black curls and yellow eyes they seemed to share the same face..._

_A noise from upstairs made Clementine look up, as she dropped the photos back onto the mantelpiece, she was here for more information not this. Dragging herself out of his family mentality she left her vegetable of a husband on the sofa and quietly proceeded up the stairs. Where she clearly heard Brandon's (much more gruff) voice, speaking with somebody..._

_"...No pretty sure the door's not open, I didn't hear anyone come in..."_

_Clementine creeped closer, she could have called out but decided not too, as she tiptoed towards the noise which was coming from the bedroom door in front of her on the landing._

_"...I put the kids to sleep? Yeah I'm pretty sure, now come on, don't worry about that, come here..."_

_This was followed by a familiar sucking noise (which Clementine recognised as kissing) intrigued now, Clementine slammed open the bedroom door._

_To find a grown Brandon and Terri on the bed, a brother and sister interlocked in a passionate embrace (thankfully they were both fully clothed). All behind Jamie's back and the incest thing shocked Clementine until she vaguely remembered Brandon's confession to her back in Wellington. But how had it come to this!? A full-blown out affair!? _

_"CLEM!" Brandon exclaimed, going as white as a sheet and quickly removing his hand from his sister's back, as Terri herself shot up in her bed, and instantly looked down, going as red as could be._

_"CLEM! CLEM I CAN EXPLAIN, IT ISN'T... IT ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE...!" Brandon was rushing out to her, his face beet red as Clementine calmly surveyed him. Like Luis he looked pretty much the same grown up, except a few scars now lined his more rugged face and himself and Terri had a more haughty look to them._

_"It looks like you're having an affair behind my friend's back with your sister" Clementine snapped, "Rather than babysit my husband down stairs, but I guess times are tough after Maria's death..."_

_"CLEM! PLEASE JAMIE CAN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS!" Brandon exclaimed "WE DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE HERE! YOU USUALLY KNOCK THE DOOR AND CALL FOR THE KIDS...!"_

_"So that's how you've kept this secret" Clementine droned "Luckily for you I'm not the Clem you know, I'm someone else entirely and in a few minutes I'm going to forget this ever happened and the old me will be back. Confused and wondering how I got into this room and I'll assume you guys are just babysitting" she smirked there, realising what she could do while she was here "I'm from somewhere else and Terri you better watch out for Brandon or you might lose him..."_

_"What!? What do you mean Clem!? What is this!? You're not making any sense!" came the panicked inquires from a Terri Clementine had never known._

_"It's your worst fear right?" Clementine said "Losing him? Well you are going too, just think about that, you'll see my world soon when you dream at night, now this little affair has been revealed and that someone knows about it, just like Maria did. But you probably just ignored her dreams, but now you know the truth..."_

_"Clem, what the fuck!?" was all Brandon could stutter, looking more confused (rather than panicked) by the second._

_"I just need information, while I'm here" Clementine said "If you don't tell me, I'll go to David Garcia and tell him about this. The New Frontier wouldn't approve highly of incest would they? Considering the perfect world, they're apparently trying to make..." _

_"Don't" Brandon's voice was small and panicked now "Clem, Jamie's one thing. But if you tell David, he'll kill us both. You know that! We're friends, why...?"_

_"Why? What's so bad about David and the New Frontier?" Clementine mused._

_"Clem, you already know this" Terri informed her._

_"Not me, I really don't" _

_Brandon and Terri looked at one another._

_"Are you feeling okay?" Brandon asked "Look this affair is fucking wrong okay? Is that what you want to hear? I can't express how sorry I am and Jamie's a nice girl. But you, her and Jane and the whole fucking New Frontier, you think incest is wrong, but you're okay with bombing and burning half of the city and waterboarding and electourting and torturing people into insanity to get what you want!?"_

_Clementine was processing this information now, so that's how the New Frontier were doing it. Rather than lobotomize people under their control, they were torturing people into insanity and in fear of them. So that they could still be useful yet under their control, that explained why Maria hated her, that explained why everyone in the streets feared her. That explained why many of them looked so ragged, they must have lived poor, the New Frontier's branding set you up in a life of comfort, just like the cult in Wellington. Nothing had really changed, bad group after bad group all over again._

_"I suppose half of the city got destroyed after years of fighting against Olivia" Clementine muttered._

_"Yeah, bombings and all sorts of shit happened, don't you remember?" Terri said "Olivia's Government was bad and so is the New Frontier we live under now. But we live peacefully enough now, I just want the fighting to stop already, because it's either in here or out there, where thousands and thousands of walkers are piled outside..."_

_"So how did we meet? It was at Wellington right? The real Wellington?"_

_"Wellington got destroyed before we even got there from what we heard" Brandon said "Everyone flocked there, it got way too overcrowded, they couldn't expand in time and spread out supplies equally so after a riot the whole community got destroyed and walkers flocked in. It was a wasteland by the time Tom got us there" Brandon paused before he continued "But then, thank God The New Frontier turned up and led most survivors in Utopia's direction. It was a safe haven alright but Olivia had to use her methods to deal with all the people rolling in, amid all this that's where we met up with you, baby Jamie and Jane..."_

_Clementine had to process all of this. Of course without the cult present many more survivors had been able to reach Wellington, hence causing it's destruction by vast overcrowding and riots. Also without the cult, the New Frontier grew to greater numbers and led survivors to Utopia, those that were in the cult must have joined the New Frontier instead. Leading people to Utopia was most likely in a ploy so they could have people backing them so they could take over the already established stronghold of a city. Without the cult present, Jane was able to get to the gunfight in time, so much so that Luke died later by drowning and Kenny died by her hand and herself, the baby Jamie and Jane eventually ended up in Utopia._

_"...those riots, we lost most of our group. Luis got turned into a vegetable and Wilbert, Tom and Tim got killed in the bombings and my God JJ... went full on fucking nuts and burnt down a house full of Olivia's supporters, there were children in there and I just remember him laughing when they shot him on the spot. They didn't even bother to lobotomize him, he was too far gone..."_

_"We've all done awful, awful things to be here" Terri said cutting across him and looking over at Clementine "Maria was right about us all, but we never wanted to face her and that truth"_

_"But what about Oscar and Ana?" Clementine asked._

_"Oscar and who?" Terri questioned, looking as confused as ever._

_Of course without the cult, Ana and Oscar would have never met Terri's group in the first place. So they were either dead now or still roaming the woods somewhere killing walkers. One thing was for sure, there was no cure in her veins at this point._

_"Nothing, no one you'd know" Clementine said, as she began to feel herself get pulled back. She couldn't explain how she knew she was going back, but a strange sensation had broken out all over her body and she knew that was her calling to return to her old world. _

_"I've only got a few more moments, Terri tell me something about yourself I don't know"_

_"What?"_

_"Tell me, or I'll..."_

_"Okay, okay!" Terri snapped "Well, there's a scar on my thigh, I don't show a lot of people because of..." she paused there as Brandon held her tightly before she managed to get the last bit out of her system "...well my uncle caused it when he..." she paused there, as Brandon looked openly at her._

_"Don't tell her that!" he snapped._

_"What? We're already as fucked up as we are" Terri snarled "Might as well let her know how we ended up this way..."_

_"Well thank you, but I'm going now" Clementine said, as both siblings looked up at her "That's all the information I need Terri, but thank you both for talking to me. I'll be back, don't worry..."_

_"Clem what the hell is all this!?" Brandon exclaimed "What the actual hell is going on!?"_

_Clementine felt the world around her turn white, as she flashed Brandon a genuine smile._

_"It was nice to see you again Brandon"_

* * *

"...come on... come on...!"

Clementine coughed, water forcing it's way out of her throat, as the white from her vision, became the harsh white of the en-suite bathroom as she blinked and looked at the faces above her. Eddie's white face swam in her visage, as did Luis', Melanie was in background along with the face of a pretty and young asian doctor.

"Oh thank God!" Eddie exclaimed, the second he saw Clementine's eyes open "Clem! You were out for ages, we thought you... I thought..." he paused there, the relief in his voice was enough of an indicator of how panicked he was beforehand.

"Don't worry about it" Clementine reassured him, her voice was more croaky than she remembered it, her chest was aching, she guessed (judging by the arm under the back and the fact Luis' face was the closest) that he'd been applying the CPR to her.

"What the hell we're you thinking!?" Luis snapped, "Eddie here says he found you drowning in a sink, so he ran off to find Eleanor over here" (he pointed at the asian woman above him) "Thank God Melanie was able to lead me here, she told me you were in danger and must have heard you. But what the hell happened...!?"

"Now don't ask too much" the asian woman said as she lowered herself down to Clementine's level "Clementine, I'm Eleanor, I know what's happened to you has been traumatic, I know the pain must be intense. But this isn't the answer, think about all the people around you. Like this young man here, he was working very hard to save you"

"No, it's okay, it really is" Clementine said, she then realised Eddie must have covered for the strange circumstances by using a "Clementine attempted suicide and I found her" story. She had to explain herself honestly to her core group, but couldn't do that with an outside party here. Despite how friendly and concerned Eleanor seemed, she couldn't be in the way right now.

"Eleanor, can I just have a few moments alone with these guys?" Clementine requested "I just... I need to tell them some things about why I did this and how much they mean to me..."

"Of course" Eleanor replied kindly "Whatever you need, but I'll be sure to keep checking up on you..."

With this said, the young doctor proceeded to leave the room and it wasn't until Clementine heard her bedroom door slam and Eleanor footsteps grow quieter in the hallway, that she breathed once again and lifted her head up slightly, she felt dizzy and almost sick. Yes, it had been a risky plan indeed, but she had what she needed.

"So... did it work Clem?" Eddie asked nervously "I couldn't say shit in front of Eleanor there, but then Melanie comes bursting in with Luis here, you weren't breathing. He offered to take over and I had no choice but to find a doctor, I mean did you...?"

"It worked" Clementine reassured him "Thanks to you Eddie, I now have the information I need"

Eddie smiled to himself, as Luis looked from him and then back to Clementine.

"I'm sorry but what worked?!" he snapped "What's happening now!? Here I am thinking you're fucking drowning and I... I couldn't lose you!"

"It's okay Luis, it really is" Clem mused, as she looked up at his wider and more healthy looking face, relieved beyond measure to be back in this world now. Despite all the losses she had endured she knew it could always be worse and seeing how he had instantly come to her rescue. Made her fear of him vanish, regardless of what he had done in the past, this Luis had her back and had saved her, despite his own ongoing grief.

"Clem, just tell me what the hell is happening" Luis said "I know I'm a mess, but doing something like this, I just want to help, I can't lose someone else, alright?"

"You're not going to Luis, we're getting out of here and I'm working on it, that's all" Clementine said, before she looked up at Melanie.

"Let me guess, you heard what me and Eddie we're talking about, that's why you ran off to get Luis?"

She nodded.

"She told me you were in danger, that was all and lead me too you" Luis said.

"I've got a lot of explaining to do, to the rest of the group who don't know" Clementine said.

They would be working together to leave this place, Clementine was making sure of that.

Away from this alien place.

and back home.


	43. A Secret Shared

**A/N: Thanks for bearing with me and continuing to follow this fic despite the long waits between chapters, now onto answering some reviews once again!**

**Protcol115- I loved the symbolism you picked up surrounding Clementine's hat, she lost it on the way to Utopia as a way of showing that she lost part of herself, but with what I have planned (evil laugh, I'll say no more) I like you theory about it a lot as well. and yeah feel free to use a similar scene like the one in GTR in your novel, it's fine with me, thanks for your reviews!**

**ffapathay- As always another great thanks, Clem being able to move in her dreams will be brought up this chapter and once again I liked your analysis of all the characters. I liked you theorising on the endings as well as I have a few in mind and I won't say if you're close or not, but we are drawing closer to it with every chapter I release. Also I liked your reasoning on Terri, as the Terri we know is certainly different in the other world due to a lot of factors and thank you for my praise of world-building as I'm really starting to sink my teeth into this final arc and what it will bring for the remaining characters. So once again, a massive thank you for your long and continued support!**

**TheDomDotcom- Thanks for your review and being proud of Luis, as I love writing him as a complex character and I agree with you about being on the fence on their potential relationship status. I have a blast writing them as they are, the more than friends, but less than lovers angle. I know that can't continue forever as they have to develop eventually but for the moment and with other things going on it's staying as it is. Whether or not something changes will probably be a spur of the moment decision I make, as the planned story can run the same if they're a couple or not as they're already close enough. Anyway for the rest of your review yeah last chapter was a exposition dump alright, but with it gone, this chapter will get it moving more again and get more plans in motion, so thanks again.**

**and thanks for the guest for your review! **

** now onto Chapter 43! Enjoy!**

* * *

_"So, you brought it along?"_

_"Yeah" James admitted quietly, digging into the contents of the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out the gun that he had stolen through a quick rummage of Robert's belongings, while the ex-Journalist had left the camp. Wherever he was now, James knew he hadn't been seen by anyone and the plan conducted by himself and Jasper seemed smart at the time, but now that the gun was in James' fingers he couldn't help but find this whole thing foolish. His thoughts were reinforced by the sounds of wolves howling in the background, whatever Jasper and himself had agreed to while walking safely among the group in the daytime, had been extinguished by the dark chills and howls of the pitch black night. _

_"Jasper" James muttered quietly, his teeth chattering slightly due to the low temperature "I know, we'd say we should do this, but listen to those wolves in the distance man..."_

_"Oh here we go" Jasper snapped, the usually quiet man, showing his underlying temper at James attitude "Didn't I tell you earlier? We have melee weapons to deal with those damn wolves? With that..." he shot a loathsome glance at the gun in James fingers "It has limited ammo, it only causes noise that might scare off wolves, but draw walkers..."_

_"But we're cured!" James protested._

_"Yeah, tell that to the walkers when they're ripping your throat open" Jasper said, which certainly made James go quieter than he already was._

_"Besides" Jasper continued, as he slowly paced up and down the clearing himself and James had agreed to meet in "That gun isn't for protection. Why is only Robert allowed to hold onto it? You are against him as much as I am, that's why we agreed to this. I bet he'll try to take over when Luke slips up and then he has a gun to lord over us all and it all takes is one pull of that trigger" Jasper finished there, so the point was made clear to James, who scratched his hair, but continued to hold onto the gun tightly in his fingers reluctant to let the ex-paparazzi get his hands on it._

_"We both know Robert's unpredictable" Jasper continued to explain to James "He keeps that gun and mark my words, it won't be walkers who'll get shot. It will members of the group itself, it's gonna happen James. Don't fucking get cold feet now, we get rid of this gun. We can bury it and simply say Robert lost it"_

_"He'll suspect something" James said, taking a few steps backwards "Guns don't just disappear, especially the only one we currently have" _

_"and what's he gonna do?" Jasper taunted him with "Shoot you?"_

_"You said it yourself, we still have melee weapons" James uttered._

_"Just give it here" Jasper said, taking a few steps towards James and extended his hand towards the ex-marine "Let's just... stop arguing about it and get rid of it. I'd feel a lot more comfortable without Robert holding onto it"._

_"But... protection... the wolves..." James managed to choke out, torn between both sides right now. His head was screaming at him to hold onto the gun, it made no logical sense to get rid of it, despite his admitted concerns and Jasper's fears. But his heart fully agreed with Jasper, he wanted this gun gone as well, or maybe it was more against Robert himself than protecting the group, in those moments James came to a realization. He was stupid, hot-headed young man who had agreed to this, as a petty attack against Robert, so without a gun if anything did go wrong the group could blame Robert for losing it. But the wolves were howling again and this was the only gun they had, being a former marine made James very aware of how important these things could be for attacking and killing another human being._

_But also, how good they were for self defence._

_James pulled his hand backwards and put the gun back into his pocket._

_Jasper's face was livid._

_"I'm sorry" James mumbled "This was a stupid idea Jasper, I admit it alright man, I've got cold feet about this. I don't trust Robert with our only gun, but I'd rather have some form of protection than nothing"_

_"You're a coward!" Jasper spat back at him "Can't go through with anything, can you!? You're meant to be some badass marine, policeman or whatever... I expected more out of you! Fucking coward, call yourself a man when you can't even do this!?"_

_"and what we're you!?" James spat back, beginning to lose his temper at the character assassination, the ex-Paparazzi had directed his way "You were nothing but a fucking pap! Stalking famous people all day, do you even know how to use a gun!? What it actually means as a form of self-defence!?"_

_"You of all people should know how dangerous they can be then!" Jasper roared back at him "You're meant to be fearless, isn't that what Marines and army people are supposed to be! What are you? A coward, you're just going to let Robert boss you around and then when he snaps and shoots Frank and little Clem along with Maria, Luke, Melanie, Jessica, Jason... well don't come crying to me" Jasper was counting off the names and clearly trying to goad James into doing something stupid, but trying to reign in his temper, before it could overwhelm him, James sighed heavily and turned away from the fuming form of Jasper._

_"I don't have time for this, I'm leaving now" James told him sternly. _

_He turned on his heel and began to walk away from Jasper._

_"GET BACK HERE COWARD!" Jasper roared._

_James continued to walk onwards, but then he caught sight (from the corner of his eye) Jasper running blindly towards him blinded by panic, James went to pull the gun out of his pocket, so he could throw it out of the way, because he knew Jasper would dive into his pocket and snatch it away before James even knew what had happened. But as James lifted the gun to his torso, Jasper collided into him, forcing James hand backwards and his finger to squeeze on the trigger..._

_BANG_

_Their was a very faint scent of gunpowder, Jasper face was inches from his own as his eyes bulged and his mouth hung open in a perfect O of shock, within seconds a trail of blood was already leaking from his mouth. As James stood there as numb as could be, the realisation of what he had just done was slowly crashing over him, Jasper hot breath and flecks of his blood were already clogging his vision._

_"No... no... no..." James thought desperately to himself, Jasper could still be saved. He heard Nick and Clementine had survived shots to the stomach beforehand, but Nick had been shot at from a distance, with some form of shotgun, which was much less effective from a distance and Clementine was also shot from a distance and luckily for her no major arteries nor veins had been cut. Whereas for Jasper he had been shot at point-blank range and it seemed like the shot had been fatal as James could already feel the torrent of blood leaking from his stomach and staining his shirt, dripping through the fabric and landing on his gun and shaking hand. _

_"Told you so" Jasper gasped faintly, a tiny smile lighting his pale face._

_Then he fell to the ground in a pathetic crumpled mess, blood already extending outwards, despite the soil absorbing most of it. James was as numb as could be, staring down at the man he had killed. Before a nearby hoot of an owl, seemed to draw him back into his senses, as he became numbly aware of the fact that the gun had slid out of his fingers of his own accord and without thinking, he was running. Wiping the blood from his hands (and relieved none of it had landed on his clothes). He ran away from Jasper and back towards camp, wanting to leave it all behind, wanting both that gun and Jasper just to be gone. He was done with it all, he returned to a causal stroll, as he snuck back into camp and lay there in his sleeping bag, shaking despite the fact it was warm enough under the covers of the sleeping bag itself._

_He had just murdered someone._

_and he soon learnt, what he had done had resulted in JJ finding Jasper dead, resulting in Frank blaming him, leading to Frank's death and JJ's sanity slipping for good. Eddie had almost killed himself with the same gun and during all of that James had remained quiet and detached as could be. The guilt of everything threatening to overwhelm him if he accepted responsibility. He cried to himself whenever the group wasn't looking and he voted to kill JJ to try and stop the damage he knew he had originally caused, that didn't work and lead to Maria's death as well._

_All that time, James hadn't told a soul. _

_Jasper was right._

_That gun should have gone._

_People rather than walkers were shot dead with that gun. _

_He was a coward._

* * *

"...hello? Hello? Earth to James?"

James snapped out of his stupor, to find the friendlier than usual face of Olivia gazing back at him, the pair of them were situated on a fancy balcony overlooking the vast expense of the nighttime city. James had become lost in his own past as he gazed down at the glowing orbs of streetlamps below. Unable to believe he was looking at a city this majestic, he felt like he truly had died during the water-boarding torture back at the lodge and this was all a dream.

A dream he didn't deserve to be a part of.

He had lied to the group, gotten half of them killed through his indecisiveness and cowardice, they still trusted him to do this with Olivia and James felt like he didn't deserve it. He had been trying to help them to make up for his past sins, but they didn't know about all he had done wrong. He had held back with Jasper and that resulted in his, Frank's and Maria's deaths. Not to mention JJ slaughtering Jessica, Jason and Aidan, while Melanie's injury could directly be linked back to him as well. He hadn't done a thing back at the lodge, while Nick, Maria, Miss King and Robert had been killed, he was simply tortured into obeying a group who had killed members of his group in the name of the "greater good" he had tried his hardest to hold out against the torture. If he could do one right thing for the group that he had been allowed to travel with, to survive with, who had treated him as a friend, it would be to die for them and not obey this group.

He had failed that.

He had failed to do a thing about Stef's arm, now her baby was added to his kill list, the young man had done things in the marines that had haunted him but he had never felt such crippling grief and guilt like this. Not when his dog or girlfriend died at the start of all this, but since then Frank had been his mentor in almost every way and his sudden departure from this world, without even a final goodbye to James. Left the young man feeling alone and aimless and...

"Hello, what's gotten into you?!" Olivia snapped, as James dragged himself from memory lane and back into the present.

"Just thinking about things" James admitted honestly, continuing to gaze down into the city "It's just... I can't believe I'm here Olivia. After Wellington fell and the woods for weeks. Seeing all this, it's brilliant. Amazing!" he mused, planting a fake smile on his face "You've done an amazing job with it"

"Thank you" Olivia said, trying to sound formal, but her giddiness broke though that exterior, it didn't help that she had decided to wear a black dress that was hugging her remaining curves and was plastered in red lipstick and stinking of perfumes that made James' eyes water on how strong it was. Her iron grey hairs had been combed to a perfected standard, whereas she had advised James to wear the blazer and tie provided to him in his wardrobe for such an occasion, as it was a "formal look around the city" which translated to him as "a date". She was in her 60's clearly and James was admittedly repulsed by her and had no desire to sleep with her what-so-ever, but at the way things were going it seemed inevitable it was going to happen.

He had no idea how he'd gotten this far into her good books in a mere 6 hours, since Ethan had advised him to try and charm her he had visited her office to thank her for everything she had done for them so far. That had lead to them striking up a fairly normal conversation as Olivia asked more about his past and James answered honest things about his past life. His old dog, how many girlfriends he had before everything to shit, what he actually did in the marines, before long Olivia was escorting him out of the building as the pair of them walked through alien streets to James. Many people in the city seemed to respect Olivia and greeted her with a "Mornin' Miss President" both of them were rather dressed down for the occasion and James simply let Olivia speak onwards, while he offered the odd compliment every once in a while. It seemed like she had needed this cool-down for a while and she openly told James (when they had returned to the building they had left at the start). "I'm glad you seem genuine and honest James, I cannot tell you how many men have tried to charm me, but I see through their bullshit, you seem okay. Care to join me later for a more formal look over the city?"

Olivia was a smart cookie, there was no denying that James brooding on his troubled past and his guilt was genuine, he wasn't focused on charming Olivia at all and simply doing as he was told by both the New Frontier and his own group. He had to gain Olivia's trust and little did he know, him being himself was actually working. Maybe everything that had happened, had been a blessing in disguise because other than the odd fake smile or compliment everything else was genuine.

He had to make Olivia want him.

and not make it the other way around.

James had successfully dated girls before with this method and despite her age and apparent wisdom, it seemed the recent purge of men she kept at her service had left her longing for company. She was meant to be the President of Utopia and fallen for an attractive former marine, within the space of less than a day. If that didn't reek of unprofessionalism than James didn't know what else did, Ethan was right. If there was an upcoming battle coming between this New Frontier and Olivia, they had to leave this city.

"It'll be nice to stay here, I'm sure my group will recover with time" James said to Olivia "You know, whatever you've done in the past, I am honestly happy to be here. It's nice just to relax for a bit and sleep in and not worry about walkers sneaking up on you"

"Well if this city's worth one thing, it is that" Olivia mused, before she sighed to herself "I just wish I didn't have to resort to methods like Lobotomizing the people and then purging them in order to keep control. I've been a coward James, I'm not going to lie. I could have done more, but all I can do now, is do what's best. No point pondering on the past forever, or you'll become part of it".

"Yeah" James echoed, Olivia being unaware of how close that statement hit home for him.

"I'm glad I have some respect though" Olivia said "Those people on the street, my soldiers, they respect me for finally deciding to fight against our true enemy. Those walkers outside, the conflict with them certainly helps to distract them and give people something to do for once, speaking of which..." she licked her lips at this point "Any job you're looking for at the moment here?"

"Pilot" James said before he could stop himself "It's been too long since I last flew Olivia, I want to fly again..." and that too was a true statement. Watching the planes and helicopters soaring above this city had furthered James' sense of freedom and his longing to acquire it, all he needed was that access to a plane and they were home free.

"Well, I'll see what I can do" Olivia mused with a coy smile "It will take some time and tests, but I'm sure we can grant you your wish"

"Seriously?" James inquired, his eyes widening.

"Yes, I can see it means a lot too you"

"Thank you" James said, once again this was the truth.

Olivia blushed a crimson red, turning the colour of her own lipstick.

"Don't mention it" she muttered.

* * *

James was walking back towards his room, Olivia had sent him off a short while after that and thankfully it seemed Olivia had no interest of sleeping with him just yet, as even she had some standards to realise that meeting a new, apparently charming and attractive man didn't mean you could jump into bed with him, after less than 24 hours of interaction. He was working his way there though...

"Hey"

A voice from the shadows that turned the young man's blood to solid ice, he turned, not even looking at David Garcia's face first, but of the red cloth balled into his hands.

"You did a good job there James!" David exclaimed heartily, as he threw a bulky arm around James' shoulders and smiled at him, while deciding to level the cloth higher in James' vision as the young man felt his breathing get shallower, he could already taste the water on his lips and had struggled lately to even step inside the shower for a few seconds before leaping back out, his heart racing as memories of his torture would wash over him, as the soap did. Now he faced the possibility of it happening all over again and it didn't help that David's glaring son Gabe, was next to him. The kid had to be about Clementine's age but had been around his dad for far too long and it had resulted in him becoming as cold-blooded as his father had done.

"What did you get!?" Gabe snapped up at James, with an attitude matched to impress his daddy.

"Nothing" James squeaked "Just speakin' to her, trying to gain her trust like you told me too".

"I don't believe you" Gabe snarled "Dad, do that thing to him again..."

"Oh no son, I believe him" David said, much to James relief "I watched you guys closely, you are doing well James. Next time the pair of you meet however, I want some more intel and answers, I want her plans, her weaknesses, everything you can get, or else..." he made his threat very clear, as he held the cloth up to James' eyeline once again "Things are already being planned as we speak James, you can't get out of this, or tell anyone else. You know that".

With that he turned to depart, with a scowling Gabe in tow.

"Why do you want to take over?" James couldn't help but ask.

David stopped and turned to face James, his glare certainly silenced the young man.

"What did I say?"

"Sorry?"

"What did I say!?" Davig growled dangerously, lifting the cloth once again, as James suddenly remembered.

"You didn't want to hear another peep out of me" James squeaked in fear.

"Very good, now keep that in mind. We'll be watching"

With that they were gone once again, leaving the shaken former marine frozen in place.

Wishing to fly now, more than ever.

* * *

If James expected a quiet end of the day, he was gravely mistaken, he opened his door to find the entire group (with the expectation of Stephanie, Molly and Luke) camped out across his bed, or sat it around it. Discussing something amongst themselves, however their voices all died the minute they saw James enter the room and every head turned to face him.

"We were waiting for you to return" Terri said "Clem's got a very, strange story to tell".

James turned to face the 15 year old, as she let the last person who didn't know in, on the secret of the second chance.

* * *

Well, if James brain was frazzled beforehand, it had now fried completely as he tried to process everything Clementine had just told him. It took her half an hour to explain absolutely everything and James didn't know whether or not he believed it. But everything else was nodding with such serious faces and her insane tales were backed up by the others. But James couldn't believe this... time travel!? Time travel? Going back in time and saving people!? Having near death experiences so she could see visions of another world, where she learnt that David Garcia was the leader of the New Frontier? If it wasn't for the fact that she mentioned she found out David was the leader, James would have dismissed the whole story as bullshit, but it was more than a freaky coincidence that she had mentioned his name.

"Well?" Terri asked of a stunned James when the tale was finished, "What do you make of it?"

"How do you expect me to react to that!?" James exclaimed in mad disbelief.

"I was doubtful too" Terri muttered "But then Clementine told me something, nobody else other than myself knew and that was a scar on my leg, caused by my uncle years ago" she sighed there and looked up at Clementine "I'm still somewhat sceptical of all this" she told the 15 year old "You mentioned in the other world, I'm in a relationship with my own brother, that Brandon is still alive?"

"Yes" Clementine said openly.

"I see, that's very strange" Terri muttered "But if it's true that you've connected the other Terri's fears and my own nightmare coming to life of losing Brandon. Then I should soon be able to connect with my other self come a near death experience, like the one you conducted today?"

"Yes" Clementine echoed once again.

"I would be willing to take the risk if this is all true then" Terri said "I would like to see Brandon again very much".

"and the incest is just like... fine with you then?" Eddie asked "I mean, how did it come to that? He was your brother. You didn't actually fancy him or anything in this world did you?"

"No" Terri said plainly, but something about the rushed way she had said it (and from what Clementine had learnt from Brandon) made her doubt Terri was telling the full truth. But before she could ponder on that, Ethan had decided to move the conversation onwards.

"You mentioned in past dreams you couldn't move or control your body" He said "Yet in these recent one's, you're not only able to control how you move, but also what you say, or what you do. How has that come about?"

"I don't know, honestly" Clementine told him "and I know I'm the only one having these dreams, because I'm one of the few left alive in the other world. The other Maria told me she had these dreams before she died, but no one other than Terri here can have these dreams. The rest of you are all most likely dead at this point".

"Apparently I've just been lobotomized though?" Luis inquired, he was sitting next to where Melanie had a ton of notes on her (he had advised her to learn to communicate using a pen and a notepad, like Oscar had done). "If my 20 year old self can connect whatever fears we have and I could go to this other Utopia as well, right?"

"You've been lobotomized Luis, the other you probably doesn't have any fears anymore" Terri explained to him "Even if you did get to your body with your mind intact, a part of your brain has pulled from your skull. Your body won't function they way it does now".

"Okay, okay I get the damn point" Luis snapped, "Still It would have been nice to see Mum again, dying happy? Did she really say that Clem?"

"Her exact words" Clementine recounted to him.

"Well, I guess that helps... a little" Luis muttered "Although if it wasn't for you getting the burning field thing right and Luke being in danger within it, I've had dismissed this whole thing as some sort of bullshit fairy tale, caused by smoking too much of whatever" Luis said "But y'know I guess it all fits, if the cult knew about it, that explained why it was on the Domesday report. Luke and you for having Second chances..."

"I forgot about that" Ethan piped up suddenly "That's a very good point to make and does give a lot of credibility to a seemingly insane story"

"It still seems pretty insane to me" James said, addressing Clementine openly "I mean, time travel? I would have dismissed this story as well, but then you mentioned that David Garcia was the New Frontier's leader and there's no way you could have known that".

Clementine nodded at this information, but rather instantly Terri's face crumpled in suspicion.

"You say that, as if you already knew David was the leader" she muttered.

The silence that filled the room was deafening as James had just realised what he had said aloud would sound suspicious to everyone and now his secret was out in the open. If the group already knew about David and by the way Melanie raised a note to his right, that clearly read "We might as well let them know" he decided no further risk could come to group if James shared everything he had been keeping to himself for this long.

"I've... I've got a lot of explaining to do myself" James began with a sad sigh, as the group leaned in and got ready for his own horrifying tale.

* * *

"So the two of you!" Luis snapped, lumping James and Melanie together with his index finger "Could have just let us know before Clem pulls her stunt, that David was the leader and you decide to keep it to yourself!?"

"What could we do!" came the note from Melanie, before James could open his mouth, however as she lowered her note, James faced the glowering group in front of him and decided to come to his own feeble defence.

"They threatened to do what they did to me, to all of you!" James spat "and that's just the men here! You know full well what will happen if they get hold of the women! Clem you know what they'd do to you, if they learnt right now that you knew all this! How could I let you guys know after he made a threat like that!?"

"I was expecting something like this to happen anyway" Clementine muttered, trying to sound strong as her stomach gave away beneath her, as this fact washed over her and made her want to leave this hellhole even more. Alongside the torture they had put James through and the confirmation that David had indeed murdered Miss King over her past with the cult and James had been forced to lie about it, gave the group surrounding James' bed even more motivation to leave this place as soon as possible.

"I can't believe they did something like that too you, dude" Eddie muttered in disbelief "Waterboarding is fucking disgusting, these bastards sound like once you've done what you've done with Olivia, they'll just be done with you".

"That's my fear as well" James said "We get to a plane and then we go, we don't look back once. If Clem's future vision of this place is what she says it is. It's still standing but..."

"But that could change, this place could fall just like Wellington" Terri explained "Factors have changed, less, or different members have reached Utopia from the New Frontier due to the cult's interference. We are all immune and that could be discovered eventually and lead to rioting over the cure, or another mass purge and no matter how lenient this population has been with the last one. I doubt they'll just sit down and take another without protesting, but it's going to hell very soon".

"Yeah, no shit sherlock" Luis told her "We need to work on the vegetables tomorrow as well. Stef... well I can hardly blame Stef with everything that's happened. But Luke and Molly need to get back into action, we can't afford them not to be involved in all this".

"You're right, I'll speak to Luke when I can" Clementine said, still uncertain on whether or not she wanted to face him over everything that had happened. But Luis had made a valid point, there was no escaping Utopia without them and they'd have to drag Stef along as well if they had too. They couldn't leave anybody behind and Clementine had said it too Luke herself, wherever he ended up she wasn't going to leave him. No matter how annoyed or let-down she felt by him at the moment, she would have to gain the resolve to speak to him and get him back in action by tomorrow, she needed the Luke she knew back. She couldn't do all of this alone.

"So, no one is giving me shit about what happened with Jasper then?" James dared to ask.

"That's in the past, we can't think about it now" Terri informed him.

"Well I won't lie. I pretty annoyed you kept that from us" Eddie told him "But it's like Terri just said, no point thinking about it now".

"Clem almost died, a lot of people died because of you" Luis spat at James, causing the ex-marine to lower his head "But then again, me supporting JJ and letting him live, makes me just as guilty as you. So I can't speak, besides with this whole second chance business, Miss King and her cult past and now you with this, I can't say I'm surprised by much anymore, I'm half expecting Clem to take off her mask any day now and reveal she's been Satan all along..."

"Luis don't create a red herring" Clementine snapped over at him "Stop trying to hide your true identity and come on and be open with us all!"

"Yeah, I will when you do!" Luis exclaimed back over to her.

"Asshole!"

"Idiot!"

The two smiled at each other regardless.

"Never have kids" was all Eddie said gazing at the pair of them "Honestly... just don't... please. Not in this world".

James shared a look with Melanie, despite everything that had happened the pair, they couldn't help but laugh. The group (or some fragment of it) was still going strong despite it's heavy losses and everything that had occurred.

When the commotion died down, Terri decided to get back onto the main point as she muttered "Okay then, so we know David is leader of the New Frontier, but do we know anything we can use against him to aid our escape? James is working on Olivia, but Clem did you learn anything about David in the other world?"

"He lives on the street I live on, Jamie said he was a bit of an ass, but had a hot brother or something and it seems like people fear David in that..."

"Go back" Terri said "To the brother part. We know he has a son, but not a brother. What did you learn about him?"

"Well, nothing much" Clementine uttered, trying to cast her memory back and remember what Jamie had said about the unknown brother of David.

"He's hot despite his age, so he must be around David's age now" Clementine said "All the girls loved speaking about him and he used to be a baseball player".

"Nothing else. No name or anything?"

Clementine shook her head.

"Which street did he live on then?"

"Baker street, near the end of the road. I don't know the exact number though" Clementine informed her.

"Well the layout of the city has changed in other world, compared to this one, so that address could be useless to us" Terri said "But his brother is a fascinating point and he could have a wife as well as other kids we don't know about. We could ask around gently for information, tell the nurse that comes in here that David's brother came to visit us yesterday or something to welcome us and we can mention his good looking and used to be a baseball player, start a conversation and then causally mention more of his family".

"That could raise suspicion though" James piped up "When they realise that this brother didn't visit us, when David hears that we're suddenly asking about his family..."

"We don't have to use his name, we can just say the good looking man who mentioned he was a baseball player came into have a brief word with us" Terri said.

"It's risky though, I don't like it" James muttered.

"Well, I find the best way to learn about a man is to find out how he treats his family" Terri said, thinking back to her own father and her uncle, before she ploughed onwards "So we'll keep it light and causal, James do you mind if we use this room for another early morning meeting tomorrow?"

"Feel free" James said, glad to be able to assist his group, now that they knew everything it felt like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders and that he could contribute to the group more openly. As Eddie moved away from the door (where he had been keeping guard and listening out for any approaching soldiers, so no one could overhear their plans or conversations) James himself couldn't help but feel that little bit more positive, It was like Olivia had said.

There was no point pondering on the past.

He could only do what was best now.

* * *

Clementine herself returned to her room, mulling over everything that had been discussed in the meeting as she lay on her bed and looked out at the blackened city in her vision. The honks of the traffic below, the dizzying and lightened skyscrapers, different colours of neon red and blue bounced off her eyes and off the glass surfaces of many of the windows adjacent to her own room. With a sigh she changed into some comfortable nighttime clothes and snuggled into her bedsheets, it was comfortable lying here and pretending (for a few brief moments) that they didn't have to plan anything and that all was fine here and she could rest and learn to live in this Utopia itself...

Then her eyes focused on her old and crumpled photograph of Lee, in the absence of her hat it was one of the few things of a very distant past she had left. Holding it up to her eyeline, she focused on his smiling face and everything she had been through since she had first met him. Back before all the second chances, the madness of Wellington, these other worlds and this giant city. Back when she felt like her fight for survival was more realistic and grounded in a harsh reality she could battle through. Now she was here in this unrealistic city, discussing things that sounded straight out of a science fiction movie. That madness of it all was overwhelming at times, she just wanted it too end and move on with her life. To go back to where the group was supposed to be.

"I still believe you gave me this chance Lee" Clementine muttered to his photograph "and I'm not going to waste it by staying here, I'll make you proud.I promise."

Because now some of the others knew about her second chance and had accepted it, Clementine was going to bring Luke back as well.

The plan to leave this place, was now running at full swing.

* * *

"The next morning found the same suspects who had flocked to James' room the night before, in there at around 9 in the morning, scooping down their pre-made breakfast and surrounding where Ethan and Terri had seemed to take lead, they continued to lecture the remaining group on what today's plans would have been. It seemed the sleep they all had left many of them refreshed and positive that they could truly do this, that they could truly leave this city, despite the impossible odds stacked up against them.

"James, you'll continue to charm Olivia" Ethan instructed "Get us access to a plane, let us know when that's available and we'll sneak out of this building and board the plane and fly to the coast. They may pursue us so we can't continue the flight forever".

"I understand" James said "and the New Frontier?"

"Keep them happy with as much information as possible" Ethan said "We need you in a fit state in order to fly the plane, we can't have them torturing you consistently. Keep them satisfied while you can. Melanie, keep an eye on James as well he is playing a vital role in getting us out of here, he'll need all the support he can get".

Melanie held up the note, which read clearly "Got it boss", a proud smile lining her face, she was gladdened that she was actually able to do something for once, since she had learned the truth her mind was just as botched as the others had been. But, if that was the case she was aboard for this crazy ride and wherever it took them all.

"Terri and Clem, we'll set up another near death experience for the pair of you" Ethan said "Should it succeed, you'll have more information on..."

"Someone's coming!" Eddie snapped suddenly, causing Ethan's words to die in his throat, as he muttered "Okay everyone, pretend we are discussing other matters..."

"Good morning!" came the welcome greet of the young asian medic, Eleanor. She bristled into the room and took a moment for her eyes to adjust to them all sat around (or on) James bed.

"Well, what's happening here?" she inquired.

"Group meeting" Ethan told her right off the bat "We're trying to recover by speaking to one another and talking about what jobs we plan to get here in a few days time".

"Well, don't go for medic, it's a never ending nightmare" Eleanor said, laughing faintly to herself, before she realised that no one else was laughing along with her, the chuckles died in her throat, before she boldly continued onwards "Anyway, I'm glad to see you are recovering by talking among each other, also what's all this I've been hearing James? I hear you and Olivia have become very close?"

"Oh yeah, we spoke a lot yesterday" James admitted awkwardly, scratching the back of his ear and diverting his eyes from her beaming form.

"Well, I think it's nice" Eleanor said "Anyway Clem, I'm here to check up on you and... oh... no Stephanie...!"

Stephanie had appeared at the doorway and had charged forward instantly, it had been the first time any of the group (except for Eddie) had seen her since she had lost her arm all those days ago and the group could clearly make out the bandaged stump, she wore nothing but a thin layer of white pyjamas and she rushed past a fussing Eleanor and instantly sat down next to an alarmed Clementine. Before Clementine could mutter a word, Stephanie had already clamped her mouth around Clementine's curly black hairs and began to chomp down on them, much to everyone's confusion and bewilderment, as she ran her tongue over Clementine's hair and began to try and eat it.

"Stef! Stop it!" Clementine gasped, trying to pull her away, wondering what on earth had gotten into her.

Stephanie didn't say a word, she merely clung onto Clementine's hairs even harder and moaned in protest, as Clementine tried to push her away.

"She looks fucking gorked!" Eddie noted, gazing over at Stephanie and it was then Clementine had noticed, Stephanie's strong blue eyes appeared very unfocused and cloudy. She was sat cross legged like a child and clearly not paying any attention to anyone or anything other than Clementine and her curly hairs.

"I found her like this, this very morning" Eleanor muttered sadly, "She was unresponsive before, but she seems to have finally become aware in some way. But sadly it seems like her mind has broken at everything that's happened to her, so she has regressed".

"Regressed?" Eddie inquired, as Stephanie decided to run her stump over Clementine face now, as the 15 year old scrunched her eyes shut and beared the brunt of being Stephanie's plaything.

"It happens to people sometimes when they've gone through too much trauma or reached their breaking point" Eleanor explained sadly "It seems Stephanie here has hit this point and her mind has regressed to that of an infant in order to blot out the pain".

There was something rather chilling about that final statement, that made Clementine (despite being in a somewhat humorous position right now) shiver at the mental damage the New Frontier and Olivia had done to Stephanie. If Stephanie had finally broken from the weight of the world and everything she had been through, how long would it be before that was everyone else? Eddie had already hit that point when he attempted suicide, was Luke reaching the same point? Was Clementine herself?

The longer they stayed here, the worse it was going to get.

"Is there any chance we can help her now?" Terri asked, gazing down at Stephanie.

"It seems like she still has faint memories" Eleanor said, "She seems to certainly recognise you Clementine and was pointing at a picture of this man when I found her, it seems like she wants to see him". She held up a picture of Nick then and Stephanie's unfocused eyes suddenly seemed to lock on the picture and she unclenched her teeth from Clementine's now soaking hair and smiled openly.

"ck... ck... ck..." she tutted like a child.

"Stephanie, Nick's... Nick's not coming" Clementine tried to explain to her.

Stephanie gazed at her for a few seconds, still smiling rather emptily at the 15 year old, it was clear she didn't understand what was being said and protested feebly with a whine, when Eleanor put away his picture.

"I don't know if she'll ever fully recover" Eleanor muttered "But being around you guys, she seems comfortable and happy, so maybe her memories will come back, but it will be very painful for her. That's why I brought her up here".

"You want us to babysit her now?" Luis inquired, as Stephanie began to play with his curly hair she laughed duly as she twirled it in her fingers.

"Well, we can still help with her..." Eleanor began gently, before Luis snapped "Cut it out!" towards Stephanie who was now tugging at his hair, glaring back at the angry mexican man, she proceeded to bite down on it with some force and continue to tug it, much to Luis' great annoyance.

"I can't deal with this!" Luis snapped, as Clementine tried to reign in her laughter at his predicament, until what she realised had happened to Stephanie was serious and something she probably shouldn't have laughed at (and her hair seemed as tasty as Luis' in her childlike mind).

"Anyway, Clementine how are you doing, since yesterday?" Eleanor asked gently, softly probing into the topic.

"I'm better" Clementine admitted "Speaking to these guys really helped me. I'm not going to end up doing something like that again, I was just in a really bad place" she finished there.

"Well, I'm still keeping an eye on you" Eleanor muttered.

"Have you seen Luke and Molly today?" Clementine asked.

"Yes and nothing much has changed with them either, unfortunately" Eleanor informed Clementine, who nodded her head at this information.

"Well, despite all that be sure to thank the other guy for speaking to us briefly yesterday" Terri piped up.

"Other guy?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah, we were having another meeting like this one yesterday and one of the guys came in and let us know that we're welcome here and all that" Terri said "We haven't seen him since, but wanted to thank him for his hospitality. We thought you might know who he was".

"Oh I'll be sure to thank him for you" Eleanor said sweetly "What was his name?"

"I don't remember, I'm sure he mentioned it though..." Terri said pretending to scratch her hairs in mock thought.

"He was good looking though" Clementine decided to add and remembering everything she had seen and heard from James about David Garcia, she knew his brother would have a similar appearance "Had dark hair and eyes..."

"Mentioned he'd played baseball before" Eddie added and it was with this that Eleanor's eyes widened in shock as her mouth fell open.

"What? J-Javier!?" she practically shrieked "Javier! Was that his name!?"

"That was it!" Terri exclaimed, smiling openly "Javier Garcia was his name! I remember it now, mentioned he was the brother of a soldier called David...?"

Eleanor was silent, as Terri drew to a halt, the young medic looked completely shell-shocked.

"No, you mu-must have gotten the wrong man" She was completely at awe "Javier's in no fit state to go out, he... he wouldn't come here but he had too. No one knows about Javier, or at least only a select few do. There's no way David would let you people know about him, so... how did you find out!?"

"Excuse me?" Terri asked innocently.

"Javier Garcia never leaves his house with good reason" Eleanor said "David, keeps him out of the limelight, I... I didn't even..."

"Well you'll be surprised to discover, we know a lot more than we're supposed to" Ethan interjected "For instance we found it strange we were visited by the brother of the man who leads the New Frontier..."

If Eleanor was shocked before, now she was in complete awe. Her face had turned chalk white, as she gazed from one face to the other, the only sounds that could be heard, were of Stephanie slobbering and chomping on Luis' hairs.

"How did you find that out?" was all Eleanor said "The New Frontier itself is like an underground group, people know it's there but have no idea who leads it, or what they do. How could you people possibly...?"

"You don't need to know that yet" Ethan said "But you seem like a nice person Eleanor, we here entrust you with our secrets so far and we don't want to fight the New Frontier, we merely want to escape this city. We have no obligation to stay and feel forced to come here. Make of that as you will".

The former Wellington Wolf had made a risky gamble telling all of this to an outside party and for a second it looked as though the risk had landed them in hot water, as Eleanor ran for the door. But rather than open it and carry on sprinting, she opened it, poked her head out and ensured she was alone with this group and that no one was listening in. With a relieved sigh she saw that the corridor outside was as clear as could be, so with that in mind she closed the door behind her and went straight on over to Ethan and cusped her small hands in his own.

"Thank you" she nearly whispered to him, her voice small yet reeking of genuine emotion, as everyone turned to her "I didn't think there was anyone else who wanted to escape this place. But I don't know how you people found out about all of this so quickly, but you have done and that's all that matters and I will assist you in whatever way I can".

"Woah, you serious! You want to escape as well!?" Eddie inquired openly.

"I didn't come to work here by choice" Eleanor informed them all "I'm going to assume he's already got one or two of you under his thumb, it's how he does things and how you've probably found all this out. Either way, you know his methods if you refuse. Let's just say he's threatened me with that if I refused to get inside information on you guys and Olivia if I didn't apply to be the medic in this building..."

"So he's using you as a spy?" James muttered.

Eleanor nodded her head.

"Yes, I'm sorry I've already had to take information back to him" Eleanor said "But now you people already know about him and have the same goal as me. I feel I'm more inclined to join your cause than his".

"How do we know you've said all this, but won't just run back to David?" Luis snapped.

"Same reason I decided to tell you guys" James said, in sudden defence of Eleanor "You already knew about David, so it seemed useless to keep it a secret anymore. She's probably holding back information because of the fact no one was on her side, but now that we are..." he looked back at Eleanor who beamed at him. Her pretty face making James blush for real, as he began to consider his options if they ever did escape this city for real.

"Thank you James" she told him in earnest.

"Oh, it was really nothing" he murmured.

"But if you people are still doubtful, you can follow me, there's a few more of us that have a secret plan to escape this city" Eleanor offered. "Plus it can disperse your fears that I'm going to run off to David and that I'm really on your side. I can't take you all with me though, otherwise it will look suspicious".

"Well I'm going, I'm still suspicious of this" Luis grunted.

"I'll go!" James offered instantly.

"I'll keep an eye on them and go with them and ensure this is the real deal" Terri told Ethan "If we're not back after a while, expect the worst".

"Noted" he muttered.

"Maybe you should go talk to Olivia, like you planned rather than go with these guys" Clementine told a still blushing James, who had his eyes locked on Eleanor.

"It'll only be for a bit" he protested.

"I say James gets to go" Terri added to his unexpected defence "We can't keep pushing James at her, otherwise she will start to get suspicious of our motives. Saying and then proving he's gone on a tour of the city with Eleanor, will flatter her more and make the progression of trust appear more natural".

"Yeah, what she said" James added.

Clementine rolled her eyes.

"Fine" she muttered.

"Well I don't know all your plans, but maybe we should take Stephanie there as well. It will disguise this better, as a trip about her first outing with people she trusts, rather than something else" Eleanor added, looking over at where Stephanie was now trying to connect her own stump and Luis, and smiling to herself that it appeared the same, while Luis merely groaned openly at her.

"Oh for crying out loud, since when did I become her babysitter!?" he snapped, as Stephanie was now trying to twirl at his hair once again.

"Okay that's sounds like a good plan" Ethan said "Thank you for your assistance Eleanor"

"I'm more than happy to help!" she mused "This is dangerous, but exciting! I feel like I'm part of something now, oh I can't wait until my boyfriend...!"

She was off gushing now, as James' face sank.

"She has a boyfriend?" he groaned openly to himself.

It was then he felt a hard fist connect with his arm, groaning once again and looking down he caught sight of Melanie's annoyed face and the note she was holding up, clearly reading...

_Focus on the task at hand, Lover boy!_

He nodded to show that he was listening to her, while Clementine said "I'm going to go talk to Luke and Molly and get them involved in this".

"Okay, make sure you're aren't overheard" Ethan warned her.

"Me and Mel can ensure that!" Eddie said proudly, offering himself and Melanie jobs at the moment.

"Very well then" Ethan said "I myself want to talk to Olivia about something, the rest of you get to work. Now we have a solid plan. We'll meet back here tonight at 7. Same room, same place. Eleanor whoever you have with you supporting you, bring them along as well. Make sure you aren't seen though, too many people crowding into one room will appear to suspicious".

"I hear you" Eleanor mused.

"Okay, let's go!" Ethan instructed of them all.

The plan was on and Clementine was going along with it.

She was bringing Luke aboard with it as well.

Because whether he liked it or not...

She was going wherever he was.


	44. The Last Agent

**A/N: Thanks for bearing with me, a lotta work's come my way so updates maybe less frequent but I will still continue to try and get out what I can, when I can.**

**Now answering dem reviews...!**

**Protcol115- No it's fine, I like answering questions, for you most recent one. My order on Telltale episodes (excluding 400 days and Michonne is this... out of the 12 episodes released so far and my reasoning and rating for all of them)**

**12th Amid the Ruins- 6.1/10- My most hated episode, hated the pointless deaths in the episode, and the blatantly obvious choices that didn't matter angle (Arvo with the meds). Some segments were good such as the opening and the Bonnie/Mike scene in the museum. But overall this episode was a disgraceful mess and it's failure inspired me to write this trilogy in the first place.**

**11th In Harm's Way- 6.3/10- The episode where Series 2 took a serious nosedive and ruined all the quality it had been building up too. This episode was far too cinematic, barely letting me do anything as Clem. So much potential was wasted that simply exploring and talking to people would have done. The 400 days characters were there, the story was there to be discussed! Everything should have worked and it didn't and it drove me mad seeing it all go to pot. The only reason this isn't as low as ATR is because the deaths in the episode actually mattered somewhat (such as Carlos and Alvin) and had some awesome moments.**

**10th Ties That Bind Part 2- 6.6/10- Like IHW, this episode was too cinematic, throwing out the storytelling element and replacing it with mere action and little character development. Realism was thrown out of the window with David's return used to stir up drama. It set Season 3 on a very comic-y like path full of drama and action, that simply isn't the realistic and gritty walking dead I know and love. While it had some funny moments and good action, it wasn't enough to save it from being too short and interesting to appeal to me.**

**9th Ties That Bind Part 1- 7.0/10- Better than it's following episode, despite it's short nature. Season 3 got off to a decent start, the new characters were fairly interesting, the plot intense, the villains complex. However it's shortfalls really brought it down, not noting the absolutely horrible flashbacks and models, Clementine becoming a hardass no matter what really disappointed me. **

**8th No Going Back- 7.1/10- It had some amazing scenes and moments, such as the multiple endings and the campfire scene. It was certainly an improvement on IHW and ATR. But it was too little to late to salvage the story. The plot was forced in places (Luke's death and Arvo's betrayal). Characters making no sense, Bonnie, Mike leaving, Arvo wanting to kill you no matter what, just Jane's character as a whole. The flashback to Season 1 just wanted me to want to play S1 all over again and made me realise the series truly was Not getting back to it's former glory. **

**7th A New Day- 7.7/10- Okay things getting good now, out of Season 1 episodes this was the weakest in my opinion. Just because when I play it back, I felt like some segments dragged on a little bit too slowly. Nevertheless it did a phenomenal job in introducing us to the world of the walking dead and Lee Everett himself, so it deserves it's very solid 7 for being the start to a great adventure.**

**6th Around Every Corner- 8.2/10- An awesome episode, filled with so many dramatic character moments and scenes, such as burying the boy from the attic, Kenny's despair at being unable to find a boat. The trip to Crawford, the fresh and colorful new characters (I loved Molly!) all the exploration that could be done. The chance to see the gun training pay off with Clem, it didn't make me as sad as I thought it would however with events like Chuck's death. Or the relief I should have felt after we all got back from Crawford alive, it was a little slow at points, but still a very awesome experience and a perfect prequel to the finale. **

**5th A House Divided- 8.4/10- A truly great episode, yes it had it's shortfalls as a lot of people have pointed out. But replaying it is an absolute blast. Firstly the choice to go with either Pete or Nick was handled greatly, with a lot of care put into both scenario's. Small things such as the watch you can steal become relevant. Okay the cabin group's change was unnatural and I longed for more dialogue. But this episode was done in a way that made me invest very heavily with them. The atmosphere was fantastic, Kenny's return was also great, but didn't end up overshadowing everyone else like it would later on. Nothing ever felt slow or dragged in this episode, there was a lack of exploration and hubs admittedly, but this episode made me want to replay it to find out more and got me hyped for E3. E2 was an awesome set up for a great story and a had great story arc within it, it's a shame what followed destroyed S2 for me.**

**4th Starved for Help- 8.8/10- An amazing piece of storytelling, nothing more can be said of it. Yes it had it's slow points, but there was so much character development and great choices I didn't care. Stealing from the station wagon? Assist Kenny in killing Larry or not? Of all episodes this one had some of the biggest and most thought provoking choices and elevated from the great we got in E1, to the phenomenal the series would become. Replayable and intense, Starved for Help deserves all the credit it gets. **

**3rd All That Remains- 9.1/10- My unpopular opinion, my underdog episode but I loved it too pieces and my clear favourite from Series 2 by a mile. Omid's death and the time skip yes they can be problematic for some, but Omid's death bummed me out as much as Lee's did. I spent the first half of the episode feeling like Clem must have done. Depressed and numb in this dark and cruel world, with only herself in the woods. Sam's death actually depressed me even more, plus Clem stitching up her arm, a new group of possibly hostile or nice figures, it all felt so realistic and gritty for a young girl to try and survive alone and I frickin loved it! The set-up, tension and WTF moments from this episode still make it re-playable for me. It had the best set-up for an opening I'd seen and original threats we weren't expecting (the dog) and actually playing like a little girl, by hiding, sneaking, crawling and blackmailing. A true, underrated gem of an episode which also serves of a sad-reminder to what Season 2 could have been had the writers stuck to their guns. **

**2nd Long Road Ahead- 9.5/10- Except for the train section being dragged out, this episode really was the emotional roller coaster it set out to be. Taking the risks of killing off characters we loved, such as Carley/Doug, Kajtaa and Duck in ways that weren't just your typical shot by a bandit, or eaten alive routes. The deaths we went through were slow and painful, or shocking and impactful. Lilly was gone, the group was falling apart, the true dark and gritty nature of this episode made me glued to the powerful story. I'd never felt so emotionally drained after playing through an episode of a video game before, but this one did it masterfully. Teaching Clem to shoot, it took the story on the path it needed too, rather than the one's the fans wanted or expected and I take off my hats to Telltale for producing such a masterpiece, only topped by one more episode...**

**1st No Time Left- 10/10- Perfection, quite simply. The cinematography was gorgeous, the tension at it's very highest, the story wasn't dragged for a second. The deaths all perfect and fitting send off's for a fantastic story (which kind of why I protested to Kenny being back in AHD, but you know...) and this was the episode that made everyone cry with it's sad end. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word. The stranger being the final boss, wasn't a big dramatic boss fight, but was quiet and extremely impactful for me and once again the ending... an episode able to draw grown men to tears earns it's place as the best walking dead episode Telltale have ever done.**

**Sorry for blabbering on, but I like to share my opinions as you can see, as for the new guardians game and as for Scott Porter playing Star-Lord, should be a good fit. But you'll have to wait and see on your opinions and predictions are correct, thanks again for reviewing!**

**a massive thanks and a shout out to ffapathy and TheDomDotCom for your awesome feedback and thoughts, I can't make this author's note too long, so thank for your continued support and I will continue to entertain (hopefully).**

**and for the guest, here is your update **

**So for now, enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

"aah... aah... aah..."

Stephanie was making that strange gasping noise, as she continued to walk alongside Luis, hiding behind him whenever a stranger would pass them, her eyes becoming wide and fearful, if that wasn't enough to make any passing stranger uncomfortable. Luis downright hostile glares and occasional "What?" would make them turn away completely, he noted through his one eye and missing arm he didn't look like any of the smartly dressed, perfectly healthy looking and clean people that resided in this city. Who spoke about normal things, normal troubles and trivial issues on clothes and jobs. Luis had previously lived in a slum when he was a child, but he knew Mexico City fairly well and right now it was if he was walking through a wealthier and cleaner version of it.

Bearing in mind, this better version of Mexico City was still standing and going strong after six years of the planet suffering an apocalypse, that turned those recently deceased into stumbling, eating machines. Around 99 per cent of the human population had to be dead at this point and whatever remained on this planet was probably here. Or this was probably the largest settlement left after Wellington fell, he looked down at himself, with his scars and grim attitude and then over at the traumatised Stephanie, she was scared of this big, loud city and even if she somehow maintained all of her senses, Luis could have still expected her too be scared.

Because he knew he felt right out of place.

"...they must be the new people..."

"...look at them honey, look at that boy..."

"...what's wrong with that woman...?"

"...should we say something to them...?"

Luis was grinding his teeth together so hard, he wouldn't be surprised if they ended up cracking like glass, because those stupid people, with their stupid, fucking, obvious, whispering. Something about the way they whispered in such a patronising way towards him and his group really pissed him off. He was aware that his remaining hand had clamped together in a dangerous fist. A sudden temper overcoming him as he dared to turn around to shout, maybe to hurt the next person who spoke crap about...

"...ah...ah...ah..."

His hardened eyes connected to Stephanie's who was looking over at him and in that instance, the very sudden and dangerous rage that had built up inside of Luis died. He felt ashamed of himself, ever since his mother had died and ever since he had nearly killed Clementine with his own hand. His anger and frustration with himself and towards others spiked at points he didn't expect it too. Some times he was calm, but this new and sudden anger and temper... it scared him. It was something he couldn't control, after seeing his mother's corpse he felt it take over him. He wanted to rip JJ from limb to limb and then anyone who got in the way, when he saw Clementine almost drowned on the bathroom floor, that mad passion had returned, he was hammering on her chest, fury building in his chest. If she had left him, he felt like he could have ripped up her body and then Eddie's and Melanie's for not helping her, he couldn't take his own sense of guilt and shame and without his mother here, he felt himself spiralling out of control.

"...ig...ig...ig..." Stephanie was mumbling, pointing up at a skyscraper, Luis craned his head to briefly looking up at the dull grey block, before he looked back at Stephanie, who wrapped her intact arm around his stump.

"Control yourself" Luis muttered under his breath, thinking of Stephanie. His mother would look after Stephanie, she'd know what to do. But she wasn't here now, so he could only hold onto her and try to look after her. Because so far it was the only thing preventing him from lashing out at the harsh and patronising whispers thrown his way. Practising deep breathing, he maintained his now volatile temper and remembered the plans they had made, he needed to keep himself calm. They just needed to get out of this place, then he'd be free and their wouldn't be a need to adhere to a complex escape plan.

"I can't believe this place" James was saying from a point ahead of Luis, to where he, Terri and Eleanor were walking on further ahead. "It's insane, skyscrapers and cars and just a damn society!" he exclaimed "Olivia didn't explain to me how this all got set up, not in full detail anyway"

"Well, we found it like this" Eleanor explained "From what I learnt, the US Government set this place up, as one of the last strongholds for humanity in case of a scenario like this. This city was pre-prepared and out of the public eye, hence why it's been set up in the middle of Nevada desert, out of the way of prying eyes".

"That makes sense" Terri said, as a passing couple openly gazed at her, before moving on, Terri duly noted the fancy clothes they wore.

"So, the people here" Terri muttered to Eleanor "Were they already here or...?"

"Most of the people here managed to get themselves evacuated to the right place when all this started" Eleanor explained "Me included, my family didn't get to the choppers on time. But because I was a medical student, I was considered a higher priority, so they had to take me first and..." she paused there, her eyes clenching shut at the painful memory.

"Hey, I'm sorry to hear that" James said, offering his condolences.

"No it's okay, it was a long time ago now" Eleanor said, with a small smile "Anyway, others somehow managed to find this place, a lot didn't because of the fact it was in the middle of the desert. But the New Frontier lead most of the people here, well mainly because David wanted them to join him but... you know..." she finished there and gazed ahead of her, while continuing to lead the group behind her, alongside the busy sidewalk.

"Man and I thought the people in Wellington were sheltered" James muttered at last, gazing at a bunch of woman, in designer clothes who had just walked out of a perfume shop.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was Wellington like?" Eleanor enquired of him "Was it like this?"

"Yeah, just smaller and without the skyscrapers" James muttered.

"So, how exactly did it fall? You had giant walls and I heard something about a riot...?"

"Yeah, their was a whole class system in Wellington" James explained "We re-introduced currency and that cult infiltrated the top like... 12 per cent of the population, became the richest people in the place and forced the rest of us on the breadline. Of course we weren't going to stand for that, so it lead to the riots".

"But how did the cult get that rich?" Eleanor asked.

"The president paid them too spy on us" James said "That's how the Domesday Report came about, around a year later, we learnt what the President did and we had another riot against him. As he tried to make another aristocracy, but it failed. But of course, with the conflicts and poverty. The wall was at the back of our minds, before we knew it fell, just this winter, heavy snowfall piled on it and..." James sighed there, obviously emitting major parts of the story of Wellington, like the fact they were immune.

"Wow, that's crazy" Eleanor muttered "I know most of this through Olivia and her soldiers though, but hearing it from you guys... just whoa" she muttered, her eyes wide, trying to imagine the riots that occurred in Wellington "and apparently what about this Wellington Wolf?" she suddenly asked.

"A serial killer, apparently he was the police sergeant at Wellington" James said, covering for Ethan "But they were quite a few killers around Wellington, so it could have just been a shared persona, an image built up by the Wellington Weekly for more stories".

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about what happened in Wellington" Eleanor said to James.

"Thanks" he offered, with a wider than usual grin.

"What about here?" Terri butted in, before James and Eleanor could get too mushy "We know about Olivia purging the lobotomised citizens, but what else has happened here? Development wise, over these past six years?"

"We've operated as a normal city for most part" Eleanor explained "Only once in a while we get the odd straggler, you've been the first people in about a year to get here. The New Frontier have obviously been leading rebel attacks against Olivia's Government, most of them ended up lobotomised and now killed" Eleanor continued "Since that purge, David has been hellbent on bringing her down, I don't particularly agree with the harsh way Olivia's doing things in this city. But I can kinda understand it, especially with that massive herd outside. She's done whatever she can to hold this city together, whether it be good or bad. But with David going the way he is, that's why I and some of the others have been planning to leave this place. Whatever is about to happen, isn't going to be good. Mark my words".

"But why did David feel the need to protest against her in the first place?" Terri muttered "I can understand if the majority of his men were lobotomised and then killed, he'd want his revenge. But from what I've been told and from what I've heard, he started this. He got his men to rebel against Olivia resulting in this mess".

"I honestly don't know how it started" Eleanor said "But it's not just his men he'll use. Like he used you James" she said pointing to him "and me, he's used people across the city to get what he wants and too divert attention and suspicion away from the New Frontier. Too make it look like more random people are simply rebelling when most of them are acting on the orders of the New Frontier, before they ended up with chunks of their brain missing".

"But why didn't they...!?" James began.

"Tell anyone?" Eleanor finished "It's obvious isn't it, they wouldn't grass up the New Frontier even in the minutes leading up to their brain dead end, because David always knows who to threaten to keep people quiet. He knows the techniques to traumatise those who don't break that easily, he'll do whatever it takes to get into power. It's clear he wants to take over the Government here and make his own, but I honestly don't know why, or what he intends to do when or if he manages to take over".

"So himself and members of the New Frontier have risen this high in Olivia's ranks of soldiers, by diverting suspicion from themselves?" Terri said, figuring it all out "No one other than you and a select few know who is really running the New Frontier, to everyone else they're underground group. He was working his way up the ladder regardless, but now that we've arrived, both himself and Olivia see us as the golden opportunity. David to use us as the perfect pawns to get close to Olivia and bring her down, while Olivia plans to use us to further her agenda to creating a perfect city and ease her sense of guilt?"

"Pretty much like that" Eleanor said.

"Yeah, this is great and all that" Luis snapped "But we've been walking for about twenty minutes now, I'm still not convinced you're not leading us into a death trap"

"Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see" Eleanor said, with a small smile lining her petite face.

* * *

"You wanted to see me Ethan?"

"Yes, yes I did"

The aged president of Utopia and the former Wellington Wolf stood at opposite ends of her pristine office, Ethan's eyes quickly scanning over the dull setting of the place, while he gazed out at the grand city sprawled out below her, it was quite the glorious sight to behold.

"Before you ask any questions" Olivia began "What do you make of the colour scheme in here?"

"Colour scheme?" Ethan inquired, rather baffled as he took a short look around the office itself.

"Yeah, I find it too be far too bland" Olivia muttered tonelessly "All white, businesslike and a formal colour I'm sure, but I hate the colour. Stings at my eyes when I sit in here, it's too overwhelming, too perfect and far too bland. It stains too easily as well, any marks left here are visible for all".

"What colour would you prefer then?" Ethan asked, taking a few steps towards where the president now sat in her majestic office chair, rustling down her formal clothes.

"A darker colour" Olivia finally muttered, her eyes intense and not leaving Ethan's stoic form.

"I see" Ethan muttered, after a short and uncomfortable silence.

"You're like that to be quite honest with you" Olivia muttered right off the bat "Perfect looking, perfectly spoken, good with weapons so I hear. There's nothing bad I can grasp about you and it irritates me" Olivia ranted "Robert was a sarcastic man, that Nick was rude and hot-headed, Luke is something of a pacifist, but with you and that other girl Terri, I don't get much from you at all. It makes me think you have something big to hide, the quiet one's always do" Olivia concluded, gazing up and down at Ethan.

"Like this room, you feel I'm too perfect?" Ethan concluded.

"Yes" Olivia admitted "Robert was a smart man, I knew he had an agenda however cleverly he tried to hide it. You're in a different league however. I don't know if you're just clever, curious, cautious with your words, or whatever. But I guess I'm about to find out" Olivia said "Because you don't strike me as the type to ask too many questions, so go ahead and ask".

Ethan was still, he knew Olivia would probably deduce a lot about him if he muttered the question that had been weighing on his mind but his own sense of curiosity and longing to know had driven him to this point. The size of this city, he didn't know where his superiors were, but if they had been anywhere, they would have probably been here of all places. If they were still around, they could have accidently identified him and lead to his identity being revealed.

"Were there a group of russians in this city?" Ethan asked.

Olivia's eyes widened, she looked Ethan up and down once again and then the dreaded smile lit her face, as she connected the dots in her mind.

"You're him aren't you, it makes sense now" Olivia purred.

"I'm who?" Ethan muttered.

"The last of 130 agents!" Olivia exclaimed in a mad-kind of joy "Operation C.U.R.E, 130 agents stationed across the US in order to find an immune survivor, I knew your superiors boy, they were here. Commander Aleski Igrkov was here indeed, he was your boss wasn't he?"

"The commander!" Ethan exclaimed before he could stop himself, his eyes widening, as he remembered the fierce face of his russian superior, the commander who had trained him fiercely. He knew the commander's real name, under all the fake names he had used. Ethan looked up to the man and all he was able to accomplish through questionable means.

"So that confirms to me, that you are the Last Agent of that operation" Olivia said.

"The last one?" Ethan inquired, realising now what she was saying "What, out of 129 others...?"

"Yes the superiors behind Operation C.U.R.E were here with me in this city" Olivia explained "While the US Government planned this city and focused on rebuilding through Operation R.E.B.I.R.T.H, you crazy russians and eastern european folks, went out on a dangerous pipe dream to try and find a cure. Of course i agreed with it at the time. Russians and Americans working together to rebuild a great city and have a vaccination against the virus to stop people from turning, we were going to build the new world!"

She sighed there.

"What happened to them?" Ethan inquired, his voice never usually sounded so deadly, but he suddenly felt a strong desire to either leave this or wipe the smug look of Olivia's face.

"You want the truth?" Olivia inquired "Okay, I'll give it you, your group are dead. They didn't like the way we were doing things, so I did what I did to everyone else and lobotomised them. As you know, with the recent purge they've all been put down. So that's all there is too it, why should have had any faith in them anyway? They were down 129 agents, you were MIA. I wasn't going to put all my hope in one man I didn't know" she informed him.

"They... they still believed I was out there?" Ethan inquired.

"The commander never stopped badgering me about it" Olivia told him "Yes, I know you're real name Ethan Hart, or I should I say Zeljko Tomsic, Born 5th May 1980, in Belgrade, Serbia. Moved to a small village with your family, all of which later died in the troubles there. Before long you found yourself as a paid for assassin and worked your way up the Government system. Eventually you got to Russia and they loved your services. So you made an ideal agent when this plague started. Flown over to the US after weeks of training, you and 129 others were instructed to find a cure from an immune survivor and distribute it wherever you could. While your superiors settled here and awaited responses."

She smiled there.

"I lost contact with my superiors about three weeks in" Ethan decided to inform her, if she knew his true identity now, there was no point in hiding it. "My fellow agent died and I was alone, trying to find a cure".

"and how fruitless it was" Olivia muttered harshly "You Russians are crazy, can't you see there isn't a way to save the world? Only a way to rebuild it. Finding a cure is a crazy path to follow".

"So is bombing walkers" Ethan muttered before he could stop himself, having to point out Olivia's hypocrisy.

"Our solution is practical, we drop a bomb it explodes and kills walkers" Olivia informed him "Finding an immune survivor, even if you did what would happen then? How would you make a cure?" Olivia inquired "and before you moan to me, yes I believe you did find an immune survivor".

She pulled out a copy of the Wellington Weekly, which showcased a picture of Oscar Williamson, alongside the headline revealing that he was immune.

"A journalist coaxed it out of one of Oscar's group that he had been bitten" Ethan began duly "I saw it in the Wellington Weekly, but that article caused the riot and before I could get to Oscar, he had already been ripped to shreds by the angry crowd. There wasn't a trace left of him to research on".

"What a sad story" Olivia muttered, shaking her head "But surely the Wellington Wolf could have figured that one out?"

Ethan's eyes widened in shock.

"Don't look so surprised, who else would have managed to get away with so many murders?" Olivia said "Only an agent of the Russian Government on a mission to find a cure. By killing randomers and letting in walkers to bite random civilians and look for a potential cure. One of the walkers you unleashed towards a house, ended up biting Oscar himself. Yet a Journalist beat you too it to find out the result, pretty shoddy work if you ask me".

"The cult and the president hired me to work for them!" Ethan stressed "I couldn't do much under their thumb, but eventually I did all I could to get to Oscar first, but unfortunately I got to him too late..."

"and why would an angry crowd rip him to shreds like that?" Olivia asked harshly "No angry crowd I know, if they found an immune survivor would just rip him to shreds".

Her eyes darkened a fraction then.

"Your lie doesn't hold up, Zeljko".

Ethan wasn't aware of why he was sweating, or why his heart rate had increased rapidly. All he knew is that he made a massive blunder, he had promised himself not to be human, to keep to the mission. But this one personal question he had to go and ask, had possibly put all of this in danger, it had revealed his own identity and most likely put the escape plans in jeopardy.

"It's what happened" Ethan said meekly, his lie not holding up under her intense eyes.

"No it isn't" Olivia corrected him "I don't know the truth, but I assume your group know about the fact you are the infamous Wellington Wolf, yet they accepted you into their fold for whatever reason. You had to offer them something to join their group, I refuse to believe they would just forgive and accept the Wellington Wolf into their group. A wolf who didn't find a cure, who didn't do anything for the group you are with other than murder members of Wellington's population. It's all very suspicious you see".

There was a sweltering silence now, Ethan didn't know what to do, or what to say to defend himself. All of this time, he had someone else to rely on to make a story for himself, but here, by himself and with no one else. He didn't know how to cover for himself like Robert did, Olivia was too smart for him. He was cautious with words, he wasn't clever, so sticking to his cautious roots he remained silent.

Which was the wrong choice.

"Cat got your tongue?" Olivia said "Very well then, that confirms to me. I must be right, so I'll continue to speak. The commander always had faith in you, you topped the field in endurance. So that's what you're doing now, you are enduring, carrying on the mission. Look what you have here, an entire city to play with, to find an immune survivor within. Maybe you convinced your group that you'd changed, maybe they're behind you. I'll ask James very politely about it later, but for now... I don't want you leaving this place until I know the full truth".

She smiled there, as Ethan turned around, he heard a distinctive click as a door opened behind him and around 5 soldiers marched in with guns trained on his form, before they closed the door behind him.

"I'll take a seat then" Ethan said, trying to keep his cool "There won't be any need for violence".

"No there won't be" Olivia agreed, as Ethan took a seat on one of the nearby sofa's in Olivia's office that looked over the city, "I don't doubt your physical prowess at all, or your ability to kill some of my soldiers. But you'll be shot for sure and I'd rather not clear out any bloodstains in this office. The stains show, believe me".

Ethan sighed to himself, he had really let the group down this time and he could do nothing but sit here and stay silent, a hostage until Olivia decided whether or not he was safe enough to let go or not. But he had to keep his cool, so far she had only learnt that he was a serial killer and a potential threat to her city. The escape plan (and the fact they were immune) was still under wraps. If they killed him solely on his mistake, then he could be fine with that. It would make sense that Olivia would eliminate a danger like himself towards her society. Yet she had his mission objective completely wrong, he wasn't looking for a cure anymore.

His goal was to protect his group, by getting them out of here.

Whether he was with them, or not.

As for Olivia, the gears were turning in her mind after everything she had learnt. She knew analysing the Domesday Report and those newspapers published in Wellington was a good thing, she was uncovering more about this group and maybe they were as much as risk, as they would be a benefit to her. Yet she couldn't help but wonder, earlier when she said Ethan was perfect, he completely failed to mention his apparent "drug problem" with those syringes in his bag. Surely he would be the type to mention his problem to counteract her point? Yet he failed to do so, it was like he had forgotten about it completely and looking at his physical form, his caution and his ongoing mission, he didn't seem like the type to do drugs at all.

So, what were those syringes stashed away in his bag.

Were they really, what Olivia thought they could have been?

* * *

Luke didn't utter a word, simply gazing out into the stitches on his pillow, Molly's light breathing from next to him confirmed to him that she was still here, by his side. She had made it very clear to Luke, they weren't going to have any sort of cuddling or sexual interaction until he got up from off his ass and started helping the group once again. She was going to stay by his side, she had promised herself that, in return for what he had done when she was at her very worst. Luke had tried telling her to simply get up herself and leave him and join in with the group, but she never did. She was staying with him whether he lay down, or got up. She wasn't going to leave him, she was adamant on that.

Although Luke didn't receive the kind of comfort he wanted in Molly right now, at certain points when the grief and depression got too her and she cry openly about the losses of her friends back at the ski lodge. She wouldn't object to when Luke turned around and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, so she could openly cry into his chest for hours at a time. Luke would simply hold her, content in the feeling of her own body pressed up against his own, content in the fact he could simply lie here and not get hurt anymore. Content that could he bury all of his mistakes and think about nothing and not face the group...

Right now, Molly was sleeping, so when he heard the door creak open and saw the silhouette of a familiar 15 year old girl in the doorway, his stomach dropped. He had been expecting this, but he also knew how to turn her away, he didn't want anymore of this crushing pain! He just wanted it to end!

"Luke" was all she muttered, her voice as icy and cold as the Lake he had died in, within a previous life.

"Clem" he mumbled into his pillow "Don't try and get me up, Molly's tried but it ain't workin', I'm done Clem. I don't want this anymore".

"What do you want then?" Clementine growled, looking over his pathetic form lay down on the bed.

"This" was all he groaned "My life doesn't have to be great in this city, Molly might be disappointed in me, you might be. But I can live with that, as long as we live comfortably and abide to the rules. Nothing awful is going to happen to us, we might not live the most free lives. But we'll be alive and that's all that matters".

"That's it then!?" Clementine snapped "You're just happy being content with things!? That's how you want this all to end!?"

"We've been everywhere, we've walked for so long. I'm tired of it all Clem" Luke droned "We've found this perfect city, why do we have to rebel again? Why do we always have to run and try and escape and better ourselves and our lives? The more I look back on it, the more ungrateful I realise we were. We wanted better for ourselves and in the process we basically fucked up Wellington completely. Why did we have to rebel against Schulz? He was only trying to make things better for us, whatever his methods were, why have we got to bust out here and ruin things for everyone?"

"I think you're just depressed" Clementine snarled "I don't think you truly believe what you're saying, because I know I don't".

"No, that's how I see the world now Clem" Luke muttered.

"That's not who you are!" Clementine snapped "You rebelling against Carver against the first place and fleeing from him, is the reason we met! It's the reason I found you guys! You're still that rebel Luke! You've led us from place to place...!"

"and how many people did we lose because of me!?" Luke snarled, his temper starting to surface.

"They followed you, because they believed you!" Clementine exclaimed now "Yeah they died, but wherever we were, we fought! Trying to take over Howe's and make it better! Whether we were getting to Wellington to make a better life for ourselves, whether we were rebelling against the cult or the president to make a better life for ourselves, whether we were escaping Wellington, or whether we want to escape this city now! We've all been fighting all this time, what do you think would have happened if we just stayed content and accepted things for the way they were!?"

"We'd be dead, that's for sure" Luke muttered "Maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing".

"No, we're alive. Robert died to make sure we didn't end up here...!"

"We don't know that for sure Clem..." Luke muttered.

"Nick died, because of the soldiers here! He was shot, the evidence was right in front of us!"

"WE DON'T KNOW THAT!" Luke exploded now, rising from his bed and glaring openly at Clementine.

"YES YOU DO!" She screeched back "NICK WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU RIGHT NOW! SO TO HONOUR THE MEMORY OF YOUR BEST FRIEND!? YOU'RE JUST GOING TO ACCEPT THE LIFE THAT HIS MURDERS ARE GOING TO GIVE YOU!? A SHITTY LIFE WHERE...!"

"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT NICK!" Luke roared back.

"Do you want to know what I've been seeing!?" Clementine seethed to Luke as he continued to pant heavily "I'll explain it all later, but I've been seeing a world, where I do end up staying in this city! Where I'm hated and I'm feared, where I become a monster! and yet I live comfortably, and yet I'm content in my life, is that what you want for me!? For yourself!?"

"Shut up!" Luke growled.

"Because that's what's going to happen" Clementine said simply "We fought the cult for so long, they tried to turn into monsters, but they didn't. Are you telling me, that after all this time, after how long we've been fighting the world, were going to stay here and simply give up!?"

"Shut up!" Luke repeated, a little louder this time.

"You've lost so many people, I know that" Clementine said, trying a more emotive angle "I'm thankful, I really am that you've been able to go on for so long. I don't want you to stop now, we come back for each other, isn't that right? Maybe you feel guilty, because you knew full well if you moved back at the lodge we wouldn't be in this city now! Luke, you can't hide from your mistakes and you aren't the only one who lost Nick and the others! We all did, but we're all still fighting! You know this city is wrong place to be, but we've all made mistakes... please you have to help us now!"

"Even if I wanted too, what I could do?" Luke grumbled, noting his one eye and his missing leg "I can't see like I used too, I can't run like I used too. I'd be a liability."

"You think your ability to run or see things, is the sole reason you got us this far?" Clementine snapped at him "No, the fact that you're alive is enough to benefit this group massively. Who else would have caught Vince on the lake, you didn't need an eye or a leg for that. Who else thought of our plan to get Sarah back from the cult? You didn't need an eye or a leg for that. Who else helped to lead us at Howe's? Guess what, you didn't need an eye or a leg to do that either".

Luke was silent for a short while, Clementine didn't know what he was going to say next. But before he could, he was suddenly pushed from the bed and landed on the ground with a painful grunt.

"Molly!" he snapped harshly, rubbing his lower back, as Molly's foot protruded from underneath the covers, she had quite literally kicked him in the ass.

"What was that for? and when did you wake up?" he inquired.

"Start of the argument, hard not when you're both shouting" Molly grumbled "Secondly, Clem's finally arrived to deliver inspirational speech 2.0 or 3.0 or whatever we're on now. So with that great speech behind me, I'll say this, get your fucking ass back in gear lover boy. Get up and walk already. Nick gave those crutches to walk on, I can't think of a greater dishonour to his memory then not to use them".

"You guys..." Luke muttered his voice quiet, as he looked up at the crutches by the side of the bed. With a new-found determination in his eyes, he pulled himself up using the crutches and looked down at Clementine.

"You must hate me for this" was all he said.

"I was disappointed in you" Clementine admitted honestly "I could never hate you Luke".

Luke didn't cry, but he certainly felt something get trapped in his throat, before he flashed Clem a wide smile.

"Okay, you've got me outta bed" he mused "But Clem, how the hell can I help? I just don't..."

"Just walk" Clementine instructed of him "That's all you've got to do, just fucking walk Luke, I'll let you know everything that's gone down. Then you're leaving here with us".

"We're going to do this, aren't we?" Luke inquired, gazing down at Clementine "You promise?"

"Pinkie promise" she muttered, quickly connecting herself and Luke pinkie fingers and crossing them, remembering the times she made these promises with Sarah.

She knew Luke was still struggling, they all were.

But they could do this, just to get through this last push.

and they'd be home free.

* * *

In the main building, Ethan was still being held hostage, unbeknownst to his group. Whereas floors below, Luke and Molly (who had departed from his room at last) received a surprise seeing Eddie and Melanie standing there keeping guard. Melanie being careful with the notes she had written (after being advised by Ethan, not to write anything down that could reveal anything about their plan to escape) she had kept her notes brief with single words or phrases on them that (if found by David or Olivia) wouldn't reveal anything about their ongoing mission to escape.

But while Luke and Molly had to digest all this new news, about Clementine's discovery of a new world and how she could access it to learn more about Utopia. Across the city itself, Luis' group were coming up on a rather large house.

"So, this is where we get trapped in and gunned down?" Luis muttered, while Stephanie continued to play with his hair.

"Well, just wait and see" Eleanor teased him with, as they approached the house, she knocked on the front door three times, before the door was opened a crank.

"It's me Eleanor!" Eleanor called through the crack in the door "I've brought some friends along today, don't worry Kate, it's not the New Frontier this time..." she whispered the next part, in which there was an excited gasp, The door closed again and the sound of a chain rattling, before the door was flung open fully, revealing a rather young hispanic woman, with braided hair, freckled cheeks and a dazzling set of eyes and a curvy body. Which certainly helped sway James' attention from the taken Eleanor towards this new girl. She was dressed in a casual checkered shirt and jeans and seemed to emit an easy vibe.

"Well look at you all" she mused in a snarky kind of voice, "Come on in new friends, I'm Kate. The gang's all here too meet you".

Eleanor walked in after her and gestured at the group to do the same, Terri and James seemed to follow with little suspicion and despite the doubts Luis still had (like expecting the rest of this gang to be David and co) he glumly followed the rest of the group into the house. Stephanie trailed in after him, as the door closed behind them (by Kate's hand) she looked Luis up and down and nodded approvingly.

"Glad to see more of our own here" she muttered "Beginning to think this family were the only Hispanic people left"

"Why's that, surely there are others around?" Luis inquired.

"Yeah, but with the distance and all that, it's just more Americans are in this city and people here can get so bloody patriotic, it makes me want to bash my head against a wall" Kate groaned "Anyone, Tripp's in the kitchen you guys just walk on straight and you'll see him in there".

"Thanks" Luis muttered, still suspicious, as he gazed around the hall. It seemed normal enough, pictures were plastered all over the walls and the walls themselves were a fancy sort of wood, normal overhead lights were on the ceiling above. There was nothing out of the ordinary Luis could detect just yet.

"Your David's wife aren't you?" Came an inquiry from Terri, who was already five steps ahead of everyone else. She was leaning over a family picture of the man who was clearly David Garcia, with his strong arm wrapped around Kate and a young boy and girl.

"Second wife" Kate corrected her, a sad smile now highlighting her feature "The kids aren't mine, but hell I did what I could..."

"...hey who's here...?" came another young voice, as a hispanic girl, around Clem's age or slightly younger descended the stairwell. She was dressed in a pink shirt and jeans. Her black hair in a single ponytail, upon spotting all the new faces she froze in place and quickly smiled, waving shyly at them.

"Oh, hi... I'm Mari" she introduced herself quickly, as Kate smiled at her.

"Mari go get Javi, we're all meeting in the kitchen" Kate instructed of her.

"Oh okay... it was nice to meet you!" She called down to the new figures in the hallway.

"Yeah, you too" James called after her.

"Yep" was all Terri muttered.

"Yeah, nice and all" Luis grunted.

"ahh..." Stephanie gasped, looking up at Mariana Garcia's fleeting form.

"So, Mari and this other boy are your stepchildren?" Terri continued to inquire of Kate.

"Yep Mariana and Gabriel are David's kids, Mari's a sweetheart, but Gabe..." she sighed there "We did what we could, but let's just say his with his father now and trying too hard to become him. If you get my drift".

"Yeah" Terri muttered, as they continued to walk into the kitchen.

Two men were inside, one of them stood in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest and another sat at the table, upon seeing Eleanor walk through the door, the larger man who was sat down. Stood up in an instance and offered her the smile of a friendly giant, towards Eleanor as he embraced her with a welcoming hug. The man himself was rather broad and had sleek blonde hairs, tied back into a small ponytail with small eyes and a majestic blonde beard.

"Thought David had done something" he muttered in his deep voice, into Eleanor's ear.

"It's okay baby, it's okay" Eleanor reassured him "I told you, we've got new people now. They're going to help us get out of here".

"That true?!" the man suddenly barked over at the new group, his eyes locked on the most prominent form of James.

"Um... yeah!" James responded "I'm going try and gain us access to a plane, It's going well so far".

"I like your style, but I ain't too confident so far, so you'll have to explain it, to all of us" the man said "By the way, I'm Tripp, that asshole over there is Max".

Max merely grunted at them, he wore a beanie of some sorts and a leather jacket and only briefly acknowledged the new group, with a short nod of his head, before returning to his spat with the kitchen floor, because of the way he was glaring at it.

"I brought Javi along" came Mari's voice, as she led a grown man into the kitchen by hand.

Javier Garcia didn't resemble his brother all too much, he looked much younger and full of life. Yet he shared David's dark eyes and nose, but the comparisons ended there. Despite his youthful appearance there was something very off about him, he moved sluggishly, never glancing up for more than a second. His eyes wide and somewhat (in Eddie's words) "gorked". Their were prominent bags under his eyes and his clothes seemed very baggy on him, convincing Luis' group that he had once been much more buff than he was now, but for whatever reason he had lost that weight and muscle and now seemed a pale, unhealthy version of his former self.

"Say Hi, Javi!" Mari called to him cheerfully, as if she was the grown man trying to convince a child to say hello to strangers.

"H-h-hey" Javier Garcia finally stuttered, before he took a seat at the kitchen table, avoiding all eyes.

Another door opened as Javier took a seat, and this time a dark skinned woman with curly hair walked through, followed by an middle aged black man.

"Oh, these are new faces then!" The woman called cheerfully.

"Nice to see some allies for once" the man added.

"Conrad and Francine" Kate said introducing the couple "and this is everyone, we're all gathered, so I think now's the time we had that all important discussion with you people".

* * *

"I'm James" James began, once the entirety of the escape group were sat around the circular kitchen table.

"Terri" the blonde girl said, introducing herself as well.

"I'm Luis and the mentally damaged woman's Stephanie" Luis growled, jabbing his finger at himself and then Stephanie who seemed absolutely riveted by a piece of paper on the kitchen table. So much so, Eleanor gave her a colouring crayon which she used to keep herself entertained by scribbling on the paper.

"Yeah, we've heard about your group through Eleanor" Tripp told them "Apparently you have a girl about Mari's age with you...?"

"That's Clementine, yeah she's tough as nails" James said "We got Luke as well, Molly, Eddie, Melanie and Ethan".

"Not the largest group then" Conrad muttered.

"Yeah put counting you guys here, them there and all of us, that brings our party up too..." she paused for a minute, doing the math in her head "18 of us! Not bad when you put it like that"

"and you'll be able to fit 18 people on this plane of yours?" Tripp inquired of James.

"Should be easy" James tried to encourage him "My group's plan is to get me close to Olivia, so much so she'll get me access to a plane. All I need a small one, I can fly those. They'll be fast, harder to hit and easier to land and can fit 18 people on board fairly easily".

"But to get that plane, you have to fuck Olivia" Max suddenly snarled, speaking up and causing James to go red "Don't beat around the bush boy, we all know what this amounts to".

"Max!" Kate snapped, gesturing at Marianna being in the room.

"No, it's okay. I know about that stuff now Kate!" Marianna spoke up quickly to defend Max.

"Exactly" Max muttered "Besides she's in on this as well, I ain't treatin' Mari here like a kid. She wants to be a part of it, we need to let her".

Kate sighed, regardless of this fact.

"But why are you with us?" Terri asked, of both Marianna, Kate and Javier "You're his family. Why do you want leave this comfortable house and the comfort of this city to get away from him so badly?"

"Believe me, you haven't been in this city along enough babe, to call it comfortable" Kate told her.

"My dad and my brother... they did this to Javi" Marianna said, extending on Kate's answer, as she looked over at the forlorn Javier. Who didn't even look up, or realise he had been addressed "I still love them, but they aren't the people they used to be. I hope they make this city great, but after what they did to Javi, I can't forgive them. So I simply want to leave them, they don't care about us anymore, so they won't care if we're gone".

There was a short pause after Marianna's speech.

"Damn, that sounds heavy Mari" James said at last, offering his sympathies.

"Yeah, we heard and have experienced first-hand all the shit the New Frontier does" Conrad growled "We live on a house across the road, same with Eleanor and Tripp, we all came together when we realised first-hand from Kate and Mari, what they are doing".

"So you want to leave, because of all this?" Terri asked.

"Believe me girl" Francine said "It's not a matter of if, but when David takes over, he'll turn this place into his own playground. Me and Conrad have been in enough communities to realise what's going to happen and we can't live under that sort of tyranny again. When David takes over, they'll be no chance to escape, but while he is still rising to power and focused on taking over Olivia, this is our golden opportunity to get out and we have to take it".

"It ain't going to be much better out there you know" Luis growled, "I don't know how long you people have been in this city. But just because you're not in this oppressive city doesn't mean things will be brighter the second you leave".

"We don't expect it to be" Tripp growled "We know it's a risk, but we're all committed here to gettin' out of here".

"Yeah, just you guys out of thousands of people in this city" Luis said, letting his suspicions show, "You must be the only people who want to leave? Funny, huh? With you guys being so close to David, I mean what would be better than to have you rat us out to him?"

"It's risky bringing new people in" Eleanor told him firmly "Max was a risk enough as it was... besides the only reason it's just us. Is because some of us here are David's family. We know how bad he really is, others are close friends and neighbours who also know the truth. We know we have to leave soon before it's too late. No one else in the city knows him like we do, we know the New Frontier best and what their plans are".

"Besides, how do we know you're not a risk to us!?" Tripp shot back at Luis "Wouldn't it be great to get in the good-books with David, but ratting us out. You could do that you know, right now we'd let you leave this house and you could go and tell David we're all planning to escape. Hell, I understand you have your suspicions, but so do we. We're taking a massive gamble here".

"and we're genuine, and we'll prove it if you do" Luis grunted.

"Seems fair to me" Tripp concluded.

"So, what was the risk they made with you then?" James asked of Max to try and move the conversation along.

"I was stationed at this house to keep an eye on David's family when he's gone" Max muttered "I still am and one day I found out about this escape plan. I was gonna go tell David instantly but... then I realised all this time it was the wrong thing to do".

"Just like that? Luis snapped.

"I knew I didn't follow them one hundred percent like Badger or Gabe do" Max recalled "When little Mari here was begging me not to go, and after the damage I see them do..." his eyes flickered towards Stephanie and Javier at this point "I just knew I had to stay on board with it all. and yeah Tripp over here gave me days of suspicion. I was close to David, I am still a senior member of the New Frontier".

"So, you're like an inside spy then?" James said.

"Yeah, I keep this plan on the lowdown, tell David what he wants to hear" Max said "But I'm at the top of the New Frontier, gained David's trust by being by his side for years. Anyone in their right mind would think I'd go to David because of loyalty and all that, but I'm already at the top of David's books. Nothing he does brings me any satisfaction or feeling or self-worth any more, that's why I threw my lot in with these guys. I don't know if it will be any better, but I can't go on the way I am" he murmured.

"So make this a fucking success" he snapped suddenly at James "My loyalty and spy services aren't taken fucking lightly. Fuck that bitch if you have to, fuck her as many times as you have too to get us that plane. Do whatever you have too, to get us out of here" and with that Max had finished, as he puffed into silence.

"I'll do it, I'll get that plane and get everyone out" James reassured him.

"So now, Eleanor tells me we gotta meet with your group" Tripp said "Well we haven't gunned you guys down yet, so now return the favour".

"If you insist" Luis muttered.

"Won't all of us going over there raise some suspicion though?" Francine asked.

"We've got a cover story, don't worry" Eleanor said "Besides I've got Mari to back me up in case we bump into David or Olivia".

"I'm on the case and here to help!" Marianna announced, offering a sweet smile towards those in the room.

"Okay then!" James announced with an infectious smile of his own, this really was happening! They had a new group! They had new allies!

They were busting out of here!

and it felt damn good!


	45. New Near to the End

**A/N: So... thanks for your reviews and Episode 3! Unfortunately I'm too late and too far ahead in the series to start adding characters like Joan to the series as of now, but I'll be sure to give them a mention! As for the episode itself, it certainly was an improvement on E1 and 2 and has got Season 3 moving in a good direction again. The flashback this time around was actually really good and emotive, but... it was still way too cinematic and would have loved more chances to explore Richmond but y'know. However looking back on different playthroughs and I can see that choice matters again! and I really loved the world and character building that was going on.**

**Anyway for those of you who've seen the episode and am wondering why the hell I'm still making Max a sort of good guy, while still demonizing David and Gabe who turned out much more decent than I expected this episode. Remember this series isn't canon and despite Max being an ass in Episode 3, this series isn't canon and judging by E1 and 2 I assumed he'd be the most complex and interesting character but in E3 he ends up detriment. (However they handled Conrad brilliantly, so I have a lot of hope for Max and the dreaded detriment status maybe back to it's former glory like it was with Carley/Doug and Ben) anyway I'm still not 100 per cent with David, then again Vince was likeable in 400 days and I turned him into an absolute monster, so just try and think of it like that. Also, you'll learn this chapter the cult messed up a lot of what the New Frontier was meant to be... the cult being my deus-ex machina for the reasons characters have changed, but hell it's better than nothing. Hell, I sound cocky now but yeah back onto the point, Above The Law is a 7.9 out of 10 for me. Which on my list would rate just above A New Day. Hell, I'll go as far to say that ATL, is the best episode we have had since A House Divided, so yeah Telltale's still got it! Hopes are high for the rest of Season 3 now!**

**Thanks again all reviewers and sorry I can't get round to you all, but to answer another inquiry from Protcol115, things I regret? A big one would be in GTR? Rather than have Christa commit suicide, have her live onwards. An idea that would have worked better for her character would have her growing suspicious of Luke being around Clem. As it was built on slightly, After they all gathered in the house, Luke would tell the group his second chance thing. Christa (growing disillusioned as Molly's appearance reminds her of Savannah) would say Luke was lying or something and attempt to shoot him only for Clem to get in the way. Enraged Luke and Christa would end up brawling each other, both blaming one another for shooting Clem.**

**However Christa would be like the Kenny, gain the upper hand but then realise Luke is a generally nice guy and needs to be there for Clem. She'd get her redemption by allowing Luke to escape, while holding off the cult. While also being the last carer of Clementine to pass her onto Luke, wrapping up her story arc in GTR with her death by the cult hands. It would also be more tragic when Luke reveals what he did to Clem in the pre-life, revealing that in a twisted way that Christa was right, which probably would have been more hard hitting on the reader. With Kenny still around he could have died at the end in the cult standoff to make it more dramatic and realistic rather than have everyone escaping alive. But hell's that just me. Maybe I should have kept Brandon alive longer as well, as I felt most of the 2000 days group were killed off a little too fast, anyway I have more, but I don't want to make this author's note as big as chapter.**

**Also, one final note. I've got heavy uni work coming up this next month so I might not be able to update for a while, but after mid-May when the work has passed I should be back and ready to release the final chapters for you guys! Once again thanks for your loyalty to these fics after coming this far!**

**Now onto this chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

"So what exactly was the escape plan before we came along?"

Terri had asked this of where she walked alongside Max and Tripp, as they gazed up at the sky, it had to be around late noon, as the setting sun made the sky turn a peaceful shade of orange. The busy streets were emptier at this time than they had been beforehand, giving the large group enough space to walk. While Terri, Max and Tripp took the lead, Kate was busy talking to James, while Marianna tagged behind the pair, with Javier in tow. Behind them Francine and Conrad followed in silence, with Luis scowling in their wake, while at the rear of the group, Eleanor was busy watching over Stephanie, who was looking up at the skyscrapers in awe and pointing at the clouds above and making gurgling noises.

"We were setting up an armoured truck in the garage at my place" Tripp muttered "We planned to find a window of opportunity to escape. Max here is with the New Frontier and I work as a soldier at the wall. I would pass clearance, then my armoured baby was gonna plough through that giant herd and we'd escape". He had a dreamy look in his eyes at this point and Terri didn't need to point it out to him how dream-like and optimistic that plan sounded.

"It's a long shot I know" Tripp said before Terri could, "Hell we could have been shot or blown up by the other guys on top of the wall, when they realised we were doing a runner. That walker herd could be way too big to get through with a simple truck... it's a fucking gamble, simple as and it probably wouldn't have paid off" but with this the large man's eyes widened in hope "But we have this new plan now and I'm willing to throw my hat off to you".

"Don't do it just yet" Max growled "I still don't trust these people yet"

"Fair enough" Terri reasoned "Like we did with you, you'll just have to wait and see if were genuine or not, which I know we are".

"I hope for all our sakes you are" Tripp muttered.

"So what about you and Eleanor, how did that start?" Terri said, glancing back at the cheery medic behind her.

"Oh, been goin' on a while now" Tripp admitted with a small blush "Some of the soldiers got injured at the wall a couple of years back. She came along to deal with us and we got talking. She seemed nice, but sheltered in a way. She didn't know how bad the world was, what's really outside those walls. Or what really goes on behind closed doors" Tripp sighed there before continuing "Anyway, soldiers being soldiers wanted Eleanor very bad. I knew then, I had competition and I wanted to win her, so I could protect her from those guys and just everything really. I made time to speak to her some more and things just kinda happened".

"That's nice" was all Terri could say on the matter.

"But I'm still worried" Tripp said, looking back at his girlfriend "All she wants to do is help people, in a way she is still too sheltered and trusting of people. She's younger than me, she doesn't know the world as well as I do. Whether we somehow end up staying here, or leavin' whatever's coming next has me worried" he sighed there, before he let out a smile. "Anyway, enough crap about me, what about you Terri? Any relationships you're in right now?"

"No" Terri replied flatly.

"What seriously?" Max snapped, butting into the conversation "A pretty girl in a world like this? If you haven't been in a relationship, surely you've been raped or something?"

"MAX! Tripp snapped, "That ain't something...!"

"His right though" Terri admitted "I have been, it wasn't pleasant, but it happened and I haven't been in a relationship since".

"I'm... I'm so sorry to hear that" Tripp said, offering his sympathy.

"Don't be" Terri told him duly "There's nothing for you to be sorry for, what happened, simply happened".

"It kind of shows with you to be honest" Max said "You're kinda scary girl, ice cold and businesslike and all that. It makes sense"

"Ain't you gotta a shred of...!" Tripp began angrily to Max.

"I guess it shows then" Terri said with a small smile of her own.

"What about that punk back there?" Max inquired, (jabbing his finger at Luis) "You and him look the same age, clearly been in the group for a while. Nothing you feel towards him?"

"Luis is a friend of mine, nothing more" Terri informed them "and we're the only members left of our original group. His mother who was with us, was killed a short while back, at the lodge"

"Damn, the outside world is really starting to sound shitty now!" Tripp exclaimed.

"Kid must be going through a lot" Max mumbled, looking back at Luis.

"All happened on his 20th birthday as well" Terri added "You're right Tripp, the outside world isn't all sunshine and rainbows".

However she paused there, as her eyes grew darker.

"But we survived out there, the only reason his mother died was because of intervention from the New Frontier and Olivia themselves" Terri snarled "We can look after ourselves out there, I believe that. But me and Ethan watch over the group regardless, that's my purpose in life now, to see them to safety. That's why we'll be taking your assistance to leave here and add more members to keep the group safe and secure. Working together will benefit us all" Terri muttered and as she said this, she thought back to who she was a few years ago. The cut-throat cub who worked alone to avenge her brother, or even before that. The one who had no qualms about killing a child to save Ana, the one who schemed for years to get her brother away from her abusive Uncle and Father, scheming and planning and working alone for all this time. The monster, the robot, the animal concealed in the darkness.

She looked back at the group and felt herself smile again.

Ever since she had found a fellow monster, ever since the cub had found her Wolf, the pair of them had been emotionless overseer's together. But having that human contact and having a comrade to watch your back and understand you, it made both of them remember what being human was and over time their icy exteriors had faded. So much so that Terri was now able to look back over her group and feel the need to protect something again, rather than protect out of necessity to stay alive and in everyone's good books. Now was the point where she really felt it, where she could smile and say she enjoyed their company. It was all down to one Wolf who had truly changed her.

She had loved her brother once, but that was a long time ago. Whoever she was in this other world Clementine had described to her, she could safely say, she wouldn't trade places right now. Her brother was best remembered as her brother and not just another romantic partner.

Quite simply...

She was finally happy with who she was.

* * *

"So, how old are you exactly?"

"Just turned 20" Luis responded to Marianna's inquiry, from where the younger girl was trailing behind the young man and her stepmother, Kate watched the pair of them with easy eyes, before she said; "Well Mari, why don't you try and make a new friend? I'm gonna talk to James back there..."

"But..." Marianna began to protest, however before she could utter another word, Kate was already gone, leaving the young teenager in the shadow of a taller stranger.

"I hate it when she does this!" Marianna snapped, her cheeks burning in embarrassment "This is how she tries to get me talking to new people!"

"and apparently it's working" Luis droned, not the best with manners, nor keeping the disinterest out of his voice.

"Well... yeah... I guess so" Marianna muttered shyly, she stole a quick glance at Luis before she looked down again and remained silent. She looked up at him again when she mustered up the courage, to see he was still looking directly ahead of him. She dropped her gaze and then looked up at him the third time and this time Luis saw (out of the corner of his remaining eye) what she was doing. He sighed to himself, this girl clearly wasn't the best at the art of conversation, then again neither was he.

"How old are you then?" Luis finally asked, feeling it was more of an obligation than anything else.

"Oh!" Marianna squeaked, smiling now "I-I'm 14! 15 in a few weeks!"

"Well, that's good I guess" Luis muttered, having no idea where this conversation was going.

"So erm... what happened to your eye?" Marianna inquired gazing openly at Luis wound.

"Ugh..." Luis grunted, not in the mood for this whole "bonding" thing, so he kept his answers short and simple.

"Got ripped out by a buncha sick bandits" he growled, omitting mentioning his old friend in that statement.

"Oh My God!" Marianna gasped in horror "That sounds awful, I'm sorry to hear about that"

"Yeah" Luis muttered in disinterest.

"What about your arm?"

"Got bit on the wrist, had to amputate it" Luis said.

"What, by yourself?" Marianna asked, her eyes widened in horror.

"I had... help..." Luis muttered quietly, he couldn't think of his mother now and prayed Marianna wasn't going to ask him about who had helped him cut off his arm. His sullen silence regarding the manner, must have reached Marianna, who didn't seem as innocent, nor as annoying as Luis had painted her out to be upon first meeting her. She was young still, but certainly had a level of intelligence about her and she knew better than to pry too deeply into his personal business.

"Oh, okay" Marianna muttered.

"What about your erm...?" Luis said trying to return the favour, but he then foolishly realised, that Marianna had no scars to speak of (unlike himself) he quickly looked around and saw her hand was connected to that other guy's... Javier as Luis remembered it. So he quickly recovered from his blunder by asking...

"What about your... person?"

He mentally slapped himself, Clementine would torment him life if that ever came out.

Marianna's eyes widened in confusion, before she realised why Luis was now looking away from her and why he had flushed in embarrassment, she knew she wasn't the best in conversations. Usually preferring to stick on her headphones and blot out whatever else was going on around her. However in light of finding a fellow kindred soul in awkward interaction, only caused her to giggle in relief. Luis, the guy looked big, scary and grim, with a hostile look in his single eye, yet underneath that somewhat intimidating exterior, he seemed human enough that she could talk to him. Max had been scary at first as well, but once she had broken him down, he was actually a really nice guy underneath all of that tough bravado. It seemed that Luis was cut from the same cloth.

"Well..." Marianna finally said, after her giggles had subsided and she was able to answer Luis' inquiry "Javier here hasn't been right, since... since Dad got him".

"What, did he get lobotomized too?" Luis couldn't help but ask, looking back at the blank Javier.

"No, he would have been purged if he had" Marianna said, before she frowned and a defeated look crossed her face "But he's not much better than those that were braindead anyway" she sighed there, before she called out "JAVI!"

His head snapped up from where it was locked upon the concrete pavement, his eyes became less cloudy and smile lined his handsome face.

"Ah Marianna" he breathed in relief, as if only realising she was there, he quickly surveyed the area around him.

"Where are we going?" he inquired.

"On a trip Javi" was all Marianna said "Remember, this will help us with the plan to get out of here".

"Oh yeah!" Javier mused with a light smile "Yeah, the plan. Cool. Yeah. Awesome stuff, cool, awesome, great... yeah good..."

He trailed off into silence shortly after that, still muttering those adjectives under his breath until he was whispering them, however before long those words became nothing but mute exhales of oxygen, as Javier returned his gaze and all of his attentions back towards the pavement and nothing else. The cloudy and unfocused look returning to his eyes. To an observing Luis, it seemed like Javier had withdrew back into himself after being self aware for a few moments, he was still there, somewhere deep down. But whatever trauma Javier had gone through, he had resorted to this method to cope with it. In a similar way to how Stephanie's mind had broken at the death and loss that had finally gotten to her.

"I want us to get out of here" Marianna said quietly, diverting Luis' attention back towards her "I think, being away from here I might get the old Javi back. He took care of us for so long before we got here. Made sure me, Gabe and Kate we're always safe" her voice got quieter and seemed on the urge of breaking as she continued to speak "But even if we leave, I don't... I don't know if I'll ever get the Old Javi back, the one I loved..."

Luis watched her for a few moments, tempted to ask what exactly had happened to her Uncle, that had made her get this upset over it. What could have David done that he had alienated his only daughter from him and reduced his brother to this withdrawn wreck of a man? Kate didn't seem to be on speaking or good terms with her husband either and Luis couldn't bear the thought of Marianna shedding tears. He had only just met the younger girl and didn't want to see her crying already, it was bad enough consoling people in his old group, how the hell was he meant to comfort a complete stranger?

"What about your brother?" Luis asked stupidly "Whatever your dad did must have been bad sure, but your brother..."

"Gabe was okay for a while" Marianna recalled, regaining herself slightly "But after what happened with Javi, he just started following my dad around a lot more. I don't see him much anymore and whenever I do... he's not nice..."

"Ain't all brothers like that though?" Luis questioned of her.

"Well yeah, we had our ways of annoying each other, but we loved each other" Marianna said, speaking with the wisdom and foresight of someone much older than her 14 years before she continued "But after he started staying with Dad, he became really mean. Not like usual either, just... mean for no reason, just because that's apparently what growing men do. That what it takes to be a real man, that's all he tells me. He's not mean to me directly but I see him do it to others...and there's no other word for it Luis. My brother has become cruel".

They walked on for a short silence after that, Marianna looked back at Javier ever so often. Luis could clearly see she was reminiscing on a lot of this as she spoke.

"But this must seem pathetic" she uttered suddenly, smiling up at Luis "I mean you've been out there, you look like you've been through a lot more than I have. This all must seem so petty to you..."

"I don't think so" Luis reassured her "You're what? 14? You speak like someone who's been through a lot more in life".

"I don't really see it that way" Marianna said modestly, ducking her head. "Sure, Kate tells me I act mature and sensible for my age. But I know I'm still stupid. I'm not a soldier, I don't really know much of the world outside this city. Yeah me, Kate, Gabe and Javi were on the road for a while. But Javier always made sure I was sheltered and safe and nothing awful really happened to us. I don't even know how to hunt or anything like that, is that bad?"

"Out there, I'm gonna have to teach you" Luis informed her "But if you don't know that, or much survival skills, are you 100 per cent sure, leaving this place is what you want?"

"I really don't know what I want" Marianna admitted honestly "Yeah, I follow the others and say I'll go ahead with this escape plan. I even just told you I wanted to leave. But what happens then? I'm not happy about leaving, but I'm not sad about it either. I don't feel much anymore, after what happened with Javi, my dad and brother turning out bad. Seeing trouble everywhere, I'm just little. So I keep quiet and keep outta things and I guess it's my way of coping".

"I wish I could do that" Luis muttered, as Marianna gazed at him "Like you, I don't know what I want. Honestly I take a good look at myself sometimes and I honestly don't know who I am, what I like, what I wanna be, what my personality's like, nothing. I say one thing and then I usually contradict myself. I'm a walking mess of a hypocrite. The only thing I really know is that at times when I do feel something, I don't keep out of it. I react. I always react" he sighed there.

"It doesn't always turn out for the best" he muttered, referencing his lost eye "Most of the time, I get frustrated with myself, end up pissing everyone else around me. Other times, I follow whatever feels right, whatever feels best. Right now, after my mum..." he paused there, before composing himself and continuing "There's just this anger in me and it scares me, I don't even know if it's towards myself, the group or just this damn city" he growled "But like you. I know I want to leave. I don't know what happens after, all I know is that I have this feeling that when or if I leave this place. Things might get that little bit better and I'm holding onto that".

He finished there, not really knowing why he offered a near enough stranger all of that in-depth information on himself and his feelings. All he knew, is that she had spoken and he felt the need to return the favour.

Marianna absorbed the information she learnt from Luis like a sponge.

"Well" she said at last with a small smile "Despite all that, at least we both have one thing in common".

"Yeah" Luis mused, offering her a rare smile of his own, deciding after this chat, he was a lot more comfortable being around this girl.

* * *

"So, you said you were a pilot or something?" Kate inquired with raised eyebrow, looking over James form.

"Um yeah, I was in the Marines for a while too. You tend to pick up a lot in that kind of environment" James informed her.

"See you got your obligatory Military tat" Kate observed, looking up James arm, to see a tribal tattoo resting on his exposed bicep, as he was only wearing a simple t-shirt, hence this tattoo was visible. It wasn't usually in eye's sight, as James had spent the last couple of weeks walking through the woods in heavy winter clothing. But here in the Nevada desert, despite the slight winter chill that was still in the air it was warm enough to wear thinner clothing and a welcome warmth was in the air that members of James' group had missed for a long time.

"Yeah" James replied looking down at it "My buddies took me out when I turned 21, had a bit too much to drink and ended up with this" James recalled "I just remember squealing like a bitch the whole way through it".

"Low pain threshold then?" Kate asked "Jeez, I thought a military guy like yourself would handle pain a little better than that".

"Believe me, after that It was trained out of me" James said "I learnt to deal with more pain, I learned to endure. I had too if I ever wanted to stay as a marine, but even then. I'm still the guy that cries at The Wizard of Oz, or loves having dogs..."

Kate laughed.

"Get you, big guy!" she exclaimed, punching his arm lightly "You're just a big softie really, aren't you?"

"What and you ain't?" James challenged of her, returning her smile.

"I'm just a mess" Kate responded "Rubbish at school, left with shitty grades and got stuck in jobs that only paid the bills and for my endless partying. It all sounds really tragic when I put it like that. But really my life was a fucking blast, party, weed, drugs and men, hell I was living the dream... just on a budget".

The pair of them laughed at this.

"I did my fair share of weed when I was young un'" James recounted "Hell too much drinkin' too. I didn't party as much after College though, owing to my career path".

"Huh, I went on too long I know that" Kate mused "If this whole shit didn't start, I'd probably be one of those poster girls, for the before and after drug use photos and all that crap".

"What about your husband... well you know was he alright with who you were?" James couldn't help but ask. He expected Kate to be a bit withdrawn on the subject, but she dived right into it without hesitation.

"My folks were getting old and sick" Kate recalled "As you can imagine, they weren't happy with how their only daughter was turning out. They wanted me to settle and find a nice man that could look after me. So I met David, like you he was one of those military nuts. But the more I spoke to him, the more I realised how sad and sweet this guy was. He lost his first wife and had two kids by her, he was just lonely and he didn't look down on me like everyone else did. He seemed to like who I was, he seemed to understand..." she smiled there at the memories.

"So it started off well then?" James ventured.

"I had my reservations" Kate said "I was still young, I didn't want to be dragged into a marriage straight away, but David's family and my family kinda pressured me into it. So that's what happened and at first, it seemed alright. Commitment and responsibility, they weren't the horrors I was expecting" she sighed there "But then after that honeymoon stage, it starts to show. David was still a sweet guy, but when he got mad, he got mad and I discovered I was a helpless stepmom. Most of the time I would just be in the house and David wouldn't treat me bad, but he didn't treat me like a princess or anything like that. Our relationship just became a chore, well more to me I imagine. I was the one stuck inside all day, he went out to work and... ugh..." she groaned there "Before long, I was bored as fuck, stuck living the suburban mom I never wanted to be. But hell my parents were happy, everyone was happy. I was settled now. I had a nice, strong, man to look out for me, my life was complete to everyone else, that was my happily ever after".

"That seems too idealistic" James commented.

"Oh fuck yeah it was" Kate agreed "I knew David's family well, they were lovely, but traditional. So I found myself stuck playing trophy wife and honestly, I got a lot more attracted to David's brother Javier. You know, he was off being a big baseball player, able to party, play and fuck all he wanted, while I was stuck under grumpy ass David. Hell any former party girl would long for that life back..."

She smiled there.

"Call me a whore all you want" she said "But it hit me one day, I was doing the washing up and looked down at my hands and they were crinkled and veiny, like an old woman's. Then I looked up at my face in the mirror and I was still young. I was tired, but I was still young and it hit me then. I was gonna die in that house, living the life I never wanted and then I knew I had to get out, in whatever way".

She looked up at the sky then.

"I made some advances towards Javier back then" Kate admitted "He turned them all down and nothing ever happened between us. But then all this shit starts and what do I know. I'm alone with Javier and the kids and after years and years of surviving in that damn truck, something finally happened between us".

"What, it took you years to get to that point?" James inquired "Doesn't seem like you, from what I know so far"

"No it wasn't" Kate said "But hell, surviving day after day, worrying about food. Keeping an eye on the kids, I had to do a lot of it, but Javier was so invested in it. I didn't think the slacking step-mum and Uncle could actually care for the two of them. But hell we did alright, Mari adores him and even Gabe with his mood swings looked up to Javi in a way, it was going well" Kate mused "Me and Javi became an item, but then what do you know, we get directed here. I find myself, face to face with the husband I thought was dead".

"That must have been a shock" James said.

"It was" Kate muttered "But I knew instantly that he'd changed for the worse. Whatever happened to him on the outside, it scarred him. The sweet guy I once knew, he wasn't there anymore. His eyes were soulless and black and I just remember him smiling at me. But it wasn't the smile I knew, it wasn't the David I knew" she sighed there.

"He said he was so happy to see us. Mari and Gabe lapped it all up, Javi couldn't believe it either" Kate recalled "But I knew something was off and sure enough a few days later, when I resting and recovering in this city, he came to visit me. He said he hadn't moved on from me, that he still loved me. I had Javi now, but I couldn't tell him that, not there and not right then. So I said I didn't know if I wanted to continue seeing him, after all this time so much had changed".

She shivered there.

"He raped me"

James felt his heart miss a beat, the simplicity of the statement Kate had just muttered made it even more horrifying for him.

"Kate" he murmured softly, seeing her eyes were now distant and focused on the ground "You don't have to say shit like this too me. I'm just a stranger to you..."

"No. I want to tell you this" Kate snarled, a new aggression in her voice as she looked up again "I want you to know, if you're with us. You deserve the full story. I want you to know what we're getting away from and why we're justified for doing this".

"Okay, okay" James muttered "Tell me the rest"

"I kept it too myself, but then he just kept on doing it" Kate muttered "Because that's what real men do apparently, take what they want. When Javier first approached me, after weeks and weeks of being separated. He asked me how our relationship was going to continue with David back. He didn't even know if I was back with David and then I just... I lost control" she inhaled deeply there "I cried, I told him everything that David did to me and then... then we fucked, I just needed that comfort from him and not David. I was surprised I was able to do what I did with Javi, but I had to do it. To show that bastard, he hadn't scarred me, that I would sleep with other men and whatever he forced me to do. I wasn't going to be his, I was going to be Javi's and that's all there was too it".

"You really don't beat around the bush with the details, do you?" James asked.

"Well" Kate mused "You could say Javier was beating my bush for a while"

"and you criticise Max for speaking like that in front of Mari..." James noted.

"Hey, I don't speak like this in front of the kids" Kate informed him "This is PG talk, between us sexy adults, you got it?"

"Sexy" James mumbled "Yeah, okay I get it".

"Anyway, I remembered lying there in bed with Javi. He was saying how he was gonna kill the bastard for what he did to me" Kate muttered "But then, guess who burst open the door and found us anyway..."

She sighed.

"That little shit Gabe had grassed us up" Kate muttered "So what happened to Javi you ask? Well David and those New Frontier assholes strapped him to a damn chair, stuck his hands and feet in water buckets and started elecuroarting him with those wire cutter things. I was forced to watch the whole thing, I screamed at them to stop. But David told me to shut up and only released Javi's hands when they were bleeding and burnt red, his feet were the same. David told him, maybe that would teach him a lesson when touching what belonged to other people".

"So... he really does that other people?" James muttered blankly.

"That method, waterboarding, raping, torturing, it's all the same" Kate muttered sadly "Anyone who opposes them, their will has to be crushed completely. You have to fear them completely. David still visits and forces himself on me from time to time, and checks up on Javi, gives him a daily dose of electricity whenever he sees fit..."

"But, Javi's...!" James exclaimed looking over at the broken man.

"Withdrawn yeah" Kate muttered "But that isn't enough, if David stops. Javi thinks he's doing something right, he'll start looking at me again. He'll start hating David again. David can't have that, even though Javi's done nothing wrong and not touched me or looked at me. He'll still get tortured... just because. You start fearing it so much, you don't think about anything other than when the New Frontier is next coming for you. What they'll do, how they'll do it, what you did wrong this time. Whose watching you, who do you have to impress or spy on to make sure it doesn't happen again? Your whole life becomes that cycle" she sighed there "I don't know how I'm holding it together, but leaving this place is the only thought that keeps me sane".

James gulped, absorbing this new knowledge like a stone.

"You know he's never going to stop" Kate muttered blankly, looking over at Javier.

"Eleanor's told us all about what David did too you" Kate said "No matter what you do right, he'll still waterboard you for no reason, you'll start trying to impress him and then you'll end up like Javier and a dozen others across this city" she sighed there "I don't know what changed the bastard, how he could do those things to his wife and his brother without batting an eyelid. But he did, he isn't a nice man James and whatever he does to you. Do-Not-Break" she instructed of him.

"Don't break" James repeated.

"All of us are depending on you now" Kate said "Not to pile on the pressure, you big softie but... I want the old Javier back. Mari needs her uncle back, only when the torture stops will that be possible in any way. Please, for all of us, however hard it gets. You need to get us that plane".

"I promise" James muttered to her "I'll get it"

* * *

"So, suicide is the way to see the other world, huh?"

"It's not that simple Molly" Clementine emphasised for the upmost time "I think it has something to do with a shared fear, my fear in that world is losing Luis. So If I feel the same way in this world during a near death experience I can see what happens in that world".

"Oh I forgot how this fucks with my head completely" Molly chirped in sarcasm, her bandaged would be-gaze locked upon the nearby large windows, as tried to process everything her old friend was telling her. "But what about this Clem? What if the other Clem in the other world has the same fear that you do during a near death experience and your body gets taken over by her? and we're stuck with some edgy New Frontier member in your place?"

"I didn't consider that" Clementine admitted, as she pondered on the thought of her body being taken over by her other self "But I don't think it's gonna happen. Considering the other me lives in comfort and is feared by everyone. Besides I doubt the other Clem will share the same fear I do and I doubt she'll be thinking it during a near death experience".

"What is your biggest fear then?" Molly inquired.

Clementine was about to answer her, before her mind went blank as she scratched the top of her curly hairs, (a painful reminder that her cap was no longer there). Her eyes locked with the single eye of Luke, who was crouched next to Molly, while Melanie and Eddie were sat up on the bed, also silently listening in on Molly and Clementine's conversation. Melanie was keeping a sharp eye on the door and keeping de-facto guard, however all seemed quiet in the building around this time. Ethan had been gone for a while, as the sky was starting to turn a plush shade of indigo, indicating the setting sun in the distance. Clementine's yellow eyed gaze tore itself from the silent form of Luke, who looked rather forlorn and pale since Clementine had managed to get him back up and fighting. Was her greatest fear losing him? It certainly was a grave fear of her's, but for whatever reason it didn't strike her as her very worst fear. She knew that deep down, However she knew losing Luke would absolutely destroy her spirit and cause her years of grief she was sure she wouldn't be able to get through without a ton of support. Omid and Lee were already bad enough, she couldn't lose someone else.

But why wasn't losing Luke her worst fear?

Luke gaze seemed to hold her answer, his gaze was locked upon her missing hat. She knew then his worst fear had probably already come true, in the other world it had done. They held such a great bond because she realised (then and there) they both shared the same worst fear. His understanding look told Clementine everything she needed to know without words. Her worst fear was simple, it was that painful pang in her gut whenever she ran her hand across her now cap-free head. It was the way she feared being in that other world and being a completely different person, it was the way Luke had described his pre-life to her that still gave her shivers. Her recurring nightmare, visions and paranoia of the stranger lurking in the corner of her eye. The persistent shadow, trying to turn her into someone she wasn't.

"Well, what is it Clem?" Molly inquired again, in the midst of the silence.

"Losing myself" Clementine mumbled aloud "Losing who I am".

"Oh" Molly muttered "Well, you're still the same little badass I've always known. Plus, I've known you longest Clem, you've grown up but you haven't changed and that's a good thing"

"Yeah, but in this other world... all the stuff that happened in my pre-life and then...your's Luke..." she muttered, glancing over at him shyly.

"What happened there is on me" Luke muttered "But I know the feelin' Clem. I wish now... this is gonna sound bad. But I wish I'd never have told you about what happened in my pre-life".

"Well, you'd have suffered worse if you kept it too yourself lover boy" Molly snapped, punching him lightly in the arm "So don't say that sort of thing. We're here to help you".

"I know" Luke said sadly "But Clem, It can't have been easy to look at Sarah back at that house and tell her you left her to die. Because that's so unlike who you are now. When I told all you guys back in the truck about what I did. It made it real for me and I hated it. I hated what they cult did to me, who they made me become..." he sighed there before carrying on "But don't worry about some other Clem takin' over. She wouldn't understand you one bit, ain't no chance that's happening".

"Thanks Luke" Clementine mused, assured by his words.

"So Terri's in on this too, right?" Molly inquired, before things got too mushy.

"Yeah. I made the other Terri worry about losing her brother" Clementine told her "So now me and Terri can head on over to this other world, if my theory is correct".

"Cross-dimensional mind manipulation" Eddie remarked, joining in with the conversation "and we're in a big ass city, you know I was right. This is turning into a sci-fi flick. First it was the dead coming to life, then it's time travel, then it's future visions. Now it's travelling to different worlds. We might as well just throw aliens into the mix and teach James to fly a UFO because that's how we'll be busting out of here".

"Oh yeah" Molly mused "City exploding behind us of course, for extra effect"

"It would look epic" Eddie mused in excitement, as Melanie rolled her eyes from beside him and struggled to contain her own guilty smile.

"Hell I wish I could see it" Molly said, before a frown lined her face and she duly listened silently at the sounds of the traffic below her.

"But seriously guys" she muttered, gazing blankly at the city she couldn't see "What does this city look like? Where would you compare it too?".

"Like New York" Luke muttered, as he shuffled closer to Molly and used his arms to pull her closer to his chest, as the pair of them gazed out of the window at the setting sun "Just imagine New York Molly, without the empire state or anything like that. There's this nice blue building in front of us, proper futuristic style, the sky's a real pretty shade of indigo, there's a wall like there was in Wellington. I can't tell from this distance if it's bigger or smaller than the one we had... the people below us look like ants..."

"I can see it" Molly mumbled, digging her head into the folds of Luke's shirt "I can see that and I can see myself climbing on those buildings. Putting my parkour skills to good use, spying on the New Frontier and all that..."

She went silent there, shaking slightly as Luke held onto her tighter. Clementine, Eddie and Melanie averted their eyes from the romantic moment between the pair of them. All three of them reflecting on that comfort and companionship they no longer had. Clementine could have had Sarah, Eddie had lost Violet and Melanie had lost her husband Greg back in Wellington. The pair in front of them were struggling with wounds they had attained, as well as mental scars that weighed heavily on their minds. But they were still going and still fighting onwards because they had found comfort in each other, neither Clem, Eddie nor Melanie had that anymore. It made the trio of them feel somewhat lonely and secluded for a few brief moments, that was before there was a familiar knock on the door to the room. Causing Luke and Molly to break apart.

"Who's there!?" Eddie called out.

"Relax, it's me!" James called back, cranking open the door, the five seated instantly recognised a new face next to him. That being of a young woman who smiled shyly at the new people in front of her.

"Guys, we've got allies" James mused.

* * *

"Where's Ethan?"

Terri inquired this, as every member of the escape team (except for the former Wellington Wolf) were now either sitting on (or around) James' bed.

"Still speaking to Olivia" Eddie informed her.

The new faces, Kate, Marianna, Javier, Max, Tripp, Conrad and Francine had been briefly introduced to the other five people in on the escape plan. Clementine had found herself next to Marianna and Luis who seemed to be in pleasant conversation, much to the surprise of Clementine.

"What's this Luis, a new friend?" Clementine inquired, walking up to the two of them "I didn't think you were capable of that"

"Our resident bitch Clementine" Luis said casually, introducing Marianna to Clementine, as the two younger girls shook hands.

"Hey, nice to see another girl around my age!" Marianna mused upon introduction.

"Yeah, it's been a while" Clementine muttered pleasantly, but remembering flashbacks of Sarah upon her introduction of Mari. Trying to shake off these thoughts, she said "So you've had the misfortune of meeting Luis first?"

"Oh no, his pretty cool!" Marianna said "I like him, I guess you do to. Are you two erm...?" Marianna left the question hanging there, nervously glancing from Clementine and then back to Luis.

"Are we what?" Luis asked.

"Are you erm... well no forget it, it's stupid..." Marianna muttered quickly, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

"Oh dating!" Luis exclaimed, and before Clementine could stop him, he used his intact arm to wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer to his form "Yeah, we are so going out. Hell, in another life we could even get married and have kids together...!"

"Yeah, you wish" Clementine droned.

"You know you want me, but Clem don't try and fight with Mari for me" Luis muttered, his ego as high as ever "I know I'm just irresistible to you ladies, but try and control yourself, I don't want to break your hearts..."

"I'll break something of yours soon, if you don't get off" Clementine warned him.

This resulted in another round of bickering between the pair that resulted in Marianna laughing for the first time in a while. It was certainly nice being around people her age again, who weren't her brother but genuine friends she could make. Despite the advancements made in Utopia and the numerous schools set up in the city. Marianna rarely bonded or saw much of the other kids of Utopia. Many of them were busy trying to live mundane lives inside of this city. Or dreaming of being soldiers or doctors, the two most prized and well trained and prepared jobs needed within this city, with construction workers and farmers being a close third and fourth place. Between the rigorous and dull education provided to prepare for these key roles, there wasn't much time to be a kid in Utopia. Besides, Marianna had been one of the few people to reach this city years into the apocalypse. So friendship groups in schools had already been formed, leaving her on the outside.

But no, she was here now. Content and seated between two friendly people her age.

But while Clementine and Marianna had a great start, Clementine wasn't one hundred per cent sure of the rest. Tripp and Max seemed suspicious from the onset and made no attempt to cover their doubt of the group. Kate seemed alright from what Clementine could gather, while she briefly said "Hi" to the other guy. Javier. Only for him to look down at her briefly and mutter a dull "Hello" in return. Before he spaced out once again, right now he and Stephanie seemed engaged in a game of blindly messing with each other's hair. Both damaged souls finding some strange form of entertainment in each other, while the rest of the group got down to business.

"So, you're not the leader here then?" Tripp asked of James, looking around at them all.

"No. Why would I be?" James inquired.

"Well, I dunno, you seemed pretty dead set on the plan and all... I just thought you lead these guys that's all". Tripp muttered.

"So if it ain't you, whose leadin' here?" Max asked.

"Oh erm..." James began awkwardly.

"I do" Luke spoke up, before James could give a proper answer, he held eye contact with Tripp and Max for as long as he could muster.

"You?" Max finally sneered, turning his nose up and Luke "You don't look fit to walk another mile, man"

"I've had my bad days" Luke admitted "But I'm getting there, although I have to admit. James here and Ethan have taken up the reign for the past couple of days. I haven't been well and we want this meeting to go ahead, we need Ethan here".

"He's been too long" Terri muttered in concern "Something's happened, I'm sure of it".

"Well if that's the case, we don't want no...!" Conrad began.

"Quiet hon, we don't know for sure yet!" Francine said.

"I know where Olivia's office is" James muttered "If there's anyone that's gonna go and look for him. It should be me, if anything's happened I'll get it out of Olivia or if Ethan's somehow upset her or something I can smooth things over".

"It's not in his nature to provoke her" Terri said "I feel like I should come with you..."

"No. Honestly I'll handle this" James muttered "He could just be trying to get more info Terri and we're worrying for nothing".

"It's best to check though" Clementine assured him.

"Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do" James said "You guys just stay here, If I'm not back in an hour at least, you guys get home" he informed them, looking over at Tripp's group "and the rest of you come to Olivia's office, because something will have gone down if I've been too long and it's best we stick together".

"Maybe Olivia found out about our plan!" Kate screeched, "This room could be bugged or anything..."

"No. I know they aren't any bugging devices or security cameras in this section of the building" Max muttered "Believe me, I'm with the New Frontier and they've searched this building twice over to make sure Olivia ain't spyin' on them and nothing's been found and David himself hasn't bugged the place yet. But I hear his planning too..."

"Yeah, this room especially" Molly muttered "Considering it's your room James and David needs to keep an eye on you, plus Olivia needs to get off to something. So do you just lie on the bed sometimes and take your top off and...?"

"Molly!" Luke roared.

"What?" she inquired.

"The... the kid!" he exclaimed, jabbing a finger over at Marianna.

"Oh no, I get it, it's fine" Marianna said politely up to the pair of them.

"I wish you didn't" Kate admitted.

"Anyway, I need to get off, I'll be back don't worry" James rushed out quickly as he strode up to the door, leaving the remaining group behind him.

"You know, he seems to be doing this leadin' stuff right now" Max muttered over to Luke, as Luke himself looked at the spot where James had left and was reminded of his current state. He had proclaimed himself as leader, yet he hadn't backed up that statement at all. What the hell could he do, to prove himself as a worthwhile leader to his own group and these new folks who already doubted him?

* * *

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

"Come in"

James nervously pried open the door to Olivia's office to find the president of Wellington seated behind her desk as per always, breathing a sigh of relief to see nothing had drastically changed he slid inside of the office.

"James" she muttered lightly "I suppose you've come looking for Ethan?"

"Yeah, his been a while and..." James muttered, before his stomach dropped, as he saw the silent form of Ethan Hart on a nearby sofa, being held at gunpoint by two soldiers to his sides. Olivia's smile towards him was suddenly quite menacing, as she showcased far too many of her teeth. Olivia's smile grew as James' face fell, whatever had happened, had been bad indeed.

"Or should I say, you've come to collect your infamous Wellington Wolf?" Olivia mused with a sick sort of glee in her tone.

"I... well... I... he..." James spulttered.

"Another secret I see" Olivia snapped "Did you think you could hide that info from me?"

"Well, you gotta understand why!" James exclaimed.

"I understand why, but I don't like it" Olivia snarled "What exactly did the Wellington Wolf do to earn your trust, that you'd go and accept him back into your group James? I don't buy the fact you simply chose to forgive and forget, not after everything he had done to you"

"How did you even...?" James began.

"I'll ask the questions" Olivia reminded him curtly "Now, what did he do to help you!?"

"He helped us to escape!" James protested, "Luke was hurt real bad and we had no way of getting him without without Ethan's help..."

"A likely story" Olivia began "But that can't be all of it..."

"Oh no, it is"

A new voice, James breathed a massive sigh of relief to see Luke hobbling into the room. Despite his earlier instruction on people not to follow him, it seemed Luke had gone against this rule and was now directly facing Olivia with a look of grim determination in his remaining eye. As Olivia's cold gaze swept over his crippled form.

"I'm surprised to see you up" was all she said.

"I just needed time, after Nick and all" Luke muttered "But now Robert's gone. I'm taking leadership of my group again. and I'm sorry Olivia. However you figured out Ethan here is the infamous Wellington Wolf, that doesn't matter. What matters is that we kept it hidden from you, that angers you doesn't it?"

"It annoys me" Olivia corrected him "and that's not even the start of it..."

"I know what you're worrying about" Luke reassured her "and I'll admit" he was saying this now, with his old, charismatic smile "You caught us off guard, you got us good Olivia. Probably why James and Ethan over there aren't able to answer all that well. But hell, don't worry about Ethan, he's not gonna purge the population of this city. You have security everywhere in this city, if he even tried something outta the blue, your soldiers would be able to deal with him, easily. Besides, would our group let him do something like that? I don't think so".

"Then why the sercey?" Olivia snapped.

"It was less trouble for us" Luke mused, now on a roll "Besides, Ethan isn't a threat anymore. His with our group now, his mission is to protect us"

"But why!?" Olivia snarled "and don't you answer!" she snapped over at Luke "But you, Ethan. Tell me why you want to protect this group now? What changed?".

"Oscar was gone" Ethan said "There was no chance for immunity, the community found out who I was when Schulz fell. Rather than kill me instantly they put me on trial to decide my fate. But before it could go ahead, the walls fell. I escaped my cell and met with the group, I realised then, there was no chance of finding immunity. But only to protect the remaining group, besides Luke was injured. He had lost an eye and a leg, so Robert made me an ultimatum. Either he'd shot me there and then, or I'd help the group".

"That doesn't tell me your loyalty has changed at all" Olivia snarled "That was a life or death scenario, so of course you'd help. But what about after Wellington? Why didn't they kill you then?"

"I helped the group, there was no point to carry on killing" Ethan said lamely "They saw the assets I could provide them".

"We didn't like it, honestly!" James exclaimed "But him and that Terri girl, they helped protect us like no one else could".

"I'd be dead right now, if it wasn't for Ethan here" Luke said "I owed him that much, we gave him another chance and it paid off!"

"Okay" Olivia muttered "Let's just say I accept that theory, then why would I believe, that the citizens of Wellington. Who ripped up an immune survivor and killed President Schulz in a riot. Would suddenly decide to spare the most infamous serial killer of them all?"

"Because we wanted answers!" Luke exclaimed, just as Ethan and James minds went blank "We wanted to know why this had happened, everyone that had died, how they died. We deserved to know that, with Schulz dead. Ethan here had no one left to obey, so he was our prisoner who'd give us our answers to everything we deserved to know". Luke finished there, leaving a buzzing silence within the office.

"Very well then" Olivia finally said "I can accept that entire story, but a trained wolf who protects the group? Has a hidden drug problem? How did that...?"

"That was a cover story" Ethan explained quickly, gaining some of his mojo back "Those syringes were going to be saved for Stef's baby when it was born. To give it, the vaccinations it should have received against common diseases like smallpox. I obtained them at the medical centre in Wellington before we had to leave. Nick instructed me to keep the contents hidden from the rest of the group, those vaccinations were for himself and Stephanie's child. They were in on it. but the rest of the group was in the dark. That's why I made up the drug problem, to cover that discovery".

"Oh... that's... I guess that makes sense" Olivia finally admitted, "But you were silent up until Luke and James arrived here Ethan. Were you really that cautious on what to tell me about all of this?"

"I feared it put our group in danger" Ethan admitted honestly.

"Well... for today you can go" she finally muttered wearily, she waved her hands and the two soldiers guarding Ethan, turned tail and left the room, as the tension within the office itself lightened considerably, now that there were no more guns being pointed around.

"You can go" Olivia repeated "But if I learn anything else, I will seriously consider this group's position within our community. You can still be of great assets to us, don't let us down now".

"I understand" Ethan muttered.

"Very well, Luke and Ethan you can go" she instructed "James, could you stay behind for a while? I need a word with you".

"Oh erm...sure" James said nervously, he glanced desperately at Luke as both himself and Ethan headed towards the door. Luke met his eye and nodded at him as James gulped and faced Olivia. Before Luke and Ethan opened the door to Olivia's office and closed it behind them. Leaving Olivia in solely James' company.

"I'm... I'm sorry" Ethan muttered when they were a few steps away from the office door.

"Too damn close man" Luke breathed in relief, before he smiled once again. He had done it, he had saved Ethan, managed to get Olivia off their backs and had walked and stood up clearly on his crutches and prosthetic leg. He was back in the game and even without some of his limbs he could still be of use to the group, Clementine's speech had inspired him and for this last leg of the journey, he would get them all out of here.

"James looks like he's about to get us that plane" Luke explained to Ethan, looking back at the closed door behind them "and the new people Terri brought along, they seem genuine Ethan. We got a group discussion goin' on back in James' room, we got this".

"It seemed as if Clementine managed to get you back into business" Ethan remarked.

"Yeah" Luke said.

"Yeah she did".


	46. Why?

**A/N: aaaannnnd I'm back! Sorry for the massive delay, got writer's block and had loads of work to complete but now I'm free of uni work once and for all and it's time to bring this story to a close with these final chapters! Hope you guys enjoy!**

**Also episode 4 was awesome and even better than Episode 3! Other than Gabe... ugh... I liked almost everything else about this episode and that Kenny flashback, most upset I've felt throughout the whole of season 3 so far. and episode 5, well... I liked it just not as much and I'll discuss it in future author's note.**

**Anyone change of plan the massive crazy chapter, won't be Chapter 50 this time around but Chapter 48 in homage to Issue 48 of the comics which was the infamous bloodbath issue, let's just say Chapter 48 will be of a similar scene, this chapter is (once again) more talking and I'm sorry if it bores you. Next chapter will be on Clem and Terri's adventures in the other world for a final time, before other stuff happens leading into the infamous 48, which I'm sure you're all dreading and will lead towards the end of this fic.**

**Anyway onto this long overdue chapter, enjoy! **

* * *

Well, that was fast.

Olivia didn't have to say an awful lot, merely make some general small talk about the city, she reflected on the Wellington Wolf's behaviour, before she told James she thought he was very handsome and the next thing the young man knew, her lips crashed around his own. James resisted the urge to vomit, as her tongue lapped over his own, he had to do this, for the group... for the group... for the group...

His heart beating rapidly against his ribcage, as Olivia tightened her grip on him... he hadn't turned away, so she must have assumed he was enjoying this. But if he stood frozen here, rigid as a board she was going to know he was repulsed by her and was only doing this for a certain agenda or out of fear of her. He had to make this at least a little bit convincing, so with slight hesitation he wrapped his own powerful arms around her narrow waist and pulled her closer to him, as her warm breaths blew rapidly on his cheek.

There wasn't much said, other than the occasional gasps and moans from Olivia as she peeled her clothes off and did the same to James, he tried to close his eyes and keep to kissing her neck and lips, but that wasn't going to suffice as she was now exploring other areas of his exposed body, as he hoisted her up and carried her to her bedroom (she directed him there) lying down stark naked, James suddenly became aware of the fact that yes, she was naked, exposed with no weapons to defend herself with. After everything she had done to his group, he could have ended her there.

She was like a giddy schoolgirl, a small smile lighting her aged face as she parted her legs wide open, as James eyes absorbed her aged body, she was vulnerable, almost pathetic in this position, but this whole scenario felt surreal to him. To the fearless, intimidating woman he had met a few weeks back at the ski lodge, president of an entire city who spoke harshly and honestly, to this... within about 15 minutes of Luke and Ethan leaving the room, she had been reduced to this giggling, nude, lustful old woman who was looking forward to what James had to offer her.

But James could have done it then, wrapped his large hands around her veiny throat and strangle the life out of her, it would be over then. He wouldn't have to do this anymore, he wouldn't have too... he gulped, no. They'd never escape the city if she died now, security would tear himself and his group to bits and they didn't have access to a plane yet, he would just have to do this, no thoughts or desires of his own could ruin this moment. Which was ironic considering the circumstances, but James was hardly attracted to this old woman at all, deciding to go down on her, he clenched his eyes shut and tried to imagine it was his ex-girlfriend's moans he was hearing and not Olivia's or he could fantasize about Kate being naked, that certainly "got him in the mood".

But it still wasn't enjoyable, more like suffocating as Olivia was now on top of him, barely giving him room to breathe as she straddled him, her body was pressed against his own, he could scarcely draw breath, it reminded him of the water torture, his heart began to beat rapidly as it had done when he was drowning under that cloth, his arms began to thrash and...

No. Not now, he had to do this, for the group, for the group, for the group...

After a tense few minutes it was over, Olivia rolled off him, as she gasped and grinned in pleasure, while James... he didn't feel anything. Other than taking relived gasps of air, he could breathe, his bare chest heaved in apparent relief, down below he simply felt... sore. Before everything he (like most other men) had mostly enjoyed sex, but now, maybe it was just the fact it was Olivia, but he didn't get any pleasure out of it at all, it's like he had ran a particularly painful marathon.

Olivia was now lying on his chest, still gasping for air while James remembered, he had to say something, had to say something... what was it? He didn't want to do anything, he didn't want to move, he just wanted his head above the water, he just wanted...

He was dozing off before he knew that sleep had hit him.

* * *

"They've been a while" Molly muttered.

"Must be going all night" Kate replied to her "I bet James is enjoying it"

"Maybe he likes older women" Eddie suggested.

"Hmm... just hope he gets us that deal for a plane" Luke said openly "But, I don't know, maybe sleeping with her once won't be enough..."

He was sat on James' bed, as the rest of the group were sat or stood around him, the outside windows reflected nothing but the black skies of the Nevada desert and pinpoints of lights from the nearby skyscrapers. The overhead lights from the high ceilings buzzed audibly, as the group quietly conversed amongst itself. Luke had managed to explain to everyone earlier that Olivia had grown suspicious of Ethan's re-telling of Wellington's collapse, that satisfied Kate's group, but Ethan's own group knew there was another reason and would hear it after Kate's group had departed, but the bottom line was clear. James had been sent to seduce Olivia, she would be distracted by him to think too much about Ethan. They had a close call but they were in the clear for now.

As the clock slowly ticked by, Luke tapped his foot against the floor, eventually Molly strode over to him and buried herself in his chest, while he looked up with his remaining eye to see the bags under Clem's eyes were getting heavier by the minute. It was Marianna's yawn and the absolute silence that encompassed the room and the outside corridors that made Luke decide they had done enough waiting. He couldn't hear the sounds of James returning and it was getting far too late for everyone to stay.

"Okay people" Luke muttered, finally rising to his feet and keeping steady on his prosthetic leg, "Looks like it may take a little while for James to get us that plane, you guys need to head on home, we'll keep you updated if we get that plane".

"Should we come to you to check or...?" Kate began to inquire.

"I'll send Clem and Eddie to you" Luke responded "Make it out like they're sightseeing or something"

Kate nodded her head to show that she understood this.

"Well, I'll come to you guys with news on the New Frontier" Max said, offering his support in this situation "Can't have them interfering with this masterplan of ours, or mentally crippling our only pilot" his eyes flashed towards Stephanie and Javier at this point, who seemed to be close to dozing off.

"Okay, thank you" Luke informed him, "Now we'll keep you guys updated, have a safe journey home and don't let yourself be seen..."

* * *

"...what if they take off without us..." Max was hissing merely 10 minutes later, as their group crept down the nighttime streets, shady passer's by made Marianna cling onto Javier tighter than she already was. While Max and Tripp led the group, with Eleanor trailing in their shadows, Conrad and Francine remaining quiet and barely drawing any attention to themselves, while Kate nervously looked back towards Marianna and Javier.

"I thought they were nice" Marianna spoke up, to raise opposition to Max's view.

"Yeah they _seemed_ nice" Max snapped "But how do we know they ain't gonna throw us to the dogs? They could betray us and the New Frontier to her, get in Olivia's good books for sure. I mean what If that James really likes her? and the group is just..."

"I highly doubt that" Kate interrupted "They've only known Olivia a few days, besides she's the reason their group fell apart! I believe them"

Max merely snarled and "Pah-ed" at her.

"You're only saying that because you liked the look of that pilot" Max pointed out.

"So what If I did?" Kate shot back.

"Ain't you with him?" Max said, jabbing a stubby finger at Javier.

"Of course I am!" Kate snapped, getting slightly annoyed now "But..."

"Well you cheated on your husband with Javi, so what's to stop you from moving on?" Max snarled.

"I thought David was dead! What else was I supposed to do!?" Kate exclaimed now, making a few passer's by raise their heads, quietening her voice, as the group sped onwards, she took a deep breath and continued.

"I want to believe this is the real deal Max" Kate muttered "Because... I can't afford not to, Javi..." she looked back at her partner at this point, he was still blankly gazing at the concrete ground "He can't stay here, I can't... Mari can't... we'll die soon if we carry on like this. I don't know how many more times I can take David forcing himself on me, how many more times I have to watch Javier suffer as the suck the life out of him, if me and Javi go then who is going to look after Mari?"

"It's okay, I can look after myself" Marianna protested feebly.

"We wouldn't let her starve" Max reassured Kate, "But regardless, I want to stick to our original plan, wait until David does something too rash, he and the New Frontier our gonna clash eventually, we make our escape then"

"We've been through this" Tripp stressed, turning back to him "You've said it yourself, the New Frontier are smart, they probably already suspect we're going somewhere when we get the chance. They'll have set us up".

"and they must have had a few cameras set up back there" Eleanor pointed out nervously, looking down the street behind her, as if she was expecting David to suddenly leap out of an alley "They'll have seen us leave, all of us, how do we explain ourselves...?"

"Use the excuse I cooked up" Marianna said to reassure the grown woman "Besides, why are you nervous? You're the one who let the other group in our escape plan".

"Only because they found about David and the New Frontier anyway!" Eleanor said "But the more we discuss this, the more I think... are we actually going to do this? I mean, I know the New Frontier are bad and all..."

"Don't get cold feet now Eleanor!" Kate snapped back to her "This city might be nice, but... really... trouble's coming! We all know it! Olivia's purge, the new frontier... maybe I'm wrong. Maybe for the majority of people here, they'd rather live in this comfortable city rather than face what's out there and I don't blame them, but for us..." she sighed there.

"Come on, we agreed to join you on this" Francine piped up, herself and Conrad had been at the rear of the group listening in until now "We wouldn't have done unless you made some valid points and we saw it happen ourselves. We want a good community, this city's too big to be sustainable".

"It's done well so far" Max grumbled.

"Whose side are you on?" Kate inquired.

"Yours, I'm just sayin'" Max muttered.

"Look, I just, if anyone doesn't want to go through with this then you're more than free to leave!" Kate said, rather exasperated now "But these guys, they've given us a chance to leave this place. I want to take this chance, look at Javi back there!" she jabbed her finger back to her partner who was still faintly muttering to himself "We're all going to end up like that if we end up staying! I understand that everyone's nervous about this, I am too, but I can't afford to stay, I just can't".

She finished there and continued to walk onwards, her footsteps loud in the heavy silence that weighed on everyone's shoulders.

"Hey come on Kate" Conrad began in his deep reassuring voice "Me and Francine, we're your friends here. When I first met Javi back there, I recognised him from his better days, had a nice chat then and lookin' at him now" he sighed there "It ain't right what they've done and I don't like the thought of being here if and when the New Frontier take over, after the recent purge, their ain't been any riots. But if Olivia is expecting any widespread support or anything, she ain't gonna get it, I'll take my chances out there, besides a change of scenery might be needed" he smiled there and pulled a beaming Francine closer to his form.

"I'm with my hubby" Francine said, lightly pecking him on the nose, as he grinned openly like an idiot at her.

"You guys are so gross" Marianna whined.

"One day, that will be you" Francine teased.

"Yeah right" Marianna droned.

Kate smiled at the pair of them regardless and the love they had for one another, but it was sad twinge to remind her of what she once had with Javier, but with him in his current state that was no longer an option. She tried turning away, but found Eleanor and Tripp arm in arm which hardly helped matters.

"We're with you Kate" Tripp said to back her up and snap her back to reality "As a soldier at the wall myself, supplies are wearing thin, since the purge parts of the walls are getting run down. They're gonna end up falling soon mark my words. This isn't about personal stuff at all, I've seen the facts and leavin' this place as soon as possible is the best option, when the outer walls fall, they'll herd us in further. This many people in a smaller area, it won't lead to much good" Tripp reasoned, as he looked up to the towering skyscrapers above him and then at the black sky above the yellow haze of the light pollution.

"Well I can't exactly back out" Max said.

"You know me and Javi are in Kate" Marianna chirped merrily.

"Awesome" Kate grinned like an idiot, "Hell, those new guys could prove good company, what about you Mari, made a new friend earlier, did you like him?"

"Not like that" Mariana said with a straight face, instantly shutting down Kate's attempts to ship her off with any male around her age "Besides, he was like 20 odd, he's way too old for me"

"and if he wasn't?" Francine said, joining in with the faint teasing.

"I've only known him for a day" Marianna informed them "Still no"

"If you knew him longer, do you think...?" Kate left the question hanging there.

"No, it's just nice to have a friend that's all" Marianna said "Besides Clem was nice too and she's closer my age, but I want to get to know them better"

"I can relate to you on that" Max added "Shame that's Molly's a taken woman cause she's nice, that Stef she's nice too, but..." he sighed there "If that Terri girl was a little older though, maybe..."

"What about the mute girl, Melanie?" Kate pointed out "Could get to know her better and she wasn't bad on the eye"

"I didn't really notice her" Max admitted "Hell, how I am going to get to know her, a note and pad or something? Weirdest fucking date I'll have ever been on"

"You've told me worse than that, I'm sure" Marianna said.

Kate shot daggers at a guilty Max.

"What? the girl was curious" Max said to defend himself, "In case she ever did end up goin' on a date or something"

"So, what was your weirdest date then?" Francine asked with a guilty smile.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Curious, like Mari was"

"Give it a rest will you..."

"Nah! I'm curious now..."

Kate smiled to herself at the group's inner argument, she slowed her pace somewhat and found herself next to Javier, without thinking she slid her hand into his larger one, as he seemed to jolt on the spot and tried to recoil his grip, but Kate kept her hand tightly wrapped around his own.

"Don't, Javi it's okay..." Kate reassured him.

Javier struggled for a second, before he blinked and realised he was surrounded by familiar faces, friendly faces, speaking to each other in friendly tones, there was no hostily or nothing to be afraid of, in his mind he was no longer in the oppressive city but surrounded by his group, away from the danger, away from David.

He gulped nervously, his eyes losing their cloudiness for a few moments as he muttered "Kate?"

"I'm here Javi" she said pleasantly beaming at him, as she too looked up at the sky, this is how it would be in a few weeks. Just her, Javi and the group, with nothing but the sky above them, free from all constraints, they'd be free and Javier would come back to her, she gripped his hand tighter as he followed her gaze to the sky above them.

She'd get him back, she'd get her freedom back.

Soon, they'd all be free.

* * *

"...but what's the point?"

Luis and Clementine were walking along the corridor back towards their respective rooms and Luis had brought up the topic of her "other world" with showed her visions of a future Utopia, he had asked (rather openly) whether or not herself and now Terri planned to return there, in which Clem had replied that was her plan for tomorrow. In which Luis had asked that question, about their being any point in it.

"We used it to get Eleanor and the gang on our side" was all Luis said "We did good with it, that's all we need from it. What's the point in going back there?"

"I... well we need to find out more!" Clementine protested.

"Like what!?" Luis protested openly.

"Well, stuff about the city, the layout...!"

"Stuff which is completely different in that world!" Luis exclaimed "Besides the plan is clear cut, James gets us the damn plane, we fly the hell out of dodge, we don't need to learn anymore! There's no point in nearly drowning yourself again and dragging Terri into it, what is the actual point!?"

"Why are you so against it all of a sudden?!" Clementine protested.

"Don't change the subject!" Luis snapped "Why do you wanna go back there? A shit world? Where I'm a fucking vegetable, the New Frontier rules and you're with... well that Jamie woman and Jane and Terri and Brandon are well... doing all that. Why do you want to drag people back there!? If James gets the plane we have no time to dunk your head in water and have you go to this other world, makes no fucking sense".

"I need to know Luis!" Clementine finally snapped.

"KNOW WHAT!? Luis screamed now.

"WHY!" Clementine roared, giving her answer.

They both took a few deep breaths, before Luis finally spoke.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why Jane dragged us to Utopia" Clementine muttered "If she knows anything about the second chance, the answer to it all" Clementine said "I need to see that world, one more time Luis. I need the answers to all of this, besides Terri's done a lot for us. I think she deserves one final goodbye to her brother".

Her explanation seemed to satisfy a still seething Luis.

"Still, when I saw you I thought you were dead" Luis muttered "Just... well... weird seeing you like that. After everything, that was the one time, well...one of the only times I thought you'd truly died and..."

"Luis, what happened last time..." Clementine began.

"That could be me again" Luis muttered "I don't trust myself at all Clem, not anymore. I just have this... well anger. I don't even know the bastard that killed my mum is dead, or if he's still out there".

"JJ's gotta be dead Luis, that bomb was powerful we heard it from Olivia herself" Clementine assured him.

"We don't know for sure that he is dead though and that thought drives me mad" Luis confessed "The thought that bastard is still out there, breathing, enjoying himself, while my mum is fucking dead. It makes me sick, it just makes me wonder when all the injustice is gonna end"

"It's gonna end soon, I'm sure..."

"Sorry I am interrupting something?"

Clementine jumped, as Luis whizzed around, the pair of them found themselves face to face with David Garcia himself, Clementine felt her heartbeat increase in those moments as she locked eyes with the man she knew was the leader of the New Frontier, she tried to keep her face impassive and stop her rapidly beating heart. She particularly hated the way he had snuck up on them, without either of them noticing him, she would blame Luis for this as he always had his way of infuriating her beyond belief to make her forget her surroundings sometimes.

"No, not really" Clementine replied cooly.

David's brows lowered slightly, Clementine then became aware that his son Gabe, was directly in his shadow, the look he was giving Clementine, well... she wasn't keen on it. Both father and son were adorned in military gear.

"Hey" Gabe said shyly.

"Oh hi" Clementine said lightly, trying to keep things causal.

"So you erm... Clementine, huh?" Gabe asked, as Clementine blinked and saw that underneath all the military bravado, he seemed to be... just another shy kid. She had barely seen him at all, but he didn't seem awful in those moments, like she knew his father was.

"Yeah" Clementine muttered.

"Oh, it's Gabe" he said as he shook Clementine's hand "Glad to meet you, how's erm... your group doing?"

"Oh erm... getting by" Clementine muttered, "Thank you for asking".

"Oh really, it's nothing..." Gabe said sweetly, scratching the back of his black hairs. "I mean, if there's..."

"What are you doing here!?"

Luis had asked this of David cutting directly through Clementine and Gabe's pleasant conversation as David and Gabe both directed their black eyed gazes towards him.

"Well, we were going to see Olivia" David tossed out casually, a clearly rehearsed lie both Clementine and Luis could see through, "Got some business that needs solving and all"

There were a few awkward nods at this.

"But what are you doing out here?"

Gabe had asked it, rather aggressively of Luis.

"Walkin' what's it to you?" Luis shot back, instant dislike was evident between the pair of them.

"Just walking?" Gabe snapped "Why are you getting so defensive?"

"Why are you asking?" Luis retorted.

"You asked us, only fair, right?" Gabe pointed out "We took you into this city, you should think about you say before you start acting like a dick".

David and Clementine both tried to intervene, but it seemed too late as the hot-headed Luis reply was almost instant.

"Maybe you shouldn't be such a fuck-boy then"

"You got a problem!?" Gabe snarled his voice rising "Try me, I've beaten up bigger guys than you!"

"You haven't beaten up shit!" Luis exclaimed.

"BOYS!" David roared cutting across the pair of them, as both of them fell silent "Enough of this shit, c'mon Gabe!" he snapped as he barged past Luis, making a show of bumping into Luis' shoulder. As the furious one armed survivor seemed prepared to lunge at David, before Clementine grasped his hand with her own as the older boy looked down at her. She shook her head softly and that seemed to be the only thing that calmed him down in those moments, as he deflated slightly.

"Maybe we can play cards sometime or something?" Gabe suddenly suggested, as he turned back towards Clementine "I've got a deck and all... maybe I can get to know you a little better..."

"Oh well, I..." Clementine began.

"Piss off, she's not fucking interested" Luis snapped on her behalf, Gabe simply gave him the middle finger before moodily sulking onwards.

"Oh it's Luis by the way, nice to meet you too!" Luis shouted after him "Sorry, I know that doesn't interest you because I don't have a vagina...!"

"Luis!" Clementine snapped, as Gabe paused for a moment, it looked as if he was going to turn back and attempt to pummel Luis, before Clementine heard him sigh and follow after his father, they turned a corner and were gone, leaving Clementine with a raging Luis. She looked up at him to see he was still staring after Gabe, his pupils small and somewhat... crazy? Luis was unpredictable sure, he had many mood flips since Clementine had met him, but after the death of his mother he finally seemed to have snapped, he wasn't the same. He had attempted to kill her out of rage and had nearly succeeded, now he completely lost his cool over a bit of provocation, this thought worried her to the pit of her stomach. Luis had been her closest ally, friend and source of company (near enough to her age) since Sarah had died, losing him to the craziness that had engulfed Kenny, that had engulfed Vince... was he just the same? Was he going to end up like them? Another Carver, starting out with good intentions but becoming as twisted as these men to fulfill his own agenda? Clementine didn't know all she knew is that she had to stand by him for a while, before he finally turned back to her.

"What the hell got into you just then!?" She snapped.

"Guy was fucking pissing me off" Luis hissed.

"He seemed alright!"

"His the ucking enemy Clem!" Luis roared "Don't forget that, his flirting was that fucking pathetic and you lapped it all up..."

"He could be different from his dad!"

"Marianna told me about that brat and he is as bad" Luis snarled "Believe me, or if not just ask her. She'll tell you, I didn't like the look of him"

"Well" Clementine said "Why's that, are you jealous?" she said with a playful smile, hoping to coax him out of this bad mood.

"Not the fucking time Clem" Luis snapped bluntly.

Clementine sighed.

It was only then she realised both herself and Luis' hands were still connected, as the pair of them looked down at the sight before looking back up at one another.

They leapt apart as if they had both been electrocuted.

"Well, I'm tired.." Luis said looking at his shoes, "I'll go to my room then... I erm... If you're still going ahead with that... thingie tomorrow..."

"Yeah I'll let Terri know and the others..." Clementine replied, looking intently at the wall next to her.

Luis faintly gave a "Goodnight" before he disappeared down the corridor, leaving Clementine standing there, feeling like an idiot over everything that had just happened. She shook her head and decided Luis anger, Gabe's cards, or David's general presence wasn't enough to deter her from her objective right now. That was too leave this city, but then (as she opened the door to her own room) it seemed to hit her, she knew David and Gabe weren't going here to see Olivia.

So, why were they in the building?

* * *

James felt himself awaken slowly, he was aware it was still pitch-black, he was aware of Olivia still on his chest, with a heavy sigh he slowly pried off her sleeping form, picked up his discarded clothes from earlier and proceeded towards the door of them room. He knew it seemed rude to just leave Olivia there, so he decided to leave a short note, a quick scribble that told her that he simply had to use the shower in his own room, before he left, walking blindly along the pitch black corridors, he opened the door to his own room and sighed.

He hadn't even asked for the plane.

He had his chance, what was he afraid of? Why didn't he simply suck it up and sleep next to her? Everyone on the group was relying on him and he had let them down, after all the work Luke had done to cover the mistake of Wellington Wolf, all the planning, plotting and meetings, would it all be blown because he simply couldn't take it anymore? No. He was the only pilot, he had to be stronger than that, he had to get them out of...

"Why hello there"

James jumped, but it was too little and too late, as he felt David's hand clamp around his mouth, his struggles were almost instantly silenced, as someone smaller (that Gabe kid) quickly placed a damp red cloth over his nose, the all too horrible sensation and lack of oxygen consumed his body, as he felt himself fall to the floor and bang his head off something, but David was still holding him down and the cloth was still there, now his forehead was throbbing painfully while he couldn't breathe at all. No matter how hard he struggled, David just seemed to overpower him in every aspect. The pair of them must have been waiting for him to come back.

"Before you ask, why we're here" David muttered, as if he could read James' mind "I'll tell you this, anyone who'd want to fuck that old cow, won't stay the night. We knew you'd be about, so if you want to avoid round two of this give us some answers"

He lifted the cloth and smiled down at James.

"Go into her room, the door's fucking open!" James snapped "Just wring her neck and be done with it"

"and be mauled to death by her security and the city's population?" David inquired "No, I wish it was that simple James my boy, but it simply isn't, more work is required you see".

"Define work"

"Define what she likes"

"Fuck you"

"Gabe" David ordered harshly, as his son lowered the cloth once again over James head and kept it there for around a full minute, during this time, James' resolve was near enough drowned out of him again, as the shaken young man tried to keep that one thought in his head. "They'll do it anyway, they'll do it anyway, Kate warned you about this" but being tortured like this again... he didn't know how much more of it he could take.

"Now what does she like James?"

"Young men like me, apparently" James answered, he tried sounding tough, but his voice was breathy and shaky.

"How much does she trust Robinson?"

"Quite a lot from I can gather, no distrust or nothing from what she told me"

"You're telling the truth aren't you James?"

"Yes"

That didn't cut it for David, by the time the next session was over and done with, James had once again lost all resolve and becoming a weeping, blithering wreck, his limbs aching fiercely and breathing desperately for the oxygen in his cool room.

"Now, you are telling the truth about this aren't you James?"

"YES!" James pleaded more desperately now "Please, just don't... don't do it again...!"

"I see, well Gabe we know who to target now, but good start there James my man" David said lightly patting his forehead lightly "We'll be seeing more of you in the future no doubt".

James wanted to ask him one question, the simple "Why?" what was the point of it? Why did David need information on Olivia? The New Frontier was powerful enough as it was, they could have stormed this building and taken over right now, what was stopping them? James garble though, as he coughed water out of his system seemed to get through to David, who simply smirked down back at him.

"You're probably wondering why?" David said to an immobile James, as Gabe folded up the red cloth and stored it in his pocket.

"Let me tell you, the outer walls they ain't gonna hold for much longer" David said "The purge... well it got rid of the useless excess, but there are still not enough people to help out, some parts of that wall are already damaged beyond repair. Walkers will come flooding in, we'll be forced backwards behind another set of back-up walls. Population will reduce in size all over again, by quite a number as well. Olivia tried the attack tactic, but walkers keep flooding in, they never stop, thousands and thousands of them" he laughed to himself at this point, as James absorbed this information.

"Soon people will realise, Olivia's tactic to try and get us to rally against walkers, rather than focus on our own defences was a massive mistake" David muttered "The population will be smaller, more controllable, soon conflict will erupt. Only those in her good graces will survive, only those who know her, who want to save themselves know how bad the walls really are. Like her soldiers or her lovers..." he smirked there at James "So, you are gonna get close to her keep us updated, whatever knowledge you know that we don't we'll get out of you and we'll strike her where it hurts. Finish her off when the walls fall and then, well, you can live in our Utopia. We'll be generous to you and your group, I mean you helped us"

He stood up tall once again.

"Remember that before you try whining again" David snapped "You truly want to help your group, side with us. Sometimes a bit of tough love is needed"

With that out of his system, he was gone before James knew what had happened, he was immobilized on the ground barely moving a muscle, after what had just happened to him.

He'd pass on the shower.

and despite David's seemingly logical plan, to strike Olivia when she was at her lowest and when the population was reduced in size, so that they'd be more likely to support the New Frontier into the distant future rather than revolt against them, James couldn't help but get the feeling that he was enjoying this.

He was enjoying the conflict and suffering he was inflicting on people.

and if what Clementine had described to him was true.

It seemed even if he got his Utopia, he'd still be the same.

* * *

"Dad?"

David was still smiling to himself, so when he heard his son's soft squeak, he span on his heel to see what the problem was.

"What is it son?" David asked.

"I erm..." Gabe began nervously, his eyes darting around the dark corridor and then back towards his father, before he finally found his voice and tried to express what he felt in his 16 year old mind "I... well was that right?"

"We got info son, we need to keep tabs on him" David snapped "You saw how rebellious he was, we don't keep doing that..."

"But I keep thinking about Uncle Javi!" Gabe said cutting through his father "and that other girl in their group Stephanie who ended up just like him, I... I did that Dad..."

"Gabe" David said softly.

"No. It was me. I keep on seeing his face" Gabe muttered sadly thinking of Nick "and how I can honestly try and make friends with that Clementine girl if... well if I did that? I'd just be lying to her, it doesn't feel right".

"Gabe" David muttered harshly "What your Uncle and step-mom did that was fucking wrong, they deserved that punishment, you were right to tell me, don't ever regret it. Remember what I told you about your uncle, how much he never cared for the family. When my papa died he wasn't there, he didn't care. He never has done, your uncle isn't worth thinking about and what happened with Nick. Well that man was stupid Gabe, you did what had to be done. Besides it wasn't you that technically did it, If Olivia hadn't thought up this whole plan to bomb the hell outta places, we'd never be forced into that situation".

"But we..." Gabe began to protest.

"I know it's a lot son" David said to cut through him "But I'm proud of what you've done for me and the New Frontier, you've become a real man Gabe, you know I love you don't you?"

"Yeah" Gabe said, a small overconfident smile now lining his face at his dad's praise of him "Yeah, thanks Dad"

They continued to walk onwards for a little while, before Gabe decided to speak up again.

"But erm... Dad what If I want to speak to Clem again? I'll have to tell her eventually"

"Do you like this girl?" David inquired "Or just the look of her?"

"Well she seemed nice, it's just a shame that asshole was there with her".

"He can be easily disposed of when we take over, I'm sure no one will complain" David stated "Then Gabe you can tell that girl the honest truth. That you had no choice, that Olivia forced us there. You feel from it son, you're not a monster, you feel guilt from what you've done. She'll have to understand that and she'll give you a chance, besides you ain't too bad on the eye either, girls will be flocking to you".

Gabe grinned to himself as he brushed his fringe out of his eyes.

"So, you definitely think she'll like me!?" Gabe asked hopefully.

"Course she will" David muttered cockily, before his eyes darkened a fraction and muttered the next phrase to himself

_"and if she doesn't for whatever reason, then I'll make sure she'll be with you, whatever I have to do" _

He continued onwards, remembering the once good community he had once tried to set up, Ava, Joan, Lonnie, Lingard, Clint, all of them were killed by that goddamn cult, he had to watch as the butchered them all. He had to watch as his closest friends and allies were skinned alive, while the cult spoke shit about having the morale high ground and it drove David insane. He didn't remember how he broke free, all he knew is that he did and he soon was bathing in the blood of the slaughtered animals. He was leading what remained of the savage new frontier, they had tried to make a good community once and it was going so well...

Now all he could hear when he slept were Ava's screams, and the knowledge that in order to survive in this world.

He had to be savage as the people running it.

Olivia's morale high ground shit reminded David vividly of the cult he had slaughtered and he hated the Government within this city, it was exactly the same as the cult, killing those who were worthless, those that didn't share the same belief. Like the cult had eventually crumbled, this Government would too and the New Frontier who had survived and persisted would be the one's left to rule and with a family left to protect, this was it. This was David's second chance at life to get things right, he loved his son dearly, he loved his men dearly, there was no room to fuck up now.

Soon, he would have his own Utopia.

* * *

Luke panted heavily forgetting how much he had missed this sort of physical comfort, as he reached the climax Molly screamed before rolling off him, while Luke took a full minute to regain his breath, the blind woman wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled her own boiling form towards Luke's own, as she snuggled her head on his bare chest.

"You... were... great... really..." Molly panted.

"I forgot how... I..." Luke wheezed to nothingness, the ripples of pleasure that coursed through his body were still somewhat present as he gazed down at Molly's form. After the show he had put on today the second the pair of them had returned to their shared bedroom Molly had leapt on him and he found himself kissing back as fiercely as he had ever done before, a new fire alit in the pair of them and now having their relationship taken to this next level, Luke found for once he was able to enjoy himself. He didn't need to think about the future, or the fact every other woman he got with died when he got to this stage in the relationship. He didn't want to worry about the future anymore, he simply wanted to enjoy the present moment, as Molly ran her fingers across the strands of his facial hair.

"Luke, do I... look alright?" Molly muttered nervously, a vulnerability in her voice that was rarely present.

"Molly, you look beautiful" was all Luke had to mutter.

Molly didn't say anything for a while, but didn't object when Luke wrapped his powerful arms around her and pulled her closer, as she trailed her own hands around his back and torso.

"I wish I could see you, I'm sure you look might fine farm boy" Molly muttered with a small laugh "But what I'm feeling right now, I think it's filling the gaps in my mind".

"If you gained your sight back right now, I'd probably be a disappointment" Luke muttered.

"Hmm... yeah probably a boner killer alright" Molly said with her usual snarky attitude present, "But, hell better than nothing"

"I made you scream alright, didn't think you'd be a screamer" Luke nearly whispered.

"Oh I can get freakier believe me" Molly mused, as she rubbed her nose against Luke's own.

"Care to show me?" Luke inquired, with a smile.

"If you want" Molly replied, leaning in closer, before the next ten or maybe fifteen minutes were lost in a passionate make out session between the pair of them, when the intertwined, sticky and sweaty pair finally broke apart for a few seconds, Luke looked down at her and panted out what was on his mind.

"As much as I know we need to leave, I wish we could stay here, like this" Luke said.

"We can do this where we want Luke" Molly replied "You can have that, that white picket fence with that family you always wanted".

"Should we have a family?" Luke asked of Molly.

There were a few moments of silence.

"We already have one" Molly said "Clem, Eddie, Stef, Luis, Terri, hell even the Wo... well Ethan now. Besides remember how Nick and Stef got married and tried to start a family? Look what happened there, I'm scared the same thing will happen to us if we try that".

"I'm petrified of it happening, I can't... I just can't go through it all again" Luke said "But it's the thing I also want the most, my own family. I know I'll want it with you Molly"

"and you... you're the only guy who's stuck around for this long, I..." Molly gulped there "We can talk about family after we leave this place, after we know we're safe. But until then, promise you'll stay with me, promise me that Luke"

"Promise me the same" Luke begged of her "I can't, I just can't do this again. Promise me you'll be the one that stays Molly, please".

"I will if you will" Molly insisted.

"Okay, I promise that" Luke finally muttered.

"Fair enough I promise that too, so don't you dare die on me" Molly instructed.

"Likewise" Luke said with a dangerous smile, before the pair of them fell into each other's embrace once again.

* * *

"What's up?"

The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon of the city, as night slowly became dawn, Eleanor was sat at the breakfast table of her and Tripp's shared house, gazing blankly at a piece of cold toast that lay on white plate in front of her, Tripp had asked her if she was alright, ever the concerned boyfriend he could notice whenever the mellow medic was feeling down.

"Just wondering if it's all worth it" Eleanor muttered quietly, "What we have here, I was chosen to come here and too just leave? It feels like I'm just disrespecting all the people that died that could have been here but never got the chance".

"Hey come on now" Tripp said, wrapping his large, hairy arms around her shoulders "We've been discussin' this for months, like Kate said. No need to get cold feet now"

"Yeah, but now it's actually happening" Eleanor muttered "What if I'm needed here Tripp? All the physical and mental pain people are going to go through..."

"They'll have enough medics here Eleanor, you don't have to worry so much" Tripp informed her.

"There's never enough medics Tripp" Eleanor mumbled sadly.

Tripp sighed, before he pulled up a seat next to her and cupped her smaller hands into his larger one's as she gently lifted her head to meet his empathic gaze.

"You're too nice Eleanor" was all he said "and I can't lose someone like you, don't worry about this city alright, for once think about yourself. Think about us, what would be best for us" he smiled at her then, as she returned it.

"You know, you're too nice as well" she informed her boyfriend "Don't worry about me worrying".

"Well what are we like, a mess huh?" Tripp mused.

"Something like that" Eleanor said "But maybe I'm just overthinking this, you know they seem like good people"

"Yeah, I'm with em" Tripp said "If they would have sold us out they would have done so by now, they're trustworthy as far as I'm concerned"

"You sure about that?"

Tripp whipped around, a foreign voice in his home could only mean danger, he instantly leapt for his kitchen drawer to pull out a large cleaving knife, his first form of defence, but to his horror it seemed as though a platoon of soldiers had already entered his home and the largest one, was already blocking Tripp's access to his drawer, how these soldiers had snuck in so quietly was something Tripp didn't know all that he knew is that they were indeed here and they had their guns raised to both him and Eleanor.

"How did you get in!?" Tripp snapped to the closest one.

"None of your concern" the soldier replied cooly, whom Tripp realised was Olivia's most trusted colleague, Robinson, the mixed race man leered down at the frightened couple.

"Any particular reason you're here, at this time in the morning?" Tripp snarled, trying to keep his voice steady but inside his heart was hammering against his chest, he had to try and keep calm but he looked behind him to see that Eleanor was almost hyperventilating, her petite face turning as pale as white chalk.

"Olivia wants to see the pair of you, they'll be no resistance" Robinson ordered harshly.

* * *

There was no point resisting or trying to run, surrounded by these soldiers and with no words exchanged, Tripp and Eleanor walked along side by side, heads down and stomach's sinking. There was no other reason for them to be brought to her office, they had been found out. Eleanor groaned at how stupid she was, how stupid that other group was. Arranging them all too meet in that James' room, yes there was no security cameras in there, but there were on the lower floors, a whole group of them leaving at that time... why did they think that was a safe move? How on earth did that pass her by so causally, they should have been much more cautious arranged a meeting place outside... they were passing the rooms now, Eleanor dared to look up, all of the new group were still sleeping no doubt, before long they'd be rounded up like herself and Tripp and what would Olivia do? Lobotomize them? Execute them in front of everyone, Eleanor was deadly afraid of her fate, she quickly stole a glance at Tripp, his brave face was slipping and he became pale and more sickly looking at they approached Olivia's office, the dreaded walk both took an age and barely any time at all, before Robinson lead them inside of the office.

Olivia was sitting behind her desk, soldiers were present around the walls and next to her, with a foreboding thud the door was closed behind her.

"So" she muttered at last in a voice that betrayed no emotion "Do you know why you are here?"

Tripp and Eleanor looked at each other and then back towards Olivia.

"No" Tripp mumbled at last.

Olivia merely tutted, she gestured at one of her soldiers, it seemed out of nowhere a thrashing walker was brought forward, it's arms and legs restrained by soldiers, it thrashed around it's decaying head, unable to bite any of the soldiers behind it. Tripp suddenly felt himself tackled to the ground and a tape shoved over his mouth. Resisting was near enough futile, yet Tripp did so anyway as he strained his limbs to try and escape this hell, grunting into the tape, he wanted to scream "ELEANOR!" when he saw that she was being brought forward towards the ravenous walker.

"NO!" Eleanor screamed in panic, she was aware of some sort of syringe being quickly spiked into her neck, as Tripp looked in soul crushing horror to see the syringe being removed from Eleanor's neck as the soldiers thrusted the walker's head towards a squealing Eleanor before he was aware of what had happened the soldier had bitten down on Eleanor's shoulder as blood exploded from beneath her morning clothing. She screamed openly as Tripp bellowed "NOOOOOOOO!" into his tape, Olivia hadn't even asked them anything but had proceeded to instantly execute Eleanor, this was far too cruel to be real, he had to be dreaming, this... this was figment of his paranoid imagination.

"Kill it" was also Olivia said, above Eleanor's open weeping there was a distinctive sound of a gunshot as the walker fell to the ground, littering Olivia's stainless white office with another crimson helping.

"I need a different colour for this place" she snapped, as the soldiers instantly got to work in removing the body and cleaning up the mess.

"W-why, why have you done this!?" Eleanor wept, she was being held like a rag doll by the soldiers, her shoulder bleeding openly as the walker''s bite made her feel dirty and infected, which is exactly what she was, she'd be dead soon and in most painful way imaginable.

"I have my reasons" was all Olivia said.

"If you wanted to know something from us..." Eleanor began.

"Don't say anything, it's irritating me" Olivia snapped "I want you to die slowly, right there and I want you boyfriend to watch the whole thing. To watch how slow and painful it all is" she smiled before standing up and walking over to where Tripp now openly had tears pouring down his cheeks, he glared openly at where Olivia smirked down at him.

"It feels like you're in hell, doesn't it?" she enquired of the man who couldn't respond "Don't worry, in a few hours at least, seeing as she was bitten on the shoulder, she will be a walker".

Tripp howled "WHY!?" Into his tape, Olivia seemed to just about hear him.

"I have my reasons, now I've got some paperwork to do" she muttered causally, "My soldiers will still here for a couple of hours, until she's turned. I don't want another word out of either of you, there's nothing you can say that I'll believe and I won't be listening"

So with that she sat on down, leaving a fuming Tripp to face a weeping Eleanor, they would pay for this, for whatever reasons Olivia was doing this, she would pay. There was no way in hell he was going to grass up the group if that's what Olivia was planning. No, he would stay defiant, they had already taken away the thing he had loved the most, he wouldn't sell anyone out, Olivia had made a foolish move, a foolish move indeed...

But his rage couldn't cover his open grief, as he continued to cry as he faced Eleanor, why? Why was this world so cruel? She was the nicest person he had known and now...this? For no reason what-so-ever? Olivia was right... he was in hell.

* * *

That mind-numbing and silent hell had to have lasted around 3 or 4 hours, the soldiers restraining Tripp didn't seem to run out of energy or resolve, instead they all waited there in silence, Tripp dreading the moment that Eleanor would start coughing blood, the moment his world would fall apart, the moment when she died and he'd be left alone to face God-knows what... but something strange happened, other than scratching of Olivia's pen or the occasional sniff from Eleanor, there was never any coughing.

4 hours later, nothing had changed, Eleanor was pale, but... she hadn't turned by now. Every other person Tripp had know had turned at this point, or had at least started to show signs, such as faint bleeding from the eyes, mouth or nose, but Eleanor, he didn't want to believe it, it had to be some kind of joke he tried looking for her veiny skin, but it was still healthy, other than some obvious blood loss, she seemed fine.

Eventually Olivia (beaming from ear to ear) stood up.

"Well" she mused, openly impressed by something "I suppose I was right after all"

She looked at a confused Eleanor and Tripp in these moments.

"This changes things, immensely" she proudly announced "You see Eleanor, you are an actual idiot. My Soldiers had been spying on you for weeks, months even. All those secret meetings with Mr. Garcia, do you think they went unnoticed by me?"

"I... why didn't you do anything then!?" Eleanor snapped.

"As if I was ever going to get evidence, could have just been an affair for all I knew or cared" Olivia snapped "But I was biding my time with you Eleanor and of course you ended up medic in this building, how was that possible? I don't remember ordering it, but it seems Mr. Garcia has powerful connections. I've been wary of him for a while, but that confirmed it. I could have forced you to confess at any point, threatened your boyfriend's life in exchange for information".

She sighed there.

"But the truth is such a hard thing to gain you see" Olivia stressed to her "You could have lied to me, told me anything to protect David and co and would have probably believed it. I need the truth of the matter, because Robinson, well he brought me saw disturbing news just this very morning".

She smiled there.

"First you, Tripp and a bunch of others arrive at this place with part of a new group, then leave at nearly 11 in the evening? Care to describe what it was you were doing?"

"We were... well we were..." Eleanor stumbled uncertain of what to say and still shaken by what had happened to her.

"Then both Garcia men enter and leave at a later time, all this going on while discover more hidden truths from the new group, it's all a bit fishy you see" Olivia stressed "I think there's some sort of plot against me, I think you two know everyone who's behind it and you're going to give me the information".

"We won't!" Eleanor said in naive defiance.

"About the attitude I was expecting from you" Olivia muttered sadly "But James was here last night, but when I woke up he wasn't there. Some bullshit excuse about needing a shower, hell how stupid I am to think he'd actually want to be with me. So with little to do and suspicions rose, I checked over their old papers and I came to a conclusion, one the former Wellington Wolf hid from me"

"I'm sorry, what!?" Eleanor inquired.

"Oh the Wellington Wolf, you know a serial killer in Wellington. That's who Ethan Hart really is" Olivia grinned "I bet they never told you this information, shows how much they trust you, doesn't it?"

Eleanor was shocked, but Tripp grumbled something into his tape.

"Remove that, I want to hear what he has to say" Olivia droned.

The tape was ripped from Tripp's mouth, taking a breath of fresh air, he bellowed what he thought.

"BULLSHIT! WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE THAT!?" Tripp roared.

"Because you've seen it with your own eyes, something else they've hidden from you" Olivia muttered to him "Eleanor hasn't turned yet, she won't. Because those syringes, aren't drugs. Or baby vaccines or any other bullshit, just as I suspected, they are cures to the infection! I was right, the Wellington Wolf did find Oscar Williamson and they made a cure. I knew his excuse didn't hold up! Find an immune survivor and let him go.. ha!" she laughed harshly at herself at this point "But I had to check if it was the real deal, so you Eleanor were the disposable test subject. I ordered my soldiers to smuggle in a walker from the wall and use it to bite you".

"But... they can't be immune!" Eleanor shrieked "They had to cut off Stephanie's arm and she lost her baby after she got bitten...!"

"I have a very good theory on why they hid this immunity" Olivia muttered "But I injected you with one of the seven syringes I found in Ethan's bag and it worked wonders! Look at you, you're not getting sicker, you regaining your colour more and more every second. They lied to you, they didn't tell you this, because they don't trust you at all".

"But we only knew them for...!" Eleanor began.

"They still didn't trust you" Olivia cut through her "As a medic, you know what a cure means for this city Eleanor, it will save everyone"

"But..." Eleanor began.

"Why should we talk!?" Tripp snapped cutting through her "You used my girlfriend as a test subject! Not knowing whether or not it will work! You used her like she was garbage! I ain't ever trustin' you or betrayin' anyone... I ain't about that shit..."

"Typical, from the pair of you" Olivia said "But listen to me you ain't betraying anyone by telling me. I've already got the Garica's and the new group on the hitlist, I need confirmation and no lies. Do that and you'll be rewarded with a peaceful life here in this city but you need to tell me everything"

"No way in...!" Tripp began angrily.

"Do you want to know why I did that?" Olivia cut through him sharply "When you were there, for those four hours just then, stuck in that living hell, could you bring yourself to go through that again?"

Tripp paused and blinked.

"and you, Eleanor" Olivia said turning to face her "Could you honestly say that was worth dying for? Those people were worth dying for? You didn't want to die, I could see it in your eyes"

Eleanor gulped.

"You have 10 seconds to start talking" Olivia snapped "Tell me everything, or it's for real this time, 10, 9, 8..."

"Kate forced us into it!" Tripp yelled before he could stop himself.

The room was silent, Tripp's cheeks had turned bright red in shame after selling out Kate so causally, but he simply couldn't wait for the countdown to finish and relive that hell. That was hell and this was his own second chance to ensure one of the only things he cared about in the world stayed safe, he couldn't lose Eleanor again, the grief and rage he felt, that wasn't him, that could never be him.

He had to keep her safe.

"Kate?" Olivia asked.

"David's wife, she was fed up of the abuse her husband gave her, she put together a group including us to escape from Utopia"

"I see" Olivia muttered jotting down a note "and David and his son?"

"Part of a group called A New Frontier" Eleanor spoke up "They're planning to overthrow you, want to make their own little Utopia"

Olivia jotted down another note.

"and James' group?"

"They want to escape with us, that's what the meetin' was about" Tripp said, selling them out "But the New Frontier are on our asses as well, want to use us to get close to you. They want control, we just wanted out, we didn't...!"

"So James is playing me, is that it!?" Olivia snapped.

Tripp and Eleanor shared wide eyed glances at one another.

"Our plan was to get him to seduce you, then when you trusted him enough. He'd ask you for a plane" Eleanor muttered "So we could make our escape by the air"

"Crafty" Olivia muttered with a scowl "Him being a pilot and all, I wouldn't have even thought much of it, damn..." she smiled to herself there before making another note.

"Olivia, we're gonna be safe, aren't we!? You promise that!" Tripp growled.

"Of course you are" Olivia said, "But I'll need every name, everyone involved with Kate's group. All the new survivors are in on this, and everyone from the New Frontier, if you know them. You know every name. I want them all and I want the God-honest truth from the pair of you"

"I feel awful!" Eleanor whined "They were our friends Tripp and we've just sold them out!"

"This isn't a betrayal, I already suspected these people" Olivia reassured her "By doing this, you're saving yourselves. The only thing you can do, you felt like it was like to die, to lose someone just then. You know it's not worth it for these troublemakers, this city... after all these years. After all this effort, they just want to leave and mess it up!? What's the point!? Can you tell me that?"

Tripp and Eleanor looked at each other.

"It's gonna be alright Eleanor" Tripp reassured her "If we've been found out already, there's no point dying for them, we can only save ourselves now. I don't like it either, but..." he shot daggers at Olivia at this point.

"Have I... have I really been cured?" Eleanor muttered looking down at her own hands.

"You know you have and soon the whole city will be" Olivia reassured her "I know how we'll get enough of these cures to get around to everyone, it will be an easy task. When everyone from James' group, the New Frontier and your own group are named... well let's just say I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone".

"Don't kill anyone!" Eleanor begged "There not bad people! Well James' group aren't bad they... they just...!"

"They let a woman lose her arm and a baby die to keep their secret" Olivia pointed out "Did they regret that, at all?"

"Well yeah they..." it hit Eleanor then "Oh My God, that's what Clementine's incident was all about. No wonder the poor girl couldn't take it anymore..."

"Incident?" Olivia muttered "Please, explain it too me, explain everything"

"Just promise us, everything is gonna be okay!" Tripp insisted.

"Oh don't worry" Olivia muttered.

_"Everything will be fine"_


	47. Final Destination

**A/N: Okay thanks again for reviewing and we're one chapter away from the... well... stuff, big stuff that will happen next chapter. As well honouring the infamous (but utterly brilliant) 48th issue of the comic. It will also be next chapter to avoid the rushed ending thing that occurred in GTR, such as defeating the cult in Chapter 50 and then having to conclude it 2 chapters later which felt too rushed. With more chapters to deal with the aftermath of next chapter, the mystery of the second chance and the ending, it will take 49, 50, 51 and the finally 52 to wrap up this fic and series for good.**

**So this is like the set-up chapter towards the next one, all the cringe, sex scenes etc... had to be done and dusted by last chapter in order to build and further develop relationships in the run up to what's coming. But with this chapter you will get what I promised, A Terri-Clem final look into the other world, some important answers from Jane herself and it will get the plot moving rapidly once again after I felt last chapter (other than the ending scene) kept the plot stagnant.**

**Anyway onto this chapter! Thank you for wishing me well after finishing uni, I started this series just before I went to uni, now three years later when I finished uni I'm wrapping it up (feels weird) hope you've all enjoyed the ride and these final chapters! and once again sorry for the wait!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you sure you wanna do this again Clem?"

Luke was looking at her intently, his remaining eye locked upon her form, as she rolled her eyes at him. Just like Luis he seemed worried out of his mind that Clementine was attempting to do this once again. But he knew she couldn't be stopped the glare she gave him back, it made him lower his own gaze to the ground. As Molly leant on the open bathroom door nearby seemed to sense Luke's defeat as Clementine didn't even have to say anything to make him stop talking for good.

"I think she's dead set" was all the blonde woman said.

Clementine looked back at her group everyone was here, except for Kate's group which made sense. As she could hardly imagine trying to explain second chances and other worlds to a group with enough problems on their plate already. This time she knew she would be resurrected properly as Melanie had reassured everyone (through her notes) that Maria had taught her well on how to get someone breathing again who had been underwater for a while. Maria knew the danger of ice lakes and just lakes in general to make this a priority that Melanie should have learned, last time Melanie had seen Clementine however she had panicked and forgotten this. But seeing as it was happening again she had refined her skills and was now ready, with full knowledge of what was going to occur.

"So how old are we in this world Clementine?" Terri asked from next to her, her dull teal gaze was locked upon the full tap in front of her.

"Erm... early... late twenties I think" Clementine muttered back to her off the top of her head, "I never actually asked..."

"and does Brandon know that we're coming?" Terri enquired cutting through her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does" Clementine replied to reassure her.

"Well then, let's hope this goes well" Terri muttered "I want to say a final goodbye to my brother and I'm sure you want answers as well"

"Yeah, I need to know why" Clementine muttered gazing at the white panels of the bathroom floor "Why she took us there, if she had a second chance as well, what is going on. I know I'll get some answers and they could help us"

"I suppose this is the crux of whether or not I'll see if this is all real" Terri said "Either I wake up in another world or I wake up here again and this was all made up"

"It's not, I promise you that" Clementine uttered.

"If you say so" was Terri's only reply, she didn't convinced but she didn't sound doubtful either, as if she was simply curious and awaiting to see the outcome to Clementine's promise.

"So if you like, get stabbed or something in that world..." Eddie muttered, as several pairs of eyes turned towards him "Do you like get stabbed in that world and it affects your body in this world..."

"I don't think so, otherwise I'd have a lot more scars in my other world" Clementine said "This isn't a movie Eddie".

"Well I don't know what the fuck it is, but it's confusing me still and I've known about it for years" he replied.

"I'm just going to accept we live in a horror movie now, it's the only way to process reality" Luis said "Dead people coming back to life, time travel, other worlds, just add UFO's and a bit of science fiction and ray guns and we're ready to go"

"If I come across a ray gun in the other world, I'll be sure to let you know" Terri informed him.

"Thanks babe" Luis muttered in deadpan humour.

"Anyway, are we ready to go with this?" Ethan muttered, looking at Terri and Clementine and then back at the full sink "The sooner we get this done with the better and we can proceed with the escape plan".

"I'll be sure to get it right this time" James muttered sullenly from the corner, Melanie had found him on the floor the previous night and there was no need for any explanation to as how he ended up there, or why he was soaking and shaking on the spot. She had merely tried to get him to take a shower, yet he vehemently refused that. Realising how foolish that move had been, she had simply taken him to bed and watched over him as he slept, ensuring that nothing else happened to him or if he ended up doing anything stupid. She had to try and help this group in any way she could and making sure James was safe was a number one priority for them all if they ever wanted to leave this place.

"Don't sweat it" Melanie mouthed, patting him on the shoulder, before anyone else could.

Stephanie was gazing out at the sapphire sky outside of the large windows, distracted by the passing clouds and barely paying any attention to what was going on around her. Clementine sighed, Ethan was right the sooner they got out of there, the less Stephanie's and Javier's they would end up with. So with a deep breath she took some gallant steps towards the sink.

"I'll go first" she muttered in defiance, trying to be brave but she was aware of how her voice shook slightly.

"Clem are you...?" Luke began again.

"Luke I'm going to be okay" Clementine insisted, meeting his worried gaze once again. She didn't know what had come over him lately, yes a lot had changed. But beforehand Luke had been like the cooler older brother she never had. When they went around hunting the forest back at Wellington, the time they spent together at Howe's. However with his injuries he now couldn't do as much physically and seemed to have matured somewhat, so much so he was now starting to feel more like a concerned parental figure than the big brother she was so used too. But she guessed that was only natural, with Rebecca, Maria and Kenny gone as the previous paternal figures of the group, it left a spot open. Since her second chance had started Luke had grown from his late twenties to his thirties usually the age adults started settling, the way his once clean shaven face was now mostly covered by a sprinkling of stubble or a beard reminded Clementine strongly of Kenny.

"If you say so, but be careful" Luke instructed.

"I get it, okay!?" Clementine snapped, it was like he was turning into Rebecca and she being her 15 year old self rebelled against this sort of treatment.

Luke sighed, as Clementine clenched her eyes shut and felt a strong hand (Ethan's) push her into the dark and silent embrace of the tap water, after around 10 seconds she tried to jerk her head upwards, her natural instincts screaming for air as she struggled on the spot and felt the crushing sensation in her head as water flooded into her mouth and nose, before she knew what had happened the world had turned black... remembering to share the fear of losing Luis as she went, to ensure that both of her selves were connected...

* * *

"AH!"

She shot up instantly, aware that she was sitting down in a room illuminated by sunlight, a quick look to her right and she saw (to her great relief) Terri and Brandon sitting next to her. It didn't take her long to realise that Terri's sudden gasp and the way her eyes suddenly darted around the room, that she too had just arrived to this other world, Brandon seemed in the middle of a sentence...

"...that's why nothing..." he paused there as he looked at the two women in front of him, Terri's eyes slowly locked on her brother in complete disbelief. Or at least the older version of her brother, other than increased facial hair she knew him from anywhere and found herself sat in still disbelief, this couldn't be real. She was dreaming as Ethan drowned her, this couldn't be her brother.

"Erm... Terri?" he asked, looking from his sister and then back at Clementine.

"Brandon I'm back and I brought your sister this time" Clementine said clearly.

Brandon blinked.

"You again" he finally muttered after the silence grew too long, before he smiled "Well, I've been waiting for this, me and Terri have helped babysit everyday, just in case something like this happened. After what you said last time I had to believe it... because since then. I've started having weird dreams, just like Maria said she used too. But these were more vivid, it was like..." he sighed there.

"I haven't got a lot of time Brandon" Clementine muttered quickly "I need to see Jane, she knows about this. She's had to have dreams by now like you have, Brandon, I need her address..."

"Here, with directions on how to get there" Brandon said instantly, Clementine was surprised and massively relieved to see him hand her over, a crudely drawn map showing the streets and the exact directions to get towards a house marked with a cross.

"This is brilliant! Thank you!" Clementine beamed in sheer relief "I never did tell you how awesome you were, did I?"

"Not in this world, that's for sure" Brandon muttered "But hell Clem, you're acting just like you were once. Back when Luis had his mind about him... you were decent back then. But years living here, in this Utopia..." he cut off there "Anyhow, it was 2 weeks since you last visited. Jane should be at her house today, I drew this because I knew if you came back... well you asked me about David, so I figured you'd want to find out about Jane as well. You didn't seem to realise, well the old you... about how bad she really is. I wanted you to know that, I want you to talk to her" he said.

"You're amazing in both worlds, you've never changed" Clementine muttered gladly "I'm so glad I got to see you again, even if it was just this once"

Brandon smiled at her, before his handsome faced dipped once again.

"I'm not going to see you again am I?"

Clementine shook her head.

"I think your sister wants to speak to you" was all Clementine said, gesturing towards a still shell-shocked and silent Terri, who sat next to her brother in sheer disbelief, she gave Brandon one last wave before she ran out of the door, his map clutched firmly in her hand, trying to keep in the tears that threatened to spill over her ears. Both times she had seen Brandon it had been a short but sweet span of time and she was going to miss him, yet despite that surprisingly emotional visit she ploughed onwards, running through the streets, passed the confused, curious and weary onlookers, towards the x.

Her final destination in this world.

* * *

"It's... it's really you" Terri muttered at last, reaching up she slowly caressed her brother's cheek, everything about him was the same, the way he moved, the way he looked and as he had gotten older, he had only gotten more handsome. She tried hard not to think about the pile of bones and dust her brother was by now, back in her world, as she found herself suddenly weeping and clutching onto her brother for dear life, weeping into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her petite form.

"I... I NEVER GOT TO SAY GOODBYE!" Terri screamed into his jumper, completely losing control of her usually concealed emotions.

"Well..." Brandon muttered quietly "I guess now... I guess it's your chance..."

Terri wept and wiped her eyes as she looked up to her brother's calm face, he was the exact same and all of this was surreal, yet it had to be real. Even if it was a dream or some hallucination, Clementine had been telling the truth and now it was truly as if she been plucked to go to heaven to meet her angel of a brother for the final time.

"You're exactly the same" she sobbed "I liked cuddling with you Brandon, you used to be like a bear"

"So you tell me everyday" Brandon said, it was then Terri realised, the Terri's body she had taken over, was her, just her without going through Wellington, meeting it's infamous Wolf, nor losing her brother.

"Am I... the same here as I always was?" Terri dared to ask, as Brandon furrowed his brows.

"Well let's put it like this" he mused with a smile "I think this is the most you've cried in your life"

Terri laughed, tears of mirth and upset running down her cheek in equal measure.

"That sounds a lot like me then" Terri mused, as she wiped her face once again.

"I wish I could say I missed you sis, but... you're here for me everyday" Brandon muttered uncertainly "and... I'm sure you know by now, what... well what happened between us"

"Yes" Terri muttered "You know in my world, you died before anything could happen".

"I've seen that world, man Wellington was a dive right?" he said, as Terri nodded in agreement "I'm sorry you had to go through that and in my final moments there, God I was terrified, I was running, trying to keep calm and I was looking at you and..." he paused there and closed his eyes at the memory "Even after all this time Terri you never gave up on me and you came here".

Terri felt something get caught in her throat, remembering her brother's last words before they were cut short.

"It wasn't painful sis, in those moments. Right before I died, I realised I really did love you" Brandon muttered as Terri continued to gaze at him "You never gave up on me, never. Not even when we were with dad and Uncle Frank, you've told me in this world and I figured it out. You didn't run away from them, to protect me".

"I... I could never tell you what I did" Terri muttered shamefully "You were too good for that" she sighed there and looked closely at her brother's neck, where very faint scars still lay. It was where her father had attempted to choke the life out of him, when he had been found out for what he was. Brandon had these scars because of her scheming.

"After you died, I... I became a monster" Terri uttered, unable to believe she was telling her brother this "You remember the Wellington Wolf? (Brandon nodded) "Well I became his equal, turns out the school was locked because the headmaster and a few of his cronies were having a party inside like the cowards they were. Leaving the rest of us to die. I spent the next year hunting down and killing them all, I became the cut throat cub Brandon" she smiled miserably to her brother "So that's what losing you did to me, that's why you need to be careful for... well the other me. I know how she worries, even if she doesn't show it".

"If you died Terri, I don't know if I'd have done the same" Brandon said "Or if I'd done worse"

The siblings gazed at each other once again.

"You... you were better than that!" Terri exclaimed "You wouldn't...!"

"We already have Terri" Brandon muttered sadly "The amount of people we've slaughtered here in Utopia, I've become a monster here Terri. All for the name of freedom under the new frontier. Freedom my ass, more like privilege for the few, poverty for many. I haven't changed it here Terri, I don't encourage us to change. I just live my luxurious life, I let people live in misery right outside my... well our expensive house. I have an affair with my own sister behind everyone else's back... Terri. Whatever you've become in your own world, it's nothing to what we are here".

"No. You listen to me!" Terri snapped "We wouldn't be having this conversation, and you wouldn't have given Clementine the map if you didn't care at all, if you really were that much of a monster, you'd... you'd be like Dad or Uncle Frank".

"I only care about my own though, not the many" Brandon muttered ashamedly "Besides, I am like Dad and Uncle Frank, getting with my sister, like they got with each other. Incest... it's dirty and wrong and I resisted how I felt for so long, but eventually it just... happened between us" he sighed there.

"When I died in your world, it was near enough perfect" Brandon admitted to a silent Terri "It was so fast, there was only a brief flash of pain and then blackness. The last thing I saw was you, I could love you but not do anything with you. We were innocent in that other world, in your world. Compared to what we are now..." tears welled in his eyes at this point "God, I missed back then, I missed who I was"

"You haven't changed and whatever you think about yourself it's never too late to change!" Terri encouraged him.

"Same applies for you then sis, you can't be a monster if you're displaying all this emotion" Brandon reassured her.

Terri smiled at him again.

"You always know what to say" she informed him "You always know what to say to make me feel better"

"You always say that, well not always, more like on the rare occasion you do show emotion Terri"

"I'm... I'm glad I make you happy here" Terri muttered "I'm sure I am as well"

"Other than the whole hidden affair thing, we're as happy as any brother-sister couple in an apocalypse" Brandon said.

* * *

Clementine rushed past a street corner and found herself at the cross, her final destination, a large rather grand looking house that jutted out quite highly above it's lowly neighbours, pounding on the door Clementine shouted "Jane! I know you're in there! Let me in!"

There was no response, Clementine stood there hammering for a full five minutes without an answer as she felt her gut sink and panic explode in her stomach, why couldn't Brandon give her a key as well? Was Jane really in? What the hell was going on!? How could... how could she... she needed help! Yet she doubted anyone on the street, (curious and scared onlookers who most likely despised her) would be willing to lend her a hand, she realised then there was a gate that (if she climbed over) she should skim into the alleyway that lead into Jane's back-garden. Bending down she leapt up and attempted to jump to reach the ledge, yet her fingers scraped the brick surface helplessly. Despite her increase in height she was still too short to get over this thing, but she had to keep trying, she had to keep...

"...Clementine?"

A curious voice, Clementine whipped around expecting to see Jane there.

Instead she was met with the older form of Lilly.

* * *

"You know, we actually travel with the Wellington Wolf now..." Terri was explaining "We found a cure and him and me are such monsters that we get along very well..." Terri mused to a bemused looking Brandon "A lot of crazy stuff has happened since you died, looking back at it, it all feels surreal..."

"So from what Clementine told me, I assume Wellington fell then" Brandon said "Because she's... well she asked about the New Frontier and they are stationed here".

"Yeah, Wellington went up in flames at the end"

"and our group? How many are left?"

"Just me and Luis" Terri muttered sadly "We lost Maria and JJ a few weeks back, but JJ lost his mind and..." she paused there, her sentence trailing off.

"A bit like the JJ in this world then" Brandon said "When the riots happened he burnt down that house full of kids and..." he paused there "God, I thought I could be his friend or something and that happens. Damn, losing Wilbert really did a number on him".

"Yeah" Terri echoed, before another topic lit on her mind.

"How does she feel, how is she?"

"Well the other you..." Brandon began.

"Not her, Jamie" Terri said sternly "I know we're having an affair behind her back with me. Is she happy? Are you married?"

"Yes" Brandon admitted, his gaze finding the ground of the living room they were in.

"How old is she?"

"21"

"So 21 years, Clem would have been..." Terri did the maths in her head as she recalled Clementine's tale on her old allies "11 when the whole Jane buisness happened, so she's 32 now and I'm 3 years older, so I'm 35. Late twenties..." she smiled to herself there "However clever Clementine thinks she is, she cannot tell ages for the life of her"

"You still look great for 35" Brandon muttered.

"and you for 36" she responded "But she's a young bride isn't she? When did you get married?"

"When she was 18"

"and you were 33 then" Terri said.

"Another reason I don't like myself here" Brandon said "If my sister wasn't weird enough, then I marry a girl half my age who I am cheating on, hell I wish I could turn back time now... and never accept her proposal".

"Why did you?" Terri asked curiously.

Brandon sighed.

"Jane" was all he said.

"Jane?" Terri inquired.

"Yeah, Jamie's mum, the woman who Clem is looking for" Brandon informed her "You see Jamie had one of those weird crushes, you know. Like little girls get on older guys, I just thought it was one of those silly schoolgirl things that would pass over time you see. But it wasn't... it persisted and before I knew it when she about 15 or 16 she... well... I didn't want too, but she kept forcing herself on me, but nothing ever happened" he added quickly.

"Until..." Terri muttered, leaving the sentence opened as Brandon sighed once again.

"Until Jane had a word with me" Brandon muttered "She said, that Gabe kid... David Garcia's son, well he couldn't get Clem because she was with Luis. So he turned his attentions to Jamie, David usually got what he wanted and if Gabe wanted something he'd give it to him. The same went with Jane for Jamie, she knew Jamie would be unhappy with Gabe and I was the only other option" he looked up at the ceiling now as his eyes filled with tears. Terri took the hand he had lain upon his knee and applied pressure with her own, Brandon smiled at this.

"Thanks... it's weird telling you this" Brandon muttered "I've told you so many times before but... I know it's the other you. Just... everything about you... it's different".

"You think this is weird for you!?" Terri inquired "You've been dead for over a year in my world! This is like meeting you in heaven or something, it really doesn't feel real!"

"If Clem hadn't have told me about that scar on your leg only me and you know about then..." Brandon paused before ploughing onwards "I'd have thought this whole thing was a prank, but... it just can't be"

"I know...but moving on from that, you were saying about Jane having a word with you?" Terri inquired, hoping to move back onto the topic they were talking about.

"Oh yeah" Brandon replied "Anyway, Jane said she'd... well she doesn't know about you and me... but she knew how close we are as brother and sister. She... well she threatened to kill me right there and then if I didn't accept Jamie's requests, but it wasn't just me. I had to go along with it, otherwise it would be you that got killed as well, with our remaining group included".

"That's... that's crazy!" Terri exclaimed "That Jane woman can't have overpowered us all and killed us. Just... how can she more scary than the leader of the new frontier!"

"Terri, you're scared of her in this world, that says it all" Brandon muttered "Jane... well she was one of the ringleaders in the rebellion, she's violent, the stuff she did matched JJ, but even worse. She only got away with it because, well..." he paused there "Let's just say the judges got really light on her and she had baby Jamie in her arms and she had to raise that poor girl. Don't get me wrong, she's great with Jamie, but if anyone threatens Jane's ideal world, her Utopia that she built for herself..."

He looked over at Terri then with foreboding eyes.

"That's why I accepted Jamie's advances" Brandon explained "Anyone that gets in the way of Jane's paradise...

"Ends up dead"

* * *

"...so I'm just supposed to believe that?"

Clementine was looking hopelessly at Lilly's form, after rushing to explain herself and how there wasn't much time left in this world and she had to get into Jane's house, the older woman had demanded an explanation to as why Clementine was behaving so strangely and Clementine had given the honest truth to the annoyed, older woman. Clementine looked panicked and helpless, of every, single person she could have bumped into to it had to be Lilly. Why was Lilly even here in Utopia? Hadn't everyone in this timeline died!?

"Please Lilly, there's no time to argue, help me up!" Clementine begged.

"I fought in the rebellion with you" Lilly uttered, casting a loathsome glance at Clementine "You didn't thank me once, all the times I saved you. All the times I saved Jamie and Jane and all your friends. I begged for you to forgive me and you never did, you don't even speak to me here! You avoid me on the streets and now you're giving me some cock and bull story about time travel and other worlds!"

"Lilly please...!" Clementine begged.

"NO!" The older woman now screamed, Clementine was horrified when Lilly used one of her arms to pin her against the door of Jane's house, as Clementine felt the wind get sucked out of her. Passer's by looked up briefly at the commotion but no one stopped to help, they merely hurried along, as Clementine's face was inches from Lilly's own raged filled one.

"I LIVE ON THE STREETS BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR DAMN PREJUDICE AGAINST ME!" Lilly screamed for the entirety of Utopia to hear and it was true, she looked filthy and was dressed in rags that clearly suggested she was homeless.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" Clementine squealed.

"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT!" Lilly screeched, as she continued to choke the life out of Clementine, yet as soon as it started it was over, as Lilly suddenly released her, as Clementine (shaken) fell to the ground, to find Lilly bent over by her form.

"Why aren't you calling for help!?" Lilly demanded "Anyone else did that, you'd have killed them, me included, Why aren't you screaming for your new frontier buddies!? That's what you always do, you never say sorry, you look at me like dirt, I..."

"Lilly, I'm... I'm the other one" Clementine muttered.

"Are you?" Lilly snarled "Okay then, what was the last thing we spoke about?"

"What?"

"The last thing we spoke about Clementine!?" Lilly roared.

Clementine looked at her for about 10 full seconds she was completely confused, what the hell was Lilly on about? Then it hit her, as she remembered how smart Lilly could be, she was asking for proof. If Lilly was still alive in this world by some strange means and she was alive in Clementine's other world and was connected to Clementine herself, than it was perfectly possible (that like Maria and Brandon) she too had being having vivid dreams and it would show her everything that had happened to her in another life and the last thing they had spoken about? The last thing they had spoken about before she had died was...

"Who our first kiss was" Clementine muttered, remembering it now "We'd just escaped the cult and that massive herd, we were walking through the forest. Sarita and Nick were with us and you and Nick were discussing your first kisses, you were joking and then we heard Sarah and found out what those men had done to her" Clementine shuddered at the dark memory "In the confusion you got shot in the neck and died"

Lilly was silent now.

"You gave Sarah a gun on her 16th birthday in Howe's" Clementine recalled "You bonded with Nick and Stephanie, you travelled with Steve's group. You came to Howe's after we took out Carver and I... I forgave you".

Lilly was slowly shaking now, Clementine was alarmed to see tears were pouring from her bark brown eyes.

"I... that's impossible!" she exclaimed at last "Those... those are only my dreams! But... I've never told anyone! But those dreams aren't normal, they are so vivid and I..." she paused there.

"Who the hell are you!?" she snarled.

"I'm that Clementine, the one from the other world. The one who forgave you a long time ago" Clementine muttered "Lilly... in my world you helped us so much..."

"That's always what I wanted to be, someone who could just... help" Lilly muttered, as passer's by continued onwards, trying to ignore the odd scene of one of the town's most hated residents, leaning besides a crying, aged homeless woman.

"You can still do that" Clementine begged "Lilly you can help me one more time, I just need to get in that house and speak to Jane"

Lilly sighed.

"But... is all this true then!?" she asked "Other worlds, that just... insane Clementine!"

"It's real!" Clementine said "But... what happened to you? Everyone I knew died in this world, or near enough everyone..."

"I didn't get to Howe's in time, in this world, there was no Howe's that Steve's group even bothered with. It was Wellington and then it was straight onto Utopia here, we hooked up with the New Frontier pretty fast. I guess because the cult weren't about in this world, I... I never ended up finding Howe's... Clementine that cult was real right? How can they exist in my dreams but not here!?"

"This is the world where they never existed" Clementine said "and I think Jane had something to do with it. She's changed this world, changed it by some means and I have to know why Lilly".

"I... can't believe this, but I have too!" Lilly exclaimed "Everything you just said, it can't... no one could have known that! No one!"

"and I'm asking you for the final time, I need your help one more time!" Clementine begged.

Lilly looked at her, as both woman slowly rose to their feet.

"You aren't the Clementine here, then you are the different one, the one from my dreams?"

"The one that's forgiven you" Clementine reminded her.

Lilly sighed.

"I must be crazy... but... the hell with it, get on up"

Clementine was thankful when Lilly offered her shoulders, planting her feet on the frail things, Clementine received a boost and finally (scraping her stomach slightly off the harsh edge of brick) pulled herself over the ledge and into the alley leading to Jane's backyard, however before she jumped down, she took one last look at Lilly.

"Thank you" she told her old friend.

"Clementine... you're still alive in that other world, aren't you? That's why you are here now" Lilly said.

"Yeah" Clementine replied "I wish I could tell you everything Lilly, but there's no time. I'm sorry"

Lilly bowed her head slightly.

"I understand, just... tell Nick and Stephanie that... I hope they're living a happy life now".

Clementine's stomach sank, she had been aware of how fond Lilly had been of the young couple, she didn't want to lie to the now hopeful looking Lilly, but she found that she couldn't let Lilly know the cold, harsh truth of her own world.

"They are and they're together expecting a child now" Clementine said to Lilly, whose face exploded into a large smile.

"That's... that puts my mind at ease!" she mused "Thank you Clementine, you get the answers you need from Jane".

"I won't be back, not my old self that's for sure" Clementine explained to her "So... I guess this is goodbye"

and without looking back at her old friend she jumped into the alley and sprinted towards the back-door of the house which was mercifully open for her, ignoring the splendid scenery of the lavish back garden itself. Clementine creeped on in, yet she couldn't erase Lilly's smiling face from her mind. She felt guilty at herself for giving Lilly that lie, because out of everyone in this world, she deserved the answers the most, but then again she'd hadn't told a complete lie.

"They were expecting a child, they were together... just not anymore" Clementine muttered in her head "But Stephanie, she's still alive. She can be helped because of what you helped me with Lilly, so thank you..."

Her mind was so focused on Lilly, she didn't realise she had walked into the living room.

and there she was.

Jane herself.

Pointing a crossbow at Clementine's heart.

"Don't fucking move" she snapped.

* * *

"Where's Stef gone?" Luke asked, looking around as Melanie started to tend to soaked and unconscious forms of Terri and Clementine, starting with Terri, as Clementine needed all the time she could muster, none of them seemed to be stirring at the moment. While Melanie removed water from their systems she knew they would soon start to regain conscious, entrusting her with their lives, Luke had managed (under Molly's strict instructions) to relax for a few minutes while the group sat around the room awaiting the results of what Clementine would gain.

"She wondered out a minute ago" Ethan informed him "I'll go get in her a minute, she can't travel far in the building in her state after all..."

Luke fidgeted on the spot, until he felt an arm wrap itself around his waist.

"Stop shaking country boy" Molly reassured him "She is going to be fine, honestly some days you seem more and more like her dad".

"I can't help but worry" Luke admitted "About what's she puttin' herself through, about this whole plan. Being leader again... I just... I want to pull this off right Molly, I want too..."

He never finished his sentence because at this point, the door was slammed open.

* * *

"You know who I am" Clementine guessed instantly not fidgeting in the slightest at Jane's crossbow aimed directly at her heart.

Jane scowled at her and Clementine could see that to any outsider she truly looked frightening, hair shaved off her head and scars lining her face, which was thin and bony. Whatever traces of the beautiful woman she once was, was lost due to increased aged lines and a malicious look now pouring from the black-ish eyes.

"Yeah" Jane scowled "I didn't open the door because I just knew... you'd come again. To this world and that you'd want to talk to me"

"Of course I do!" Clementine exclaimed.

"and I could just kill you" Jane spat.

"But you won't" Clementine said "That's just for show, me and Jamie, we're the daughters, the people who see you in such a good light, we're to make up for the mistake. The little sister you failed".

"I'll fire this crossbow if you carry on Clementine" Jane snarled "and you can go back to your own world, back where I died because I actually fell in love in Luke. I liked the guy, but... what the hell made me die for the idiot!? I wanted to live, or I want to live in this world!"

"What the hell happened to you!?" Clementine exclaimed "Luke is Jamie's father! and she doesn't even know his name!"

"There's no point upsetting her like that!" Jane snapped "Luke was just... just a guy. That's all, whatever the fuck he meant, or still means to you. He doesn't mean bat-shit too me".

"Luke mourned you for years after you died!" Clementine protested "You... you haven't even honoured his name in return! You... why!?"

"Do you know what it was like Clementine?" Jane snapped at her "Lying there in the snow, seeing you dead after that bitch injured me, I lay dying, that fucking stranger I killed. It was like losing Jamie all over again, everything was gone. There was no point in carrying on, the damn cult had ruined everything. They had killed you, driven the group apart. I made another mistake, if I came back sooner..." Jane sighed there "I begged, I begged to whoever was listening to take me back. Let me do it again, let me make the world right, eliminate the cult. Eliminate the leader before the cult could develop and...and then I woke up, just after I'd lost the real Jamie"

She smiled there.

"It didn't take me long to find the cult after that" she muttered "I couldn't save Jamie, but I found him. The leader and the small group of asshats he was already recruiting I don't know how I did it. But I slaughtered them all, in one swoop. I was injured but there was only around 15 of them, a few long range shots on a rifle I obtained did most of the work. I was determined to and when they were dead... it was time for me to start all over again. With you Clementine, I did it. I made my second chance matter"

"You certainly seem to be talking now" Clementine muttered "What is this crossbow then, just for show? You know you can't kill me. I'll just return to the other world and you'll have killed your own precious Clementine".

"I can hurt you though, put you through pain you won't forget" Jane responded with a voice of ice.

"But you won't, so just carry on talking and explain to me, so just what is this all about!?" Clementine snapped.

"Well... my second chance mattered. Yours doesn't" Jane snarled "Listen to me, I made sure everything stayed the same, how I got caught at Howe's, how I helped you all escape. I couldn't alter anything that could put you at risk, I felt like I was in one of those time travel movies, where if I ruffled a leaf things would change. So everything had to stay the same, including me leaving. Some things changed very slightly, but other than that. Everything went according to plan, I knew lives would be lost, but they were liabilities anyway..."

"So Nick, Sarah, Rebecca, Carlos, Alvin and Sarita were just liabilities to you!?" Clementine snapped "You knew what happened and you could have saved them!"

"Why bother, they were going to die later on anyway and if they couldn't survive long enough, they'd only end up putting you at risk" Jane explained "But I did come back this time and the cult didn't stop me and I did save you guys. You, Kenny, Luke, Bonnie, Mike and AJ, we ended up beating those ruskie fucks. Of course with the cult not around certain circumstances changed, so it seemed like you guys were already on top of things when I arrived, but I helped, but I had more baggage then I was expecting".

"The others and Luke" Clementine muttered, as Jane nodded.

"Yeah, Luke... after what me and him did, it was awkward, but we carried on. We took one of the ruskie's prisoner, Arvo who survived the shootout. Kenny started going nuts at him while he tried to lead us to a shelter at that point. I didn't know what to do, this was all new and alien territory to me. I could never explain to you about my second chance and what happened in the other world, but... I had to keep you close. To try and protect you and then..." she sighed "The group fell apart just as I knew it would. Luke was the first to die, the nicest guys always go first. Drowned in a frozen lake..."

It was then Clementine remembered Luke telling him about the vivid dream he had about drowning in a lake, she remembered Stephanie and Eddie telling her how they had been devoured at Howe's. They were seeing their deaths in Jane's timeline, when Rebecca had seen her own death as well, before the shootout had occurred...

"...then Bonnie and Mike fled out of fear of Kenny, they took the ruskie with them" Jane spat "So then it was me you and him, with the baby AJ. He went crazy and I had to get you away from him! Aj... well he died from the cold and Kenny went crazy! I wanted to show you how crazy he was and we ended up fighting and eventually..."

"I shot Kenny in the playground" Clementine muttered in horror remembering the dream now and what it all about "Everything we've all been seeing, it's been how we died or what we've been through in your world".

"and I've had the same dreams about your world. Or the point of it I saw, up until I died" Jane snapped "So now here you are, years later, seeing each other's worlds".

"What's causing it!?" Clementine demanded to know.

"How should I know?" Jane said "Everyone here is dead in your world, we don't know anything. You're still alive in yours so you can wander back in forth freely, how do you do it though? How are you here? How do you know how to travel between worlds?"

"Near-death" Clementine said "It's near death experiences, when I think or am about to die with thinking about the thing that the me in this world fears losing the most, it draws me here".

"Fear of failure isn't it, seems to make sense" Jane said.

"Makes sense?" Clementine asked.

"The biggest fear we all have or what me and you have, is failure" Jane said "Failure, to make our second chances matter, that tops all other fears. By connecting through that fear of failure... it's the most likely reason you're here. Why did we get the chances in the first place, because we died as failures and begged for something different, this is what I think it's all about Clementine. Somebody up there, whether that be Jamie in my case, or someone else in your's gave me this chance and I can't waste it".

"I didn't waste mine either" Clementine snapped.

"Well I know I didn't waste mine" Jane snarled "You and Jamie live comfortable lives here, I rebelled, I did horrible things. All for you! To build the world I had always, always wanted! Jamie, she is the living embodiment of my second chance! The second Jamie! My own daughter! Do you have any idea what that means!? What family do you have Clementine!? How many people are still alive from that useless group I left you with!? Not a lot I'm betting, I bet they all died, slowly but surely, not even managing to live a comfortable life. Because what can an 11 year old girl do to change anything in the long run?"

"I tried!" Clementine screamed feeling insecure now, as Jane's gaze seemed to cut right through her "I... I did all I could to save everyone..."

"Look at this world, it's been over 20 years since my second chance occurred" Jane muttered "Mine was a success, how old are you in your own timeline now Clem? How much time has passed?"

"About 4 or 5 years..." Clementine murmured, as Jane laughed harshly at her.

"Seems like time is weird then, but why I am seeing your world now and why are you seeing mine now?" Jane inquired "Why are you here?"

"It's not the time it's the location" Clementine said, as understanding seemed to dawn on her automatically "All this time, whether we tried to get to Wellington, or the closer we got to Utopia, the more of these visions I've been able to have. Because I've understood it more... I know that fear draws me here to this world, just like how fear drove me to Utopia in my own world..." Clementine knew it sounded confusing, but it made vague sense to her "and in Wellington or leading up to Wellington, their had to be routes where I was in the same place you were... even at Howe's! We were there in the other world!"

"We went back after the whole Kenny incident where I learned I was pregnant" Jane informed her "I didn't know what I'd do, but then... thank God. The New Frontier found us and took us to Utopia. It was only right we'd fight for them, after all they did for us..."

"This is a dictatorship!" Clementine screamed "Look at all the people outside Jane! Is this a Utopia for them!?"

"Does it matter?" Jane replied "As long as it's our Utopia, nothing else matters"

"You..." Clementine began angrily.

"Is it really any different in your own world?" Jane snapped "You want to know why I knew you were coming? How I knew you were the other Clementine? Because Jamie told me how weird you started acting and when she mentioned Luke's name. I knew full well what was happening and I know from what you just said about location and all, that you've finally reached Utopia in your own world".

"Yeah except the New Frontier isn't the powerhouse it is here" Clementine snarled "and I'll get my friends out if it's the last thing I do"

"and go where?"

"Back to Howe's"

"That dump?" Jane inquired "The place where I died? Why'd you want to go there? Hang on..." she said suddenly "You don't think this theory you have on the location, can actually help you, do you? Do you think that Howe's holds some sort of supernatural answer to all your problems?"

"I..."

"That's pathetic Clementine" Jane muttered "God, what have you become in that world..."

"What have you become in this one!?" Clementine snapped "I'll always remember the Jane that gave her life to save Luke's, not... not you and did you know in my timeline it's not just me who got sent back! Luke got a second chance, that stranger, the leader of the cult, he also got sent back. Right after you killed him, he got sent back, and then again in Luke's own world right after me and him died but..."

If it sounded confusing to Jane, it certainly was the case for Clementine as well. Judging by the puzzled look on the older woman's face, Jane hadn't had anyone in this world who had been given additional second chances. Yet Clementine thought long and hard about it, this all started when herself, Jane and the stranger had died in the snowfield. All three of them had been sent back, Jane had been sent back the furthest so she could build a world where the cult never existed. Hence she had her own separate timeline, the world Clementine was currently within.

The stranger had been sent back along with Clementine, he wanted her more than anything and so that had to be the reason she was grouped together with him in her own timeline. Whereas she had to change Howe's and try and build her own fragile Utopia that had crumbled, the stranger built his own Utopia with his cult and with Clementine and in the end he had gotten his wish. Him, with all opposition dead, having lived out his sick fantasy when he watched what had happened to Clementine. He was content in that world, but then mysteriously he had been sent back again... it hit Clementine then he must have died again... in those moments, somehow he had died and...

Been sent back.

The two people that wanted Clementine all to themselves and another chance to make things right to save her... the stranger and Jane. She realised something then...

It was never her second chance.

However this power had spread... she knew that it had spread from her too Luke because in her original timeline where herself and Luke had perished. She was the one with the gift, she was the one who must have given it too Luke in those final moments, as the person she cared about the most. If Jane and The stranger both "cared" about her the most in the final moments then it would make sense that the gift that was passed onto her from someone who had already been granted it.

Maybe that had been both of them.

She had saved the stranger before and with it, Jane had created a completely different timeline and a different world, that's why she could travel here, because both worlds were still ongoing, her original timeline up until the snowfield and herself, Jane and the stranger's deaths... that world was gone. The world where Luke and herself had died... that was gone. It was only her world and Jane's now... while the stranger had ultimately failed to build his final Utopia, Clementine and Jane had found themselves both at this city, but while Jane had everything she ever wanted...

"I... I don't have anything compared to this..." Clementine finally admitted to herself, as Jane looked on curiously, despite thinking about her second chance and making theories on how it had occurred and who had granted her the power. In the end she should have known all along, Jane wouldn't have the answers. All they had was a world connected by this city, through dreams and fears she had slowly discovered the one truth she needed to however. The location was important in some way.

Utopia, both herself and Jane were in this city and had been able to connect in this way... if she managed to get back to Howe's, then she knew... that's where her answer lied. Maybe Jane was right, that she was desperately soul-searching for some sort of supernatural solution there. But there was more too it than that, even if it meant nothing to her and held no answers, it was a place they could stop at before moving on.

But if she was stuck here, in this Utopia in both worlds, there was never going to be an escape. She'd come back here in dreams and she knew full well in those moments, if she ended up dying in her world...

"You can't come back to my world... because you are already dead" Clementine muttered.

"Go back home Clementine" Jane warned "I spent years... and years creating this world! After Jamie... I won't... I won't lose anyone else!"

"You have Jamie though" Clementine said "She has a great husband" she tried hard not to mutter in sarcasm, knowing full well about Brandon's affair, "She has a great life" she continued thinking about the city. The distaste people like Lilly had for herself and most likely Jane, the way Brandon spoke about Jane as well... the dominance of the new frontier, Clementine hadn't seen them in this world. She hadn't seen David, Gabe or what had become of Kate and Javier and she didn't want to know anymore, nor see them. Because this was her world, this would be her inevitable future...

Unless she went home.

"I might not have this Jane" Clementine said "But there's somewhere else I need to be..."

"You really think you can kill yourself, you'd kill the other Clementine!" Jane snapped openly "She's... she's a mother to her children!? What would they think if you died!? Who'd look after Luis? Do you have any idea how I'd feel if she were to die!? All my years of effort...!" Jane looked like she was begging now "YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE!? WHY'D YOU EVEN COME HERE!?"

"Because whether or not this is a different world, I can see this is my future If I stay in Utopia" Clementine muttered sadly, she'd fulfill her worse fear, becoming someone she never wanted to be in order to survive the rough order of the city. Her burning hate of Olivia's Government, it would end up crumbling for sure. But then the New Frontier would take power, maybe her and Luis would end up married. But Luis could have very easily ended up as a vegetable, just like Stephanie and Javier had done. All that Kate feared would end up coming true... Clementine knew she'd be alive, that was for sure. She'd be safe in this city if she just accepted this future and lived on while picking the right side.

But this was never going to be her.

She was never going to lose who she was.

"Goodbye Jane" Clementine muttered coldly, making her choice in a heartbeat, she dived towards the crossbow, it pushed against Jane's torso, as her finger was pushed backwards on the trigger, as the arrow embedded itself straight into Clementine's gut. As she felt the all consuming pain engulf her, as the oxygen left her lungs, she felt blood leak from her mouth, as the clothes grew damp from beneath her.

"If I died in my world" Clementine croaked "I may end up coming back here... I can't... I can't allow that"

"NO!" Jane screamed, dropping her crossbow in shock as it clanged of the living room floor "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE!?"

"I've made a choice" Clementine uttered "That I'd rather die than stay here"

"My Clementine... YOU KILLED HER!?" Jane screeched "I HOPE THIS IS HURTING YOU! I FUCKING HOPE THIS IS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE TO ME!? THAT'S LIKE ME... TAKING OVER YOUR PRECIOUS LUKE'S BODY AND KILLING HIM! HOW'D YOU THINK EVERYONE IS GOING TO TAKE THIS YOU SELFISH BITCH!? I'M DEAD IN YOUR WORLD YET I STILL GET VISIONS ABOUT IT...!"

"Not much though, you don't see everything and you can't dream in the present, or come here like I can" Clementine drawled, who had now collapsed to the ground, her stomach feeling as though it was on fire, but she was used to this feeling, whether that be shot in the stomach by Kenny, or even her death in her very first life... she always seemed to get hurt around the stomach area...

"Jamie!" Jane croaked "Jamie is your best friend! How is she going to react to this!? What the hell do you expect me to say?"

"That I made my second chance matter, just like you did" Clementine muttered "I know what I needed too, I'm done with this city, I'm done with these dreams, you won't give me the answers I need, but I know where they are now..." so with her mind set on Howe's, she felt into a painful, yet blissful black oblivion, rejecting this world. Rejecting the person she was never meant to be... she had her theories on her second chance now...

But also a solid answer... a conviction.

On where she needed to go now.

* * *

"...I mean... she's nice and all" Brandon was explaining to Terri "Jamie's...well she likes you and it makes me feel bad when we... y'know" Brandon finished there, scratching the back of his head "Anyway we're normal-ish enough I guess... but Terri she means nothing to me, compared to you" at this point he put a hand on her cheek and smiled at her.

"Do you... Terri" he said nervously, leaving the sentence hanging.

"I think I did" Terri finally admitted, facing her brother in the eyes, they were just like her own, but as she gazed into them she became aware of the fact that something... some sort of force was pulling her back, quickly she grasped his cheek with her own hand and pulled him closer.

"Brandon... I'm... I'm going..." she muttered in a panic, "Brandon I..." she leaned in, maybe just once wanting to let her brother know what she meant to her, but before she could... actually kiss her brother. He stopped her with a hand and rueful smile.

"I'm sorry" he said "But, Terri I want you to remember me as your brother and nothing more. It's what I wanted for you, for both of us... besides I have my own Terri here" he muttered, before he sighed.

"It's just, I feel comfortable in the knowledge that a part of you... a part of you somewhere, in some... world somewhere is still innocent and protected".

"Innocent and protected!" Terri shrieked "Do you have any idea...?"

"No, but believe me whatever you are there, is nothing to what you are...well, what we've become here. I want to protect you and your innocence".

Terri felt a loose tear fall from her eye.

"I thought that was my job" she muttered blankly.

"Well, that's what big brothers are for sis" Brandon said, as Terri crashed into his welcome embrace for the final time, he was just like a big cuddly bear, always there and always comforting, yet with a few more sniffs, she felt the world around her slip away, as her brother faded into nothingness and she was engulfed in a sea of blackness.

* * *

"Get up!"

It wasn't the gracious awakening they had expected, Clementine had gasped awake to find herself being restrained by some soldiers, her heart instantly sinking as she met Luke's concerned gaze once again, as himself and Molly were forced to the ground by a dozen of Olivia's soldiers, Terri met a similar fate the second she had woken up, unable to process seeing her brother and suddenly being thrust into this situation as well, she was too stunned to resist as she too was detained. Clementine looked up helplessly, where she saw that everyone (minus Stephanie, wherever she had gotten too) was being captured she couldn't even tell Luke and the others about what she had seen.

"Okay boys we got em!" came a rough voice, that Clementine recognised as Olivia's right hand man, Robinson, as his cruel eyes surveyed them all.

"Oh... this is your final destination all right" he told them menacingly.

Clementine's gut sank... it seemed like wherever they went too, death was always following them, she had cheated death so many times, her visions had certainly helped her, but now he was fighting back.

Death didn't like to be cheated.

In Jane's world and this one, despite what Jane thought in the world she had crafted, death would eventually catch up too you, but with the situation she had suddenly found herself within, there was no time to process what she had learned in the other world, or her remaining goal to get to Howe's once and for all. All she felt was her gut sinking... them being detained like this meant only one thing.

They had been found out.

Maybe... maybe this had always been her fate all along, to die or lose herself and live within this city...

Regardless...

Maybe...

_This really was her final destination. _


End file.
